Wasn't there some legal wrangling over the movie rights that would have prevented any further Reeve films until it was too late? I recall the Salkinds had some sort of hissy fit over Cannon films releasing Quest for Peace. Their Superboy series premiered on tv a year later.
SR's only crime was not making Dark Knight level box office, therefore it's been branded a failure.
The studios seem to hold international figures in higher regard now than they used to. Mediocre box office here doesn't matter as much if a movie does boffo overseas now.