What if the Train wreck known as " Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" had never gotten made and instead " Superman III" had been the last Christopher Reeve Superman movie ever made? Would " Superman Returns" and " Man of Steel" have still gotten made? Would " Superman Lives" have gotten made? Would there be any Superman reboot of some sort at all? Would Cannon Films have gotten to make their " Spider-Man" movie?
WI: No Superman IV
- Thread starter spiderduck1997
- Start date
John Farson
Banned
The Superman films overall enjoy a better reputation, with only Superman III being the weakest of the bunch, and even it had its good bits.
To be honest I watched all 3 Super man films several times over the years and enjoyed them at the time - Superman IV however? I had no clue it existed until a few years ago and from its poor reputation I am as likely to watch it as I am the Star Wars Chirstmas Special.
So I think as mentioned Superman III would be seen as the weakest but still okay had it not been made
So I think as mentioned Superman III would be seen as the weakest but still okay had it not been made
It would be seen as a strong triolgy with a slightly weaker third installment. We may have gotten a superman reboot sooner. Or they may have put them on hold for a bit. But assuming that the mcu still happens, then its likely we still get a dc movie uni at some point.
Wouldn't Superman III be viewed even more negatively than in OTL? After all, Superman IV Makes III look much better in comparison.
Superman IV generated 15 million domestic and 5 million on opening weekend (good enough for, ouch, 4th).
Let’s say half was organic demand for more Superman, the other half by people looking for a movie to watch that weekend. What do people who considered Superman IV switch to? At least a couple million bucks stay home. The other couple million? It could propel RoboCop to a dead heat with its previous weekend, making the franchise an even bigger success. Or maybe they want a feel good comedy and Beverly Hills Cop II climbs a couple spots. Perhaps they wanted SF in general but RoboCop looks too dark—InnerSpace & Spaceballs gets a minor boost too.
Let’s say half was organic demand for more Superman, the other half by people looking for a movie to watch that weekend. What do people who considered Superman IV switch to? At least a couple million bucks stay home. The other couple million? It could propel RoboCop to a dead heat with its previous weekend, making the franchise an even bigger success. Or maybe they want a feel good comedy and Beverly Hills Cop II climbs a couple spots. Perhaps they wanted SF in general but RoboCop looks too dark—InnerSpace & Spaceballs gets a minor boost too.
Honestly, I would consider the two big winners for that week to be Snow White and Innerspace. While not directly marketed to children, I'd think that Superman would be considered the family choice among new releases for the next few weeks. I can see Innerspace creeping up a spot or two on the chart, and Snow White would likely lessen the gap between it and Robocop without catching it, and everything else gets a slight bump up. The week after, I figure the largest chunk just gets hoovered into The Living Daylights.
I think the big impact on the box office happens two weeks later, with a title that Cannon becomes more reliant on doing better, possibly getting more of a marketing push, and doesn't have the very real reminder of "Oh yeah, Cannon = low budget" that they did in this time line. Poor suckers, dodging Mark Pillow just to run into Dolph.
So with a slightly more successful Masters of the Universe movie, would Cannon get to make their Spider-Man movie?
Superman IV (like the other fourquels from that year, Jaws: The Revenge and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol) had next to zero impact to begin with. So nothing would really change.
I think I would disagree with that. Superman IV killed the Superman franchise. They were not able to make another Superman movie for almost 20 years as a result of Superman IV. Without Superman IV, we likely would not have Superman Returns. We might have gotten a straight up reboot either before or after Superman Returns was made in OTL.