“Super/Man,” a documentary about the life of Christopher Reeve, will hit the big screen in the fall.
The film, which was widely embraced at Sundance and sold to Warner Bros. Discovery for roughly $15 million, will play in select theaters on Sept. 21 followed by an encore presentation on Reeve’s birthday, Sept. 25. The Warners-owned DC Studios is collaborating with Fathom Events on the theatrical release.
It’s not clear if “Super/Man” will get a wider, traditional theatrical release at a later date. Plans for the film’s international rollout have yet to be announced.
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“On behalf of not only Warner Bros., but also my colleagues at DC, HBO and CNN, it’s an honor to be a part of bringing Christopher Reeve and his singular legacy to audiences again,” Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution, said. “It was at this very studio where he made us all believe a man could fly, and this documentary reveals what made him a true hero, on- and off-screen.”
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Fathom Events’ CEO Ray Nutt added, “Everyone knows that Superman is a superhero, but I’m eager for audiences to discover the real superhero behind Superman. This film is an extraordinary story that takes a deep dive into the man Christopher Reeve really was and the courage he displayed.”
As Goldstein and Nutt referenced, the home at Warner Bros. is fitting because Reeve experienced his greatest commercial success playing the Man of Steel in the first four Superman movies, which the studio produced. Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised “Super/Man” as a “superbly made and supremely moving portrait of the actor’s fall and rise.”
Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui directed “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” which documents Reeve’s ascent to superstardom as Superman, as well as his fight to find a cure for spinal cord injuries after he became a quadriplegic following a horse riding accident. He used a wheelchair and ventilator for the rest of his life; he died in 2004. The actor’s family participated in the making of the doc, which also uses personal archive material to tell the tragic and inspirational story.
“He was very conscious of that irony and the legacy of ‘Superman’ when people viewed his story and thought about him after the accident,” his daughter, Alexandra, told Variety prior to the film’s Sundance premiere. “He talked about redefining what it is to be a hero… it’s an everyday person who survives despite overwhelming obstacles.”
