After the relative failure of Superman III at the box office, Christopher Reeve was understandably reluctant to continue with a franchise that has seemingly lost its way. However, the Salkinds were still keen to continue the saga and thus decided to spin the series off by introducing Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl. The 1984 film would be directed by Jeannot Szwarc, who had a hit with Jaws 2 and had previously directed Christopher Reeve to great effect in the romance Somewhere in Time. Demi Moore, Brooke Shields, and many other actresses were considered to play Supergirl, but Helen Slater, a virtual unknown, was eventually chosen.
Whereas the original Superman had Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman supporting the unknown Reeve, here the Salkinds managed to entice Peter O’Toole (coming off two Oscar nominations for The Stunt Man and My Favorite Year) and Faye Dunaway (at her career nadir following Mommie Dearest) to co-star. Everyone hoped Christopher Reeve would make a cameo, but in the end, only Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) agreed to be in the film.
Supergirl would be one of 1984’s biggest financial disasters opening to poor reviews, bad box office, and even being scuttled by the studio that initially financed it (Warner Bros). In the end, it only grossed just over $14 million in the U.S. and, adding insult to injury, the film saw over 20 minutes of footage excised for its belated theatrical run, while many involved landed Razzie nominations. So what happened? We’ll tell you in this week’s edition of DC Films Revisited: Supergirl!
D.C. Films Revisited is written, narrated and edited by Tyler Nichols. Catch up on previous episodes below!