Superman III | |
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Theatrical release poster by Larry Salk
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Directed by | Richard Lester |
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Based on | Characters by Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster |
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Music by |
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Cinematography | Robert Paynter |
Edited by | John Victor-Smith |
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Release date
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Running time
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125 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $39 million |
Box office | $80.2 million |
Superman III is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third film in the Superman film series and the last Superman film to be produced by Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind. The film stars Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, and Robert Vaughn. This film is followed by Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, released on July 24, 1987.
Although the film still managed to recoup its budget of $39 million, it was less successful than the first two Superman movies, both financially and critically. While harsh criticism focused on the film's comedic and campy tone, as well as the casting and performance of Pryor, the special effects and Christopher Reeve's performance as a temporarily corrupted Superman were praised.
Gus Gorman, a chronically unemployed loser, discovers he has a talent for computer programming and gets a job at the Metropolis-based conglomerate Webscoe. Gus, dissatisfied with his pay, embezzles from his employer using a technique known as salami slicing, which brings Gus to the attention of CEO Ross Webster. Webster is intrigued by the computer programmer's potential to aid him in his schemes to rule the world financially. Joined by his sister Vera and his "psychic nutritionist," Lorelei Ambrosia, Webster blackmails Gus into helping him.
Clark Kent has convinced his Daily Planet boss Perry White to allow him to return to Smallville for his high-school reunion. En route, as Superman, he extinguishes a fire in a chemical plant containing highly unstable Beltric acid that can produce corrosive vapor when superheated. At the reunion, Clark is reunited with childhood friend Lana Lang, a divorcée with a young son named Ricky, and harassed by Brad Wilson, her ex-boyfriend.