With street-level and two to three storeys in height complete, the set of Metropolis Tower and surrounding buildings are shown above at various stages during filming for key sequences in Superman IV: The Quest For Peace at Elstree Studios in 1986.
As the entire film was to be made on location in the UK, The illusion of The Big Apricot would be achieved by a combination of live action and background plates shot by the second unit of New York City with matte paintings to extend the sets above into an appropriate skyline.
Due to budget cuts, however, few paintings would be completed and make the final cut resulting in much of the undressed studio exteriors being exposed in some scenes, most notably in the Nuclearman I confrontation, which, with the exception of a neon sign, was shot against an unaltered studio wall opposite the set shown above.
Littering the road in front of the set are the remains of the car shunt between Nuclearman and Superman, where the hydraulic cable device (second pic) is clearly visible having pulled and compacted a number of vehicles into a pile (third pic) for a scene that famously ended upon the cutting room floor.
As previewed in the last post, the large awning is the marker for the entrance to Metropolis Tower, where Superman confronts the second Nuclear Man (bottom pic) after he creates a series of explosions and levitates a group of pedestrians to intimidate the Man Of Steel. This is the most infamous of the unfinished FX shots as the studio roof is visible in the background rather than the intended skyscrapers…
Thanks again to Superfan Alexei Lambley-Steel for use of his incredible set pics..!
…They will come. Courtesy of Superfan Alexei Lambley-Steel come these fascinating rare pictures taken of the construction of the Metropolis street for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace at London’s Elstree Studios.
As detailed in the production paperwork highlighted in this post, these elaborate NYC style fascia’s were erected at an apparent cost of £1.3 Million against existing studio buildings (see the exact location on the studio plan circa 1986 here) for the battles between Superman & Nuclearman I and II.
At the early stage shown above it may not be immediately apparent what role this backdrop plays in the film but all we be revealed in the next post – meantime the large awning framework in the last two pics may provide a clue…
Please join SUPERMANIA in wishing our very own intrepid Lois Lane a happy birthday for last week – we celebrate by recalling some of her typically frank and outspoken interviews from back in the day accompanied by a rare shot from her Superman Bath towel session.
UK fans have a rare opportunity to meet and greet the charming Margot Kidder herself this weekend at Cardiff Film & Comic Con, where she will be the subject of a Q&A and photograph session besides the customary signing of autographs. Feel free to leave comments here should you see the lady herself..!
SUPERMANIA is proud to present this world-first exclusive and significant documentation of film history courtesy of SuperFan Jay Towers –
Presumed lost to time deep in the vaults of Elstree Studios and buried amongst the pages of the final shooting script from Cannon Films (also to come!) are these few seemingly inconsequential notes that actually form the breakdown of no less than the entire set requirements for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace including cost estimates (In Sterling!)
The year is 1986 and ambitious producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus have invested a considerable sum to secure the rights to the Superman motion picture property from Alexander and Ilya Salkind and and had dedicated the largest budget in the history of their studio to producing this sequel with plans for more to follow.
Unfortunately, as Cannon already had a plethora of films already at various stages in production and was actually in dire financial straits, Superman IV’s original budget of $30 Million plus would steadily erode to approximately half of this during the shoot, where bottom line figures for the sets alone (£5.4 Million – third pic) surely had execs sweating.
Indeed, cutbacks in the finished film are evident where £220,000 was saved replicating sets as established in the previous pictures by filming scenes in the Daily Planet offices on location in an existing office building Milton Keynes, UK and similarly £60,000 saved by utilizing London’s Hippodrome as the interior of the Metro Club.
As further savings were made by shooting entirely in England, epic scenes such as Superman’s arrival on 42nd street would infamously be shot outside Milton Keynes train station rather than New York City and Aldwych Tube Station would become Metropolis Central with minimal dressing.
For some otherworldly environments and cityscapes where battles would take place, however, elaborate sets had to be built. Part of Cannon’s attempt at industry domination was the acquisition of flailing Elstree Studios, resulting in Superman’s controversial relocation from Pinewood and the loss of its much-needed technical facilities. Whereas Pinewood’s backlot had devoted acres and millions to the accurate reproduction of a New York street for Superman II, at Elstree façades of buildings were pinned outside its studio walls with backgrounds intended to be composited in by matte paintings later. This accounts for the visible wobbling and the noticeable rooftops (where the paintings weren’t added). nonetheless, apparently it cost £1.3 million pounds to achieve this (second pic).
Even Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, once housed by the world-famous 007 stage at Pinewood, was completely rebuilt on a smaller scale at Elstree for a bargain £3 Million (Top pic).
Among the more successful sets were Lex Luthor’s Penthouse lair (£150,000, top pic) and the location set of the Kent farmhouse (at £67,000 one questions if a small unit sent out to the original Canadian locale may have been cheaper) not to mention the sets built for scenes ultimately cut from the finished film entirely (US/Russian conference rooms).
Finally, further evidence of cost cutting is exemplified in the simple memo from Associate Producer Graham Easton (dated 11th Sept, Bottom pic) to all parties dropping a sequence involving the construction of a full-size blimp (see the storyboards here) and the costly appearance of the QEII.
While its well-documented on SUPERMANIA just how and why the 1987 release ended the franchise on such a sour note, its evidence such as this, so rare and so fascinating, that offers further proof that in the initial stages at least, this production was intended to be every bit as epic as its predecessors…
Coming soon – The building of a Metropolis…
…Today.
We still believe.
(Restoration by Sebastian Colombo)
