After the third movie had been so severely savaged by the critics, the Salkinds had sold off the film rights and quit while they were still ahead.

They'd been picked up by Menahem Golem and Yoram Globus, who owned the Cannon Group. Their reputation was for producing low-budget films of not especially outstanding quality, specializing in the type of Chuck Norris bloodfests that had been so popular.

After the debacle of Superman III, [Christopher Reeve] declared he'd never play the character again, and he meant it. But that was then, and this was now. A film was also money, and what Cannon was offering matched the amount he'd made in Superman III. His agent decided it was time to begin some real wheeling and dealing, and get Chris the type of fee he should have had all along for Superman, as well as any other conditions he might want to impose.

That he got everything he wanted was no surprise. When the Salkinds had briefly considered a Superman IV, they'd claimed, "The Public is most interested in the character, not the actor. If we find the right actor for the part, we'll make the movie with him." But there was only one actor, and that was Chris; he was perfect for the part. He was the person the public knew and loved, whom they associated with the role. Anyone else would have been a poor substitute at best, and that would have been reflected at the box office.

[Chris] would have script approval, he'd be able to direct some of the second unit shts, and most artistically gratifying of all, for Chris agreeing to make Superman IV, Cannon would finance another picture of Chris's choice - to be made before the epic. And on top of all that he'd receive $4 million.

For his "own" movie, he picked Street Smart, a fact-based drama about a New York journalist who invented his stories. The screenplay had been written by the journalist in question, David Freeman, a freelance writer. Making Street Smart before Superman IV was a clever move. It meant there was no danger of the big picture being made and then Cannon backing out of the smaller one. As soon as Street Smart was through postproduction, Chris attended to his other obligation, Superman IV.

But Chris wasn't in shape to [play the role]. He hadn't let himself go to seed, but now that he was well past thirty his physique no longer resembled the Man of Steel's, either. There was plenty of working out, both mental and physical, to be done before filming begin at Cannon's Elstree Studio in England. With his demands all met, he had a lot of responsibility for this movie, working on the script with writers Lawrence Kohner and Mark Rosenthal. Beyond the basic idea of Superman gathering up the world's nuclear armaments and throwing them into the sun, he even penned a few of the scenes himself, as well as undertaking a great deal of the second-unit direction.

In theory, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, as it was to be known, should have seen a return to the standards of the first two films in the series. Gene Hackman was back to play Lex Luthor again, Jackie Cooper had returned, and Margot Kidder had Superman as her boyfriend again, while Mariel Hemingway had a turn as Clark Kent's love interest. That was the theory, at least. The reality was that while Cannon wanted a big-budget movie, they weren't prepared for it, and the production quite literally ran out of money five months before everything was due to be finished. It left both cast and crew in limbo. Instead of something classy and entertaining, the scenes which still had to be completed ended up being shot cheaply and shoddily.

For the want of investing a little more money, Cannon would end up paying the price many times over once the film was released. And not only Cannon. For everyone involved it looked like this was going to be a disaster, but for none more than Chris. He'd ended up with his money, and the movie he wanted had been made, but he certainly didn't need to suffer the indignity of walking away from all this with his reputation in tatters. "The movie was his idea and the idea was great," said Jon Cryer, who played a criminal in it, "and the shooting was great, and Gene Hackman was doing wonderful improvisational stuff - I loved working with him - and then Cannon ran out of money...and released an unfinished movie... They used the same flying shot like four times. That was the problem with it, and that's why Chris leveled with me and said, 'It's a mess.'"

Chris had been so closely involved that it would be impossible for him to disavow this one. His name was all over it. The best he could manage was to finish his work to the best of his ability and move on, which is precisely what he did, completing the filming in June.