Why was Gene Hackman not in Superman 3?!
Question:
Why was Gene Hackman not in Superman 3?
I think his portrayal of Lex Luther was first class in the opening two episodes. The third film was poorer in his absence, though Richard Pryor went someway to rectifying that fault with his own performance.
Answers:
Hackman (and Margot Kidder) had a dispute with the producers (the Salkinds) over how they'd treated Superman 1 director Richard Donner. Hackman's protest was refusing to play Luthor again. Hence, he wasn't in Superman 3, but came back for Superman 4 (in which the Salkinds were not involved at all).