Supergirl (1984 film)

Supergirl
Supergirl, British film poster
British theatrical release poster
Directed byJeannot Szwarc
Screenplay byDavid Odell
Based on
Supergirl
by
Produced byTimothy Burrill
Starring
CinematographyAlan Hume
Edited byMalcolm Cooke
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
company
Pueblo Film AG Productions[1]
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 19 July 1984 (1984-07-19) (United Kingdom)
  • 21 November 1984 (1984-11-21) (United States)
Running time
124 minutes[2]
Countries
  • United Kingdom[3]
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million[4]
Box office$14.3 million[5]

Supergirl is a 1984 superhero film directed by Jeannot Szwarc from a screenplay by David Odell based on the DC Comics character of the same name.[6][7] It is the fourth film in the Superman film series, set after the events of Superman III (1983) and serving as a spin-off of the series. The film stars Helen Slater as Supergirl, along with Faye Dunaway, Hart Bochner, Peter Cook, Mia Farrow, Brenda Vaccaro, and Peter O'Toole, with Marc McClure reprising his role as Jimmy Olsen from the Superman films.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1984 and in the United States on 21 November 1984, but failed to impress either critics or audiences,[8] while also underperforming at the box-office. Dunaway and O'Toole earned Golden Raspberry Award nominations for Worst Actress and Worst Actor, respectively. Slater was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actress. The film's failure ultimately led producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind to sell the Superman film rights to The Cannon Group, Inc. in 1986.

Its first DVD release was by the independent home video company Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2000, under license from then-rights holder StudioCanal. Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the rights to the film and reissued it on DVD late in 2006 to coincide with the release of Superman Returns. Although it is canon with the Christopher Reeve Superman films, it is not included in any of the Superman DVD or Blu-ray box sets by Warner Bros.

  1. ^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com.
  2. ^ "SUPERGIRL (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. 17 May 1984. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Supergirl (1984)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  4. ^ FILM VIEW; THE SALKIND HEROES WEAR RED AND FLY HIGH Salmans, Sandra. New York Times 17 July 1983: A.15.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference mojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "UGO's World of Superman – Superman Movies: Supergirl". UGO Networks. 2006. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  7. ^ Corliss, Richard (26 November 1984). "Cinema: Girl of Steel vs. Man of Iron". Time. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Maslin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).