flight.

SUPERMAN II is not a sequel, says executive producer Ilya Salkind, in the sense that a sequel is usually an afterthought, intended to capitalize on a surprise hit.

"This movie was planned -- and announced -- before the original SUPERMAN started production."

To briefly recap history, it was Salkind, his father, veteran movie-maker Alexander Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler who sat down to a casual lunch at a Paris sidewalk cafe a few years ago and conceived the notion of a super-spectacular SUPERMAN.. .employirig an arsenal of sophisticated new special effects.

The movie which emerged traced the SUPERMAN legend from the dying planet Krypton. . . to the sudden arrival of its sole survivor, the infant Kal-El, in Smallville, USA.. .to Metropolis, where he assumed the identity of Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet.

There, his super powers were called on to thwart the evil machinations of Lex Luthor, who planned to turn the Mojave Desert into prime beachfront property by jettisoning Southern California into the Pacific Ocean.

Like its predecessor, SUPERMAN II is an Alexander Salkind presentation, released through Warner Bros. It stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, Jack O'Halloran, Valerie Perrine, Susannah York, Clifton James, E. G. Marshall, Marc McClure and Terence Stamp.

The Alexander and Ilya Salkind Production was produced by Pierre Spengler and directed by Richard Lester from a story by Mario Puzo and a screenplay by Mario Puzo.