When the Salkinds struck their historic deal with DC Comics way back in 1973, the character of Superman was, of course, the prize. Much to the Salkinds delight, however, the rights didn’t just extend to The Man Of Steel, but now the entire Superman family was at their disposal. As their primary focus was going to be developing the movie to make audiences believe a man could fly (which would take another five years), and with the ultimate vision of creating an ongoing series of pictures ‘much like the Bond saga’, the chances of any of these lower-tier comic-book creations ever being exposed to celluloid were slim. Until the unthinkable happened.
Though the first Superman movie and its sequel had been a critical and commercial success, by 1983, the third in the series had not fared as well in either department. This, plus the reluctance of the leading man to continue in the role had prompted the Salkinds to regroup and consider the alternatives. Remembering that there was a whole back-catalogue of as-yet unexploited members of the Super-family from which to choose, Ilya Salkind announced Supergirl was in in pre-production faster than a speeding bullet.
With the cultural phenomenon status that the Superman films had enjoyed, it seemed inconceivable that both part three and now Supergirl (on its release in 1984) had failed to reach similar heights. But fall they did and so the Salkinds, burned by the experience financially and fearing the era of the superhero movie was coming to an end, opted for an equally iconic character for their next project. When Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) also failed to deliver the Salkinds needed a quick solution to recoup their debts. Superman was now up for sale.
In a meeting at Cannes in 1985, the rights to Superman were hurriedly snapped up by producers Menachem Golan and Yorum Globus of the Cannon Group Inc. Cannon Films, despite their well-earned reputation for churning out low budget, straight to video fare , were nothing if not ambitious and were looking to expand into the mainstream (whatever the cost). Golan & Globus methods were simple -acquire the rights to as many properties as possible, (Captain America, Spider-Man, Masters Of The Universe for example) announce they were all in ‘pre-production’ (without so much as a script in place) create the hype, gain the finance and shoot the picture quickly on as low a budget as possible.
This was all set to change as Golan & Globus promised to usher in a new era with the announcement of Superman IV, shooting in 1986. The fledgeling producers had one major problem, however, that they knew had to be overcome before anybody would take the project seriously. And so, after much negotiation and showing just how much they were committed to invest in the Superman series, Christopher Reeve was lured into the ‘Cannon Family’ (top pic, from the pages of Variety) with the ecstatic producers proclaiming that they had managed to secure him by ‘Giving him the picture he wanted, and one that the world wanted’. With Reeve’s personal project (contemporary thriller Street Smart) instantly greenlighted and creative control (to include writing and second unit direction) on the latest Super adventure, Reeve would become a willing Cannon ambassador (even making a personal appearance for the opening of a Cannon Multiplex cinema in Salford Quays, Manchester.)
The infatuation with their new adoptive son would be short-lived, however, and Reeve would soon become the black sheep of the Cannon family. In an amazing show of foresight, during the filming of Street Smart, Reeve challenged an outraged Menachem Golan by demanding another 1.5 million to shoot on location in New York, stating ‘If you don’t have the money to do this, how do I know you have the 30 Million to do Superman IV?’ (See video)
Of course, history now tells us just how well-founded these concerns were, as by January of 1987 Screen International covered the story of Cannon’s bailing out by Warner Brothers (second pic) but such was the extent of the company’s losses that it collapsed altogether the following year, having slashed Superman IV (now subtitled ‘The Quest For Peace’) ‘s budget and forcing Director Gary Goddard to fund the closing scenes of Masters Of The Universe out of his own pocket.
It was a debacle that the Superman series, and ultimately Reeve’s career would sadly not recover from. The Salkinds, meanwhile, Clinging on steadfastly to whatever DC Comics properties they had left, had decided to venture into television with Superboy (1988) which, while not a patch on its predecessors, had been a modest success, proving audiences were still interested in the genre. After the debacle of Superman IV, and incensed by the treatment of their most beloved and successful property, the Salkinds immediately moved to reacquire the rights from Cannon during their liquidation and move forward on a project with the working title of ‘Superman – The New Movie’…
SUPERMANIA flies straight into the fortieth anniversary year of Superman: The Movie‘s production with a renewed pledge to bring you the most rare and obscure ephemera from the classic films as exemplified by the scarce promo’s above.
From the top – clipped from the pages of British Screen, the half page ad for Superman IV features a rare behind the scenes still of Christopher Reeve swooping in to Milton Keynes as part of Cannon Films optimistic submissions to BAFTA – A newspaperad for the comic adaptation of Superman IV from 1987 – A DC Comics trade ad championing Neal Adams return to Superman comics in 1988 and a somewhat premature announcement for Superman V from a brochure given out at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.
Of course, in an ideal world, all of the above would be true but in fact, sadly none of these images are genuine vintage but are in fact the latest creations of artist and SuperFan Jason Leggett, whose convincing works of nostalgia have been featured on the site many times before. Look out for more of Jason’s retro designs in the coming weeks…
Now that the long-awaited team-up of the Man of Steel with the Maid of Might has finally made its successful screen debut, (albeit on television) SUPERMANIA goes once upon a time-warp to investigate just how & why the opportunity to do this some thirty years earlier on the big screen was lost.
With the latest addition to the collection of a second-draft script (Dated November 1982) produced by Alexander Salkind and written by David Odell, could the mystery of Christopher Reeve’s 11th hour decision to pull out (forcing last-minute script rewrites) be solved? Would the film have been better received had Superman remained part of the story as originally planned?
By late 1982 filming was concluding on Superman III with the general understanding that this would be the last of a ground-breaking, phenomenally successful movie trilogy. By part III, the saga was flailing in terms of concept and script quality and its star was also keen to move on to pursue other roles. Not yet ready to put their cash cow back out to pasture, however, producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind (cannily having made the deal for the rights to the entire Superman family back in 1976) decided to mount a spin-off series of pictures based on the adventures of Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El. Supergirl.
With Jaws 2 and Somewhere In Time Director Jeannot Swarzc attached and Dark Crystal screenwriter Odell on script duties, to say nothing of a gargantuan budget for the time and the same talented team of SFX technicians the Salkind’s must have been assured of another blockbuster franchise…
Its surprising for a second draft just how much material made it unchecked into the finished picture – the plot, structure and dialogue in key scenes survived what would have been countless rewrites after Superman’s exit. So what of his role in the story? Evidently, the lack of a Superman forced the creation of the Omegahedron, the power source Kara pursues in the movie to save her home Argo City, from destruction.
Keen to capitalise on Reeve’s established audience to springboard their new, unknown star, Superman was supposed to be ready and waiting for Kara’s arrival so he could introduce her to a new world. As for insights into what made Reeve reject the script – arguably it may still have been to early to return to the part having publicly made his decision to retire but beyond that, the material presented here was, for want of a better word, garbage.
With all the rich story potential this opens up (to say nothing of Supergirl’s comic-book history) it seems incredible Odell produced such a confusing nonsensical mess based around the weak concept of ‘Magic’. The Superman here is not developed in any way and lacks the charm and warmth we associate with the character . In fact, Kal-El and Kara are afforded little time together to build any kind of relationship before Superman gets relegated to a bizarre sub-plot, abandoning Earth for- I kid you not – the ‘Planet of the Healers’ not to reappear until the end. His one big action scene, (the battle with the invisible Shadow Beast shot with Supergirl in the final cut) is played out exactly as in the film ‘Leave this place and do no harm!’ but renders him weak and powerless having been exposed to Selena’s spell.
This, alongside the odd Zoltar character (a confused self-involved artist – not yet the scenery-chewing incarnation he becomes) and Jody (not yet Lucy) Lane and poor Jimmy Olsen showing up in once scene do little to advance proceedings. Conversely, the Selena character is given a far more sinister background here as the newly-elected leader of an occult sect – but without the desire for the Omegahedron’s power she’s given no more motivation to take over the world than to win the affections of her dimwit gardener and destroy Supergirl in the process. Its possible the witchcraft illustrated here (including using a severed ear as a communication device!) made the producers nervous about appealing to a family audience so was diluted to the cringe worthy camp which it became.
In short, its not difficult to understand why the movie failed on so many levels and why Reeve was smart enough to turn it down. Today, as a cult curio if little else, Supergirl has its fans and is fondly remembered but hardly the cinematic titan it was intended. Had Odell adhered more to the science fiction aspect without fully embracing the fantasy elements (Innerspace/Outerspace? What?) we would surely have gotten a better take (a road the producers of the current Supergirl series have wisely taken) and who knows? A Super-sequel guest starring the Man of Steel may have been the premiere Super-Hero team-up we deserved…
From the top – Christopher Reeve & Helen Slater meet at a Premiere in 1984, Unpublished poster art by Lawrence Noble, Front cover and select script pages featuring Superman from Odell’s 132 page screenplay…
With 50 years in the business, its inevitable that you will have seen Mr. Paul Weston in numerous genre classics and most likely not even realised.
With an impressive (most impressive) resume that boasts seminal pictures like ALIEN, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Return Of The Jedi, Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves and Bond films The Living Daylights, Octopussy and Moonraker to name but a few, it should come as no surprise Paul would also lend his talents and expertise to the big screen adventures of the Man of Steel.
“I worked on Superman’s one, two and three, the veteran stuntman, co-ordinator and second – unit Director revealed to SUPERMANIA this past weekend at MCM Comic-Con –
“Chris Reeve was just lovely. He came in and he was so young – just a kid – and he was tall and broad but he had no chest, it was flat. I remember they made him up a padded suit, like the Batman ones now and he wouldn’t have it, he went straight to the gym. After a while they brought in Dave Prowse and when he was ready he looked fantastic.
When we had him up in the air the first few times he was learning how to hold himself so he was streamlined. We found that unless he pointed his toes it didn’t look right but it was hard to do, hold yourself like that. We’d be down on the ground shouting up at him ‘POINT YOUR TOES CHRIS!’ and when he did he’d got it. It became so much of a thing on set that when he eventually went home on Concorde, we had the pilot announce over the tannoy ‘Would a Mr. Christopher Reeve remember to keep his toes pointed in flight’. He loved that.
“Everything you see in the Junkyard battle in Part III that isn’t Chris himself is me. We worked really hard on that scene. There were instances where we both had to be in the same shot and they super-imposed his face over mine. In The Making Of Superman III you can see me on the swing being thrown into the car crusher.
I had Superman belt and a pair of boots – I kept them for years but eventually I just threw them away. Same with ALIEN, I had a costume, pipes on the back and everything but that was thrown too. Back then these things had no worth, its all different now. I heard the ALIEN costume would’ve fetched literally thousands but there you go…”
Obviously not one for hanging on to souvenirs, very few pictures of Paul on the Superman sets exist so he was kind enough to sign a still of his late friend Chris for SUPERMANIA (top pic) while the remainder of them are borrowed form Paul’s fantastic website – these rare pics show Paul on the Chemical Plant set (second from top), consulting with fellow Stuntman Roy Alon in Calgary for the fire hydrant crash and celebrating in the early days at Pinewood (bottom) with the news of Chris Reeve’s impending fatherhood.
Still very much active in the industry, Paul finds time to attend conventions and give talks on his fascinating career and is always happy to share stories with fans. Should you wish to catch him he has an upcoming event in December at GATA where he is hosting an evening called ‘My Life In Stunts’ which is sure to be another Super-Occasion…
Taking its rightful place as the centrepiece in an exhibition charting a trio of cinematic Sci-Fi anniversaries, an original Superman costume stands proudly among selected screen used props currently showcased in Moyes’s Hall Museum UK.
Celebrating its 8th Sci-Fi Action exhibitionin acknowledgement of 30 years of the Alien franchise, 40 years since the camera’s rolled on the original Star Wars and 50 years of Star Trek, the West Suffolk site is currently housing over 100 items of memorabilia from these enduring saga’s and more.
Described as ‘Perhaps the most iconic Movie costume of all time’ and on loan from Propstore, the Christopher Reeve Superman display has had somewhat of an upgrade since it was last seen in public at Covent Garden in 2012. Although the costume remains the same combination of mis-matched tunic & tights last seen by SUPERMANIA on the Propstore tour, it has apparently been neatly re-mounted on the mannequin with a new \S/ shield base and the cape now sports its yellow patch – missing since the original display since its first appearance in 2010. Stephen Lane himself told me he had the shield in storage the whole time (which accounts for its clean appearance) but had yet to re-attach it – making this the very first time the costume has been displayed 100% complete.
Superfan Andrew Hanton took the fantastic pics above and had this to say about his close encounter –
“My wife works in Bury St Edmunds and said she had seen a leaflet about a small sci-fi exhibition in Bury’s Moyse’s Hall Museum in the town centre. I wasn’t too interested as I usually attend the big Showmasters Comicon events said ‘Mmm I don’t think I’ll bother’ – then she said ‘they have Christopher Reeve’s Superman suit on display!’ Well my reaction was ‘No way!!’ Sure enough it was true so the next day we drove to Bury to see the costume, when I walked in the room I couldn’t believe my eyes – it was a dream come true for me – a Superman and in particular a Christopher Reeve fan since the age of 8 (I’m now 41). There it stood in a glass case and to top it off it was standing proud on a Christopher Reeve mannequin. Although a little battered & bruised it looked amazing and to be up close to the real thing was overwhelming, the tunic was a little faded but for me that added to it, as the ‘S’ stood out vibrant in colour and proud. We were allowed to take as many pictures and video it as we liked which was brilliant, apart from seeing this iconic suit for me it affirmed the authenticity of my ‘Super Costumes’ replica as I have to say mine is pretty damn close to the original which makes me even more pleased with it. All in all a wonderful day and only £5 to get in – who’d of thought I’d get to fulfill a life long dream – seeing a Superman costume & in little old Bury St Edmunds…!”
The exhibition runs until Sunday November 13th so be quick if you want to share the experience of seeing it for yourself – click on the tab in the right hand column for details and be sure to leave comments here about your visit..!
