| Superman III | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Lester |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | Superman byJerry Siegel andJoe Shuster |
| Produced by | Pierre Spengler |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robert Paynter |
| Edited by | John Victor-Smith |
| Music by | Ken Thorne[a] |
Production company | Dovemead Ltd. |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 125 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom[1] United States[2] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $39 million[3] |
| Box office | $80.2 million[3] |
Superman III is a 1983superhero film directed byRichard Lester from a screenplay byDavid Newman andLeslie Newman based on theDC Comics characterSuperman.[4][5] It is the third installment in theSuperman film series and the sequel toSuperman II (1980). The film starsChristopher Reeve,Richard Pryor,Jackie Cooper,Marc McClure,Annette O'Toole,Annie Ross,Pamela Stephenson,Robert Vaughn, andMargot Kidder.[5][6] In the film, Superman battles Ross Webster, a corrupt businessman who has constructed a powerfulsupercomputer to kill him.
Superman III was released in the United States on June 17, 1983. The film proved less successful than its predecessors, both critically and financially, grossing $80.2 million worldwide. A sequel,Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, was released in 1987.
Theconglomerate Webscoe Industries hires computer programmer Gus Gorman, who secretly embezzles $85,000 from the company payroll. Gus comes to the attention of Webscoe's CEO, Ross Webster. A cunning billionaire fixated on using technology for financial domination, Webster sees Gus's skills as a valuable asset. With the help of his stern sister Vera and his mistress Lorelei Ambrosia, he blackmails Gus into aiding his schemes.
Superman extinguishes a fire in achemical plant, and, as Clark Kent, he returns toSmallville for his high school reunion. Clark reconnects with childhood friendLana Lang, who has a young son named Ricky. Superman later saves Ricky from acombine harvester accident during a picnic with Lana.
Webster orders Gus to use the weather satellite 'Vulcan' to create a storm that destroys coffee crops in Colombia, aiming tocorner the market. Gus complies, but Superman neutralizes the storm. Recognizing Superman as a threat, Webster orders Gus to synthesizeKryptonite. He does so, substituting tar for an unknown element in the chemical makeup.
Lana invites Superman to Ricky's birthday party. Gus and Vera infiltrate the party and give Superman the synthetic Kryptonite, which leaves him unharmed, to their confusion. Instead, he gradually becomes corrupted after exposure to it, leading to him committing acts of vandalism such as straightening theLeaning Tower of Pisa and blowing out theOlympic Flame.
Gus proposes building asupercomputer for Webster in exchange for creating an energy crisis by redirecting oil tankers. Lorelei seduces Superman and manipulates him into causing an oil spill. Superman suffers anervous breakdown and splits into two beings: the corrupted Superman and Clark Kent. The two fight, and Clark defeats his corrupted counterpart. Superman then repairs the damage of the oil spill.
After surviving exploding rockets and a missile, he confronts Webster, Vera, and Lorelei in the supercomputer. The computer becomes self-aware, and defends itself against attempts to disable it as it transforms Vera into a cyborg. Vera attacks Webster and Lorelei with energy beams that immobilize them. Superman retrieves acid from the chemical plant, destroying the computer.
Gus starts anew in West Virginia. Meanwhile, Clark visits Lana inMetropolis, where she begins working as a secretary forPerry White.Lois Lane returns from Bermuda with anexposé on corruption, and Superman restores the Leaning Tower of Pisa before flying into space.
Shane Rimmer appears as a state police officer. Pamela Mandell appears as the hapless wife of aDaily Planet sweepstakes winner. Aaron Smolinski, who played young Clark Kent inSuperman, appears as the boy next to the phone booth that Clark uses to change into Superman.
Richard Donner confirmed that he had been interested in writing at least two moreSuperman films which he intendedTom Mankiewicz to direct, and useBrainiac as the villain of the third film. Donner departed the series during the production ofSuperman II.[8] The film was announced at the33rd Cannes Film Festival in May 1980.[9] In December 1980, producerIlya Salkind wrote atreatment for this film that included Brainiac,Mister Mxyzptlk andSupergirl.[10][11] The treatment was released online in 2007.[12] The Mister Mxyzptlk portrayed in the outline varies from his comic counterpart as he uses his abilities to cause chaos.Dudley Moore was the first choice to play the role.[13] In the treatment, Brainiac was fromColu and had discovered Supergirl in the same way thatSuperman was found by theJonathan and Martha Kent. 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. Brainiac retaliates by using a personality machine to corrupt and manipulate Superman. The climax of the film would have seen Superman, Supergirl,Jimmy Olsen,Lana Lang and Brainiactime travel to theMiddle Ages for a final battle against Brainiac.[14] After defeating him and leaving Brainiac behind, Superman and Supergirl would have married at the end ofSuperman III or inSuperman IV.[8][11][14] The treatment was rejected as being too complex and expensive to shoot.[11][14] Because of the high budgets required for the series, the Salkinds considered selling the rights to the series toDino De Laurentiis.[9] The significance of computers, the corruption of Superman, and the splitting of Superman into good and evil would be used in the final film.[14] The film was originally intended to be titledSuperman vs. Superman, but was retitled after the producers ofKramer vs. Kramer threatened a lawsuit.[15]
BothGene Hackman andMargot Kidder are said to have been angry with the way the Ilya andAlexander Salkind treatedSuperman director Donner, with Hackman retaliating by refusing to reprise the role ofLex Luthor.[16] After Kidder publicly criticized the Salkinds for their treatment of Donner,[17] the producers reportedly punished Kidder by reducing her role inSuperman III to a brief appearance.[16][18] Hackman later denied such claims, stating that he had been busy with other movies and that making Luthor a constant villain would be similar to horror movie sequels where a serial killer keeps coming back. Hackman would reprise his role as Lex Luthor inSuperman IV which the Salkinds had no involvement in. In the commentary for the 2006 DVD release ofSuperman III,Ilya Salkind denied any negative feelings between 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 theLois Lane and Clark Kent relationship had been overdone in the first two films. With the choice to give a more prominent role to Lana Lang, the role of Lois was reduced for story reasons. Salkind also denied the reports about Hackman being upset with him, stating that he was unable to return because of other film commitments.
ThoughChristopher Reeve had been contracted for seven films as Superman, he engaged a lawyer to renegotiate his contract prior to production. ProducerPierre Spengler described the process of securing Reeve's return as contentious, though Ilya Salkind recalls that Reeve approved of theSuperman III script and was more than willing to reprise his role.[19]
After an appearance byRichard Pryor onThe Tonight Show,[17] tellingJohnny Carson how much he enjoyed seeingSuperman andSuperman II, and Pryor jokingly stated his desire to appear in a futureSuperman installment,[20] the Salkinds were eager to cast him in a prominent role in the third film, using the success of Pryor in the filmsSilver Streak,Stir Crazy andThe Toy.[18] Pryor accepted a $5 million salary.[15] Following the release of the film, Pryor signed a five-year contract withColumbia Pictures for $40 million.[21]
Principal photography began on June 21, 1982. Most of the interior scenes were shot atPinewood Studios outside London. The junkyard scene was filmed on the backlot of Pinewood. The coal mine scene was filmed atBattersea Power Station. Most exteriors were filmed inCalgary because of tax breaks for film companies. Superman's drinking was filmed at the St. Louis Hotel inDowntown East Village, Calgary, while other scenes such as the slapstick comedy opening were shot several blocks to the west.[citation needed] While the supercomputer set was created on the007 Stage, exteriors were shot atGlen Canyon in Utah.[22]
The film includes the same special effects team from the first two films.[23][24]To create the video game computer animation for the missile scene,Time Warner's CEO at the time,Steve Ross, contactedRay Kassar, the CEO of its subsidiaryAtari. Kassar assigned the task to Steve Wright, head of Atari's special project department.[25][26] Wright worked with Pat Cole and Paul Hughett among others to complete the project. Rather than create high-resolution realistic computer graphics, the project's aim was to depict a "video game of the future". The project cost around US$120,000, with between $95,000–$100,000 USD going towards technology hardware.[25][27] Prior to the request, Wright had developed a high-end graphics system to quickly create video game prototypes at Atari, which allowed them to create the footage more quickly than traditional programming in assembly language at the time.[26][28] The system was aLisp machine with aSymbolicsmicroprocessor connected to an Ikonusframebuffer, which acted as the graphics chip.[27][28] The system's software included a paint and animation program to create the graphics and a program to create the scripts that dictate movement and interaction.[25] To complete the setup for the film project, Atari purchased Wright a Matrixfilm recorder with an Acme 35mmanimation camera. Wright approached Carl Rosendahl from computer animation studio PDI to set up and calibrate the newly created recording system.[26]
Production for the missile video game segment lasted approximately four months, from November 1982 until February 1983.[25][27] Wright's brother, Larry Wright, served as the segment's art director. The team created storyboards of the sequence prior to creating the graphics. To plan the necessary computer functions, the story boards included computer graphic coordinates and geometric symbols to indicate the movement of graphical objects. Vicki Parrish used this information to program the positions of the sprites for Superman and the rockets as well as scroll the background.[27] The various graphics were placed on differentlayers and then shifted positions to create aparallax effect in order to give the appearance of depth, a technique Wright referred to as "2½D".[27][28] The team would generate a low resolution preview to ensure the footage appeared as intended, which took the system about an hour and a half to generate. When satisfied with the preview, the team generated a high resolution version and appliedanti-aliasing to remove jagged edges around the graphics. Each frame was photographed by the camera, which took 120 hours to capture the 1440 frames of graphics.[27] The team created 60 seconds of footage, of which directorRichard Lester used around 27 seconds in the final film.[25][27] The footage was sent to Lester in London. After reviewing it, he requested some changes before the footage was ready to include in the film.[27]
As with the previous sequel, the musical score was composed and conducted byKen Thorne, using the Superman theme and most other themes from the first film composed byJohn Williams.Giorgio Moroder was hired to create songs for the film.
The appearance of the cover ofChuck Berry's songRoll Over Beethoven, bythe Beatles acts as an indirect reference and connection withA Hard Day's Night andHelp!; both were also directed by Richard Lester.[20]
Superman III was screened at theUptown Theater inWashington, D.C., on June 12, 1983, and premiered in New York on June 14, 1983, at Cinema I.[29] It was released on June 17, 1983,[30] in the United States and July 19, 1983, in the United Kingdom.
William Kotzwinkle wrote a novelization of the film published byWarner Books in the US and byArrow Books in the UK;Severn House published a British hardcover edition. Kotzwinkle thought the novelization "a delight the world has yet to find out about."[31] However, writing inVoice of Youth Advocates,Roberta Rogow hoped this would be the finalSuperman 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."[32]
Like the previous films, a separate extended edition was produced and aired onABC. The opening credits were in outer space, featuring an edited version of the film's end-credit theme music, serving as an opening theme. This is followed by a number of scenes, including additional dialogue but not added in any of the officialVHS,DVD orBlu-ray cuts of the film. The Deluxe Edition ofSuperman III, released in 2006 along with the DVD release ofSuperman Returns, included these scenes in the extra features section as deleted scenes.[33][better source needed]
Superman III grossed $60 million at the United States box office, and $20.2 million internationally, for a total of $80.2 million worldwide.[3] The film was the 12th-highest-grossing film of 1983 in North America.[34]
Superman III holds a 31% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes based on 102 reviews. The critical consensus reads "When not overusing sight gags, slapstick, and Richard Pryor,Superman III resorts to plot points rehashed from the previousSuperman flicks."[35] The film has aMetacritic rating of 44, indicating "mixed or average reviews" from 13 professional reviewers.[36]
Film criticLeonard Maltin said thatSuperman 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".[37] The film was nominated for twoGolden Raspberry Awards includingWorst Supporting Actor for Richard Pryor andWorst Musical Score for Giorgio Moroder at the4th Golden Raspberry Awards.[38] Audiences also sawRobert Vaughn's villainous Ross Webster as a weak replacement for Lex Luthor.[17][39]
Christopher John reviewedSuperman III inAres magazine #16 and commented that "compared to the first film in this series, everything aboutSuperman 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."[40]
Colin Greenland reviewedSuperman III forImagine magazine, and stated that "What ultimately spoils the fun inSuperman III is not the incoherent story or even the technophobia. It is simply overloaded—too many ideas, too many gadgets, too many stars (Pamela Stephenson is completely wasted in a part which would have been too dumb forGoldie Hawn). The wiring all comes loose at the end; an anticlimax, and a rushed one at that."[41]
Fans of theSuperman series placed a great deal of the blame on director Richard Lester.[17] Lester made a number of comedies[17] in the 1960s—including the Beatles'A Hard Day's Night—before being hired by the Salkinds in the 1970s for their successfulThree Musketeers series, as well asSuperman II which, although better received, was also criticized for unnecessary sight gags and slapstick. Lester broke tradition by setting the opening credits forSuperman III during a prolongedslapstick sequence rather than in outer space.
The film's screenplay, byDavid andLeslie Newman, was also criticized.[17] When Richard Donner was hired to direct the first two films, he rejected the Newman scripts and hired Tom Mankiewicz for heavy rewrites. Since Donner and Mankiewicz were no longer attached, the Salkinds were able to bring their version ofSuperman to the screen and once again hired the Newmans for writing duties.[16] The performance of Reeve as the corrupted Superman received praise, particularly the junkyard battle between the dark Superman and Clark Kent.[35][42]
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