Superman III

Series producer Ilya Salkind originally wrote a treatment for this film that included Brainiac, Mister Mxyzptlk and Supergirl, but Warner Bros. did not like it.[6] The treatment was released online in 2007.[7] The Mr. Mxyzptlk portrayed in the outline varies from his good-humored comic counterpart, as he uses his abilities to cause serious harm. Dudley Moore was the top choice to play the role.[8] Meanwhile, in the same treatment, Brainiac was from Colu and had discovered Supergirl in the same way that Superman was found by the Kents. Brainiac is portrayed as a surrogate father to Supergirl and eventually fell in love with his "daughter", who did not reciprocate his feelings, as she had fallen in love with Superman.

Both Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder are said to have been angry with the way the Salkinds treated Superman director Richard Donner, with Hackman retaliating by refusing to reprise the role of Lex Luthor.[9] After Margot Kidder publicly criticized the Salkinds for their treatment of Donner,[10] the producers reportedly "punished" the actress by reducing her role in Superman III to a brief appearance.[9][11] Hackman later denied such claims, stating that he had been busy with other movies and general consensus that making Luthor a constant villain would be akin to incessant horror movie sequels where a serial killer keeps coming back from the grave. Hackman would reprise his role as Lex Luthor in Superman IV, with which the Salkinds had no involvement. In his commentary for the 2006 DVD release of Superman III, Ilya Salkind denied any ill will between Margot Kidder and his production team and denied the claim that her part was cut for retaliation. Instead, he said, the creative team decided to pursue a different direction for a love interest for Superman, believing the Lois and Clark relationship had been played out in the first two films (but could be revisited in the future). With the choice to give a more prominent role to Lana Lang, Lois' part was reduced for story reasons. Salkind also denied the reports about Gene Hackman being upset with him, stating that Hackman was unable to return because of other film commitments.

After an appearance by Richard Pryor on The Tonight Show,[10] telling Johnny Carson how much he enjoyed seeing Superman II, the Salkinds were eager to cast him in a prominent role in the third film, riding on Pryor's success in Silver Streak, Stir Crazy and The Toy.[11] Following the release of the film, Pryor signed a five-year contract with Columbia Pictures worth $40 million.[12]

Most of the interior scenes were shot, like the previous Superman films, at Pinewood Studios outside London. The junkyard scene was filmed on Pinewood's backlot. The coal mine scene, where Superman leaves Gus, was filmed at Battersea Power Station,[13] where Richard Lester had previously shot scenes for the Beatles film Help!. Most exteriors were filmed in Calgary due to Canada's tax breaks for film companies. Superman's drinking binge was filmed at the St. Louis Hotel in Downtown East Village, Calgary. While the supercomputer set was created on Pinewood's 007 Stage, exteriors were shot at Glen Canyon in Utah.[14]

The film includes "the same special effects team" from the prior two films.[15][16] Atari, part of Warner, created the video game computer animation for the missile defense scene.[17][18][19]

As with the previous sequel, the musical score was composed and conducted by Ken Thorne, using the Superman theme and most other themes from the first film composed by John Williams, but this time around there is more original music by Thorne than the Williams re-arrangements. To capitalize on the popularity of synthesizer pop, Giorgio Moroder was hired to create songs for the film (though their use in the film is minimal).

William Kotzwinkle wrote a novelization of the film published in paperback by Warner Books in the U.S. and by Arrow Books in the United Kingdom to coincide with the film's release; Severn House published a British hardcover edition. Kotzwinkle thought the novelization "a delight the world has yet to find out about."[20] However, writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, Roberta Rogow hoped this would be the final Superman film and said, "Kotzwinkle has done his usual good job of translating the screenplay into a novel, but there are nasty undertones to the film, and there are nasty undertones to the novel as well. Adults may enjoy the novel on its own merits, as a Black Comedy of sorts, but it's not written for kids, and most of the under-15 crowd will either be puzzled or revolted by Kotzwinkle's dour humor."[21]

Like the previous films, a separate extended edition was produced. It was aired on ABC. The opening credits were in outer space, featuring the main Superman theme with slight differences. This is followed by a number of scenes, including additional dialogue but not added into any of the official VHS, DVD or Blu-ray cuts of the film. The "Deluxe Edition" of Superman III, released in 2006 on par with the DVD release of Superman Returns, included these scenes in its extra features section as "deleted scenes".[22]

For many years, the TV rights to Superman III were not held by Warner Bros.; initially they were held by Viacom, along with Superman IV and the 1984 Supergirl film. Upon the merger with Paramount in 1995, Paramount TV inherited rights to this package, marking the first involvement of Paramount Pictures in the Superman franchise since the rights to the 1940s theatrical cartoons from Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios reverted to DC Comics in the 1950s.

The TV package rights finally moved to Warner Bros. in 2006, but because Cannon Films co-produced Superman IV, TV rights to that movie returned to Paramount in 2009 via Trifecta Entertainment & Media as the studio owns the TV license to the Cannon library (which is mostly handled by MGM for other media).

Parker Brothers released a board game in 1983, inspired by the film. Although the box says, "Based on the Movie," the game uses comic-book art rather than art or stills from the film (to avoid royalty payments for the use on likenesses) and is barely related to the story of the film. DC Comics launched a comic book adaptation written by Cary Bates and illustrated by Curt Swan. Even Topps had a series of trading cards with stills from the movie. In 2013, Hong Kong toy based company Hot Toys launched a Superman III action figure of the evil Man of Steel with the likeness of Christopher Reeve.

Superman III grossed $60 million at the domestic box office.[3] Once domestic, international and rental totals were tallied, the film's box office gross totaled $100 million worldwide.[25] The film was the 12th highest-grossing film of 1983 in North America.[26]

Audience and critics' and the fans reviews were generally negative and unfavorable. At Rotten Tomatoes, 26% of critics have given the film positive reviews, based on 45 reviews with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's critical consensus states, "When not overusing sight gags, slapstick and Richard Pryor, Superman III resorts to plot points rehashed from the previous Superman flicks."[27]

Film critic Leonard Maltin said that Superman III was an "appalling sequel that trashed everything that Superman was about for the sake of cheap laughs and a co-starring role for Richard Pryor".[28] The film was nominated for two Razzie Awards including Worst Supporting Actor for Richard Pryor and Worst Musical Score for Giorgio Moroder.[29] Audiences also saw Robert Vaughn's villainous Ross Webster as an inferior fill-in for Lex Luthor.[10][30]

Christopher John reviewed Superman III in Ares Magazine #16 and commented that "compared to the first film in this series, everything about Superman III is a joke, a harsh cruel joke played on all the people who wanted to see more of the Superman they saw a few years ago."[31]

Fans of the Superman series placed a great deal of the blame on director Richard Lester.[10] Lester made a number of popular comedies[10] in the 1960s — including The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night — before being hired by the Salkinds in the 1970s for their successful Three Musketeers series, as well as Superman II which, although better received, was also criticised for unnecessary sight gags and slapstick. Lester broke tradition by setting the opening credits for Superman III during a prolonged slapstick sequence rather than in outer space.

The film's screenplay, by David and Leslie Newman, was also criticized.[10] When Richard Donner was hired to direct the first two films, he found the Newmans' scripts so distasteful that he hired Tom Mankiewicz for heavy rewrites. Since Donner and Mankiewicz were no longer attached, the Salkinds were free to bring their version of Superman to the screen and once again hired the Newmans for writing duties.[9] Reeve stated in his autobiography that the original script for the first Superman had so many puns and gags that it risked having Superman earn a reputation akin to that of Batman being associated with the campy TV show of the 1960s. "In one scene in this script, Superman would be in pursuit of Lex Luthor, identified by his bald head and grab him, only to realize he had captured Telly Savalas who would remark "Who loves ya, baby?" and offer Superman a lollipop. Dick [Donner] had done away with much of that inanity."

Reeve's own performance as a corrupted Man of Steel received praise, particularly the junkyard battle between this newly darkened Superman and Clark Kent.[27] One of the film's positive reviews was from the fiction writer Donald Barthelme, who praised Reeve as "perfect", also describing Vaughn as "essentially playing William Buckley - all those delicious ponderings, popping of the eyes, licking of the corner of the mouth."[32]