I already knew about 40% of this (having heard Smith's account on his lecture tour DVD, and much of the rest of it from either Wizard or AICN--especially the JJ Abrams part), so it was nice to have the blanks filled in for me. I had no idea the production of Superman 4 was that screwed over, but if you watch the film it makes sense. Talk about low budget...
(And Tim Burton hasn't made a good movie since "Ed Wood". )
I'm wondering where this article originated from, though. The people on the site you linked to didn't seem to know for sure, either. I'm not doubting its accuracy, just curious as to who wrote it and when it was written (before Bryan Singer was involved obviously).