<P> Ilya and Alexander Salkind and Pierre Spengler purchased the Superman film rights in 1974 . After numerous scripts, Richard Donner was hired to direct the film, filming Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) simultaneously . Donner had already shot eighty percent of Superman II with Christopher Reeve before it was decided to finish shooting the first film . The Salkinds fired Donner after Superman's release and commissioned Richard Lester as the director to finish Superman II . Lester also returned for Superman III (1983), and the Salkinds further produced the 1984 spin - off Supergirl before selling the rights to Cannon Films, resulting in the poorly reviewed Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). Ilya Salkind commissioned a fifth Superman script before Warner Bros. acquired the rights entirely in 1993 . </P> <P> Over the course of eleven years, Warner Bros. would develop and then cancel Tim Burton's Superman Lives, which would have starred Nicolas Cage, Wolfgang Petersen's Batman vs. Superman, and the J.J. Abrams scripted Superman: Flyby, which went between directors Joseph "McG" Nichols and Brett Ratner . The studio hired Bryan Singer to take over the films in 2004, releasing Superman Returns in 2006, which starred newcomer Brandon Routh . Donner's director's cut for Superman II was also released that year . Despite positive reviews, Warner Bros. was disappointed with the financial performance of Superman Returns, and canceled Singer's proposed sequel . The studio nearly went in production of a Justice League film with George Miller directing and D.J. Cotrona as Superman, but it was shelved in 2008 and the film series was rebooted in 2013 with Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan, with Henry Cavill starring as Superman . Snyder, Nolan and Cavill worked together again in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Film </Th> <Th> U.S. release date </Th> <Th> Director (s) </Th> <Th> Superman portrayed by </Th> <Th> Story by </Th> <Th> Screenwriter (s) </Th> <Th> Producer (s) </Th> <Th> Distributor </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Superman </Th> <Td> January 5, 1948 (1948 - 01 - 05) </Td> <Td> Spencer Gordon Bennet Thomas Carr </Td> <Td> Kirk Alyn </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> Lewis Clay, Royal K. Cole, Arthur Hoerl, George H. Plympton and Joseph F. Poland </Td> <Td> Sam Katzman </Td> <Td> Columbia Pictures </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Atom Man vs. Superman </Th> <Td> July 20, 1950 (1950 - 07 - 20) </Td> <Td> Spencer Gordon Bennet </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> David Mathews, George H. Plympton and Joseph F. Poland </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Superman and the Mole Men </Th> <Td> November 23, 1951 (1951 - 11 - 23) </Td> <Td> Lee Sholem </Td> <Td> George Reeves </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> Richard Fielding </Td> <Td> Barney A. Sarecky </Td> <Td> Lippert Pictures Inc . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Superman </Th> <Td> December 15, 1978 (1978 - 12 - 15) </Td> <Td> Richard Donner </Td> <Td> Christopher Reeve </Td> <Td> Mario Puzo </Td> <Td> Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman and Robert Benton </Td> <Td> Pierre Spengler </Td> <Td> Warner Bros . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Superman II </Th> <Td> June 19, 1981 (1981 - 06 - 19) </Td> <Td> Richard Lester Richard Donner (uncredited) </Td> <Td> Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman and Tom Mankiewicz (creative consultant) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Superman III </Th> <Td> June 17, 1983 (1983 - 06 - 17) </Td> <Td> Richard Lester </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> David Newman and Leslie Newman </Td> <Td> Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Superman IV: The Quest for Peace </Th> <Td> July 24, 1987 (1987 - 07 - 24) </Td> <Td> Sidney J. Furie </Td> <Td> Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal and Christopher Reeve </Td> <Td> Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal </Td> <Td> Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Superman Returns </Th> <Td> June 28, 2006 (2006 - 06 - 28) </Td> <Td> Bryan Singer </Td> <Td> Brandon Routh </Td> <Td> Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and Bryan Singer </Td> <Td> Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris </Td> <Td> Jon Peters, Bryan Singer and Gilbert Adler </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Man of Steel </Th> <Td> June 14, 2013 (2013 - 06 - 14) </Td> <Td> Zack Snyder </Td> <Td> Henry Cavill </Td> <Td> David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan </Td> <Td> David S. Goyer </Td> <Td> Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice </Th> <Td> March 25, 2016 (2016 - 03 - 25) </Td> <Td> Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer </Td> <Td> Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer </Td> <Td> Deborah Snyder and Charles Roven </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Justice League </Th> <Td> November 17, 2017 </Td> <Td> Zack Snyder, Joss Whedon and Chris Terrio </Td> <Td> Chris Terrio </Td> <Td> Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Jon Berg, Geoff Johns </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Film </Th> <Th> U.S. release date </Th> <Th> Director (s) </Th> <Th> Superman portrayed by </Th> <Th> Story by </Th> <Th> Screenwriter (s) </Th> <Th> Producer (s) </Th> <Th> Distributor </Th> </Tr>

List of all the superman movies in order
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