Superman (1978) and Columbus (1992)

Why Brando took the Roles
Looking at Brando’s career after 1975, one question needs to be answered. Why were producers paying Brando $millions for so little work? It certainly wasn’t box office - from 1959-1975  Brando had only 3  box office hits: The Godfather, Mutiny on the Bounty, and Last tango in Paris.  And Godfather II proved Brando wasn’t the key to Godfather I’s success.  IMO, It’s due to 3 reasons:

1. With Brando signed-up, the Producers could attract high-end talent.  Everyone wanted to work with Brando.  And so,  George C. Scott (the Formula), Nicholson (Missouri Breaks), Matthew Broderick (The Freshman),  Faye Dunaway (Don Juan Demarco) , and De Niro (The Score), all signed up for mediocre movies because of a chance to work with the great actor. 
2. Having Brando lent a movie prestige and enabled the Producers to get financing. This happened with both Columbus and Superman. The Salkind Brothers were short on funds, and needed Bank loans & got them due to Brando's name. Note: despite Brando suing them over Superman , the Salkind’s paid Brando $5 million upfront for Columbus.
3. The producers, themselves, wanted to work with Brando. Francis Coppola could have cast Steve McQueen for Apocalypse Now, at a lower price, but preferred Brando. 

Brando’s Performances
Given the small screen-time, there’s not much to say. In both movies, Brando worked two weeks to produce about 10 minutes of film run-time.  In both films, he’s s overweight, but hides it beneath flowing robes (either clerical or Kryptonic).

Superman
On the set,  Brando got along with everyone. and impressed the Director with his acting ability. Given the absurd dialogue, his small role, and  "Hey, its a comic book character", Brando does well enough
Rating **

Columbus
According to his autobiography,  Brando tried to give a bad performance and succeeded..  Ebert called it
“the worst Brando performance in memory As Torquemada, the inquisitor, Brando sulks about the set looking moody and delivering his lines with the absolute minimum of energy necessary to be audible. He's phoned in roles before, but this was the first time I wanted to hang up.”

Why the bad acting?  Brando was angry that his movie suggestions (like showing a Jew being boiled in Oil) were ignored.  Nominated for a razzie. Rating *

The Movies

Superman
A great hit due to Christopher Reeves, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, and (for the time) excellent special effects.  A good comic book movie - I enjoyed it. But it goes on too long.  Rating ***

Columbus
A critical and box-office bust.  Ebert put it on his "Most hated list".  But it’s not a terrible movie - just incredibly dull.  Dominated by charisma-free Georgas Corraface, its full of mediocre performances, and is sluggishly paced. There's zero sense of adventure. It takes us a whole hour to set sail.  We then spend 30 minutes on the voyage, meet the natives for 10 minutes, and then boom!, its back to Spain. There’s also a weird anti-Catholic vibe.  Rating *