Super/Man, the Christopher Reeve documentary that was the talk of the Sundance Film Festival, is likely to be acquired by Warner Bros for a cool $15 million.
Having just attended the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, I can testify that none of the movies I saw here received the overwhelming emotional reaction that Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story did. You can read my review here but suffice to say the legendary actor-turned-advocate was done right by this crowdpleaser. As such, it’s about to set a record for the highest price ever paid for a documentary at the festival. Indeed, Warner Bros is set to acquire the film for a record $15 million.
To be sure, this acquisition makes perfect sense. Warner Bros is the studio behind all of Christopher Reeve’s Superman films, and with that series figuring so heavily into the doc, it’s no wonder the studio would be eager to pick it up. With James Gunn’s Superman movie on the way, the older DC library is ripe for reexamination, and this documentary gives younger viewers, who may not be aware of the actor’s tragic legacy, some much-needed context. Reeve, of course, played Superman in four films (of gradually declining quality) before a tragic accident in 1994 left him a quadriplegic.
Never one to give up, Reeve became a tireless advocate for spinal injury research, never giving up on his dream of one day walking again. The film not only shines a spotlight on his life pre-and-post injury but also serves as a tribute to his late wife, Dana Reeve, whose heroic efforts were often overlooked – unfairly – as she did a lot for the community. The film also zeroes in on Reeve’s complex relationship with his kids, with Will Reeve the spitting image of his father. Unlike other documentaries, the movie serves as more than hagiography, examining Reeve’s ups and downs before and after the accident, but overall proves that he was a hero both on and off-screen. It also serves as a touching tribute to Reeve’s friends, including the late Robin Williams and his Superman director, Richard Donner, who died in 2021.
There has not been any news on whether WB will open this film theatrically or make it a streaming debut.