Superman in film the script, giving it a serious feel with Christ-like overtones. Christopher Reeve was cast as Superman, having initially failed to impress the Salkinds before bulking up. Brando meanwhile, despite spending less than two weeks on the shoot, and not even reading the script until then, earned $3.7 million up front, plus 11.75% of the gross profits from the film. The film was a success both critically and commercially, being released during the Christmas season of 1978; it did not have much competition, leading the producers to believe that this was one factor in the film's success. Shooting of the two
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Luthors. He places Lenny in Boys Town, telling the priest that Lenny has been under a bad influence, and returns Lex to prison. In 1983, following the mixed-to-negative reaction to "Superman III", Reeve and the producers, Alexander Salkind and his son Ilya, assumed that the "Superman" films had run their course. Reeve was slated to make a cameo in 1984's "Supergirl" but was unavailable; that film was a box-office failure. Two years later, Ilya Salkind sold the "Superman" franchise to Golan and Globus of Cannon Films. According to Jon Cryer, who played Luthor's nephew Lenny, Reeve had taken him aside