1987 film
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Superman, portrayed by Christopher Reeve in his final appearance as the character. The sequel to Superman III (1983), it is the fourth mainline installment as well as the fifth installment overall in the Superman film series. It was directed by Sidney J. Furie, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and stars Reeve, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Jon Cryer, Sam Wanamaker, Mark Pillow, Mariel Hemingway and Margot Kidder.
Reeve agreed to return in exchange for a larger salary and limited creative control, including contributing to a script dealing with nuclear disarmament. It is the first film in the series not to have the involvement of Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind as producers. Shortly before the film's production, the film's producer, The Cannon Group, suffered a major financial crisis that forced major budget cuts, and 45 minutes of footage were deleted after negative test screenings.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was released on July 24, 1987. It received generally negative reviews from critics, citing poor special effects and boring action sequences. It underperformed at the box office, grossing $37 million on a $17M budget. Plans for Superman V were cancelled, and no further Superman films were released until Superman Returns in 2006.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.