I found this interesting.
by bozo_500
this will end up doing similar box office to Superman II
Superman Box Office (adjusted)
original figures are from BOmojo
STM (1978)
budget = 55m (200m in 2013)
Domestic:
$134,218,018
Foreign:
$166,000,000
= Worldwide:
$300,218,018
$300m ww = $1.1b ww in 2013 $ (so really STM was like The Dark Knight of its day box office wise)
SII (1980)
budget = 55m (155m in 2013)
Domestic: $108,185,706
Forgien = ?
domestic is about $305m when adjusted...overseas was probably abit less than STM so maybe 140m, (395m adjusted) so about $250m overall ww in 1980 - so overall adjusted SII is about $700m ww...(maybe the domestic drop was partly due to II being released in the US the weekend after Raiders in summer 81? )
SIII (1983)
budget = ? (gotta be less than I & II - est 40m - about 100m today)
Domestic: $60m
Forgien = ?
$60m in 1983 is about $140m when adjusted - so not too bad....and judging by the domestic decline, overseas will have also fallen quite abit - so maybe about $80m for overseas - so $140m total in 83 would be roughly around $325m-350m ww when adjusted - a big drop from I and II, but far from the flop everyone makes out..
Supergirl (1984)
Budget = 35m (80m adjusted)
Domestic - 17m
Forgien = ?
17m is 38m today. Forgien probably about the same = 35m ( roughly $80m today)
SIV (1987)
budget $17 m ($35m when adjusted - budget was originally 36m but was cut at shortly b4 prod. 36m = 75m in 2013 which is still not too big for a Superman film)
Domestic: $15,681,020
Forgien = ?
domestic be about 30m now, and overseas was prob about the same as US so 30m ww in total in 87 - would that be about $60m ww today
SR (2006)
budget $270m (but about 70m of that was previous attempts - Burton, Cage, Ratner, Abrams etc - 270m = 310m today. 200m = 230m today)
Domestic: $200,081,192
+ Foreign: $191,000,000
= Worldwide: $391,081,192
391 in 2006 = about $450m ww in 2013 (if SR had made 450m there probably wouldve been a sequel)
prediction for MOS (budget 225m):
domestic = 300m
overseas = 400m
total $700m
(quite apt considering its a remake of II)
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by clyons
Fantastic post--thanks for doing all that math.
Basically, Superman II was considered a failure at the time--not a flop, but a disappointment, and that's why III was made for a lower budget, and they brought in Richard Pryor. To start with II's box office--not good. So anyway, does this mean the next movie will have Eddie Murphy in it?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770828/board/flat/216884797?p=1
SUPERMAN II was a blockbuster hit in 1981, far from a disappointment. Most sequels didn't do as much business as the original, and SII followed suit, but as sequels went, it was one of the biggest ever. Compare JAWS II to JAWS for instance. SUPERMAN II broke the opening weekend record when it was released, smashed the second weekend record, and then went on to garner over 100 Million dollars domestically, which was a major feat in the early eighties. Yes, RAIDERS did cut into its boxoffice, but not at first. SII just didn't have the staying power that RAIDERS did, but both were huge hits. I even remember news reports on Labor Day that summer proclaiming 1981 "the biggest box office summer in history", and every report mentioned just two movies, RAIDERS and SUPERMAN II, as the reason.
III's smaller budget was because the Salkind's were cheap, not because they felt they had to cut back because of II's box office performance. And 35 Million was still a huge budget in 1982-83. ESB's budget was only 25 Million.
Sorry for the long post, and no offense was meant. But I remember the reception SUPERMAN II had in the summer of '81, and it was a huge crowd pleaser. Saw it five times theatrically, and every time it attracted huge crowds and loud cheers and applause throughout the entire second half of the movie when Superman came back from the Fortress to kick Zod's ass. I also saw RAIDERS about 10 times(!), and while everyone loved it, never once did the audiences react to it with loud applause at any viewing(except, of course, when Indy shot the swordsman).