"I think I've slept for four hours in five days," Jon Schnepp tells journalists in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre. The director, best known for his work on Adult Swim series like Metalocalypse, The Venture Bros and Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, is suited up and ready for the premiere of his first feature documentary, The Death of Superman Lives, What Happened? In the final days before the deadline, though, the crew was beset with technical issues. Sound wasn't syncing properly. Rendering was taking a long time. Schnepp describes the process of working through issues and sleeping in 15-minute intervals. 

"It's been madness," says Holly Payne, who produced The Death of Superman Lives with Schnepp. "We got a film done by about three o'clock this afternoon." There is a slight irony in that this documentary, which could have fallen apart in the final moments of creation, is about a movie was never made. 

In the late 1990s, Superman was poised to hit the big screen in a film that would have been quite unusual. Kevin Smith was one of three screenwriters brought in to work on the script. Tim Burton was set to direct and Nicholas Cage had signed on for the starring role. Given the names involved, one could imagine what kind of superheroic madness might unfold on screen. However, Superman Lives was canceled amidst a string of Warner Bros. bombs. Since then, the movie has become an object of fan speculation, with potential audiences weighing in online about the few concept and costume images that appeared online.

Here's your reminder that super-fan Nicolas Cage almost played Superman.

Schnepp has had a nerdy fascination with Superman Lives since he first heard about it. He recalls seeing some concept art online. "The design sensibility looked different and weird," he says. "That would have been a pretty weird Superman." 

Years later, after falling asleep twice during screenings of Bryan Singer's 2006 comic book film Superman Returns, his interest in the Burton film-that-didn't-happen returned. He collected more of the concept art that he found and filed away the research. More time passed and, at an event for the band Die Antwoord, Schnepp met a man named Steve Johnson. A quick Google search on his phone turned up some interesting information; Johnson, a special effects artist responsible for creations like Slimer from Ghostbusters, was part of the team for Superman Lives. 

Some very Tim Burton-esque Brainiac concept art from The Death of Superman.

"We got so close to doing something that had never been seen," says Johnson at The Death of Superman Lives premiere. "It's heartbreaking." 

After the event where Schnepp initially met Johnson, the director talked up Superman Lives to friends while hanging out a Hollywood restaurant. Someone suggested that he make a documentary. Schnepp, who had recently worked on a Kickstarter-backed animation project, was reluctant to start another project that would require crowdfunding. Months later, though, he was still thinking about the idea.

In early 2013, Schnepp launched a Kickstarter campaign to see if there was any interest in the documentary. There was. During the course of a 45-day campaign, more than 2000 people pledged over $115,000. Schnepp was ready to get to work with the goal of having the film complete by Comic-Con of that year. It didn't work out that way. 

"With a documentary, really, the only thing you're in control of is the fact-finding and your information," says Schnepp. Getting the players to sit down for an interview takes time. Schnepp estimates that it took 9 or 10 months to get Kevin Smith. There was a lot of persistence involved in scoring time with Tim Burton. Eventually the team headed to the UK to film the famed director. While they managed to get many of the big players involved with Superman Lives, some eluded Schnepp and Payne. Nicholas Cage ultimately didn't agree to do a filmed interview.

Last fall, an estimated 19 months into the making of The Death of Superman Lives, Schnepp arrived at a Hollywood restaurant to talk about the movie. "It's been a definite learning curve for me," he says.

He mentions that after he scored the Tim Burton interview, others fell into place. People had previously declined to speak were now ready to talk. "I didn't understand that there's sort of a hierarchy," he says. Until their former director talks, the crew might be reluctant to do so.

Jon Schnepp with Tim Burton, director of The Death of Superman.

The Death of Superman Lives falls into a small subset of documentary films that track the behind-the-scenes-stories of failed film projects. It is conceptually similar to true-story flicks like Lost in La Mancha, which followed Terry Gilliam's efforts to bring his Don Quixote project to life, and Jodorowsky's Dune, about the maverick director's attempt to make an epic adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel. They are all movies about people who passionately push creativity to the limits. Despite the talent, experience and determination of the people involved, the projects still fell apart. It happens, even to the best teams.

For film buffs, these kinds of documentaries give a peek into the minds of creators. Through the art and scripts that do exist, documentarians can piece together what-if scenarios. "I think it's your imagination can play around with the what-ifs," says Payne. And that's part of what makes them fodder for professional film fanatics too. "The most rewarding thing about the project would definitely be all the people we've met throughout the project," says Payne before the Egyptian screening. "These are heroes of mine."

For filmmakers, there's something relatable to films like these. "I've made pilots that will never be seen. I've spent months and months of my life working on different creative shows that no one is going to see," says Schnepp. "I empathize."

Jon Schnepp with one of The Death of Superman's original writers, Kevin Smith. 

Even with The Death of Superman Lives there was a struggle to get the movie made. Beyond the slow process of acquiring interviews, the team hit one of the most common roadblocks in filmmaking. They needed more money to complete the project. They started another round of crowd-funding, this time using a platform called FanBacked, and raised over $110,000 to cover expenses like legal fees and post-production. 

Unlike Superman Lives, the documentary about the movie came together in the end. The story comes together in accounts that range from the film's eccentric producer Jon Peters to a fleet of concept artists, along with a vast stream of art and archive footage. Schnepp fills in the blanks with recreation sequences that heightens the what-if scenario. If this movie were made, would it have changed how we think of Superman films? Does that even matter now?

"There is no definitive Superman Lives," says Schnepp. "It's creative ether."

The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? will be released July 9.