with his X2 writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. While in Hawaii, Singer, Dougherty and Harris began to outline the film treatment. In July 2004, Singer signed on to direct and develop Superman Returns. Although he was not a comic book fan, Singer was most impressed with Donner's 1978 film, citing it as an influence of his, Dougherty and Harris's writing. With Singer's hiring, he dropped out of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and also had the Logan's Run remake pushed back. Superman Returns was financed 50/50 between Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, and pre-production began in November 2004. By February 2005, Dougherty and Harris had written six drafts of the script. Early versions of the script contained references to the September 11 attacks before they were removed. Casting Jim Caviezel expressed interest in playing the role of Superman but Singer believed only an unknown actor would be suitable for the part of Superman. Brandon Routh was chosen from thousands of candidates interviewed at casting calls in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. He had coincidentally auditioned for Clark Kent in the television series Smallville, but lost to Tom Welling. Routh had also met director Joseph "McG" Nichol for the role during pre-production of Superman: Flyby. Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher Reeve, believed Routh's physical resemblance to her late husband was striking. To obtain the muscular physique to play Superman convincingly, Routh underwent a strict bodybuilding exercise regimen. Prior to Routh's casting, Singer had X2 actor Daniel Cudmore audition. Henry Cavill, Sam Heughan and Chris Pratt also auditioned; Cavill would later portray Superman in several DC Extended Universe films. Kevin Spacey was the only actor considered for Lex Luthor, because of his Oscar-winning performance in Singer's film The Usual Suspects (1995), and friendship with the director. The writers specifically had Spacey in mind for the part when writing the script. For the part of Lois Lane, Spacey recommended Kate Bosworth to Singer for the role, because she had co-starred with Spacey in Beyond the Sea (2004) as Sandra Dee. Claire Danes and Keri Russell were reportedly also considered. Amy Adams, who would later be cast as Lois Lane in the 2013 reboot Man of Steel, confirmed in an interview that she had also auditioned for Lois in 2005. Adams had previously auditioned for Lois in 2003 when Brett Ratner was planning to direct Superman: Flyby. Bosworth studied Katharine