10 Lowest Grossing Superhero Films

Worldwide Gross: $15,681,920

In this era of $250 million blockbusters, it’s hard to imagine the Superman franchise being sold off to a glorified exploitation outfit, but that’s happened when Superman III “underperformed” and the Salkinds, convinced the series had run its course, sold their interest to Golan-Globus. The result was the lowest grossing entry in the franchise and a future staple of All Time Worst lists.

Lured back with the promise of story input, Christopher Reeve quickly regretted his decision when Cannon, still reeling from the failure of Lifeforce, began pinching pennies at every step. You can tell that only half the proposed $34 million budget ever materialized from the opening credits, which are more akin to a TV series than a blockbuster.

The flying sequences are sub-par too, accomplished either with visible wires or by pasting the actors onto the screen. Poor rear projection, obvious models and wobbly sets are apparent throughout, but what really sets the movie apart from its predecessors is the attempt to recreate Metropolis on an industrial park in Milton Keynes. Complain all you like that Metropolis and New York are supposed to be two different places, but the city has never looked more like a backlot than it does here.