Richard Donner Had a Serious Issue With Marlon Brando’s ‘Superman’ Salary — At First

Marlon Brando made a fortune to play Jor-El in 1978’s Superman, and director Richard Donner said he took serious issue with the big bucks — at least, at first.

The iconic Donner, who also helmed the Lethal Weapon series, among several other famous works, died Monday. He was 91.

In a previous making-of Superman feature, Donner said he initially felt Brando making $3.7 million and getting 11.75 percent of the picture’s backend for 13 days of work was outrageous.

“When I first came on the picture and I heard how much Marlon Brando was paid for it, I was really upset, because it seemed like much more money than anyone is worth,” Donner said. But then he admitted, “But then working with him and seeing him on film, to me, he is underpaid.”

Said Brando then of the huge sum for his immeasurable talent, “Everything has a price in the marketplace, so do cars, so do hula hoops, so do useless endeavors. And I don’t suppose actors are any different than rock bands” who start a fad.

The same feature showed Donner and Brando working together on his scenes with the giant cue cards in the background that the Oscar-winning actor was famous for using. Some said it was due to Brando being lazy and not wanting to learn the lines, but the Jor-El actor said in the feature the cards allowed him to have a more natural approach to the dialogue, so it did not sound rehearsed and phony.