Interesting read on WB's DC films

[Tony149 0]

I thought you guys might find this fun to read. It explains why Batman is hitting the big screen first over Superman.

 

From www.moviepoopshoot.com MOVIE POOP SHOOT by way of Batman-on-Film.com message board.

 

THE BOTTOM OF THINGS

 

 

By Michael Sampson

 

February 11, 2004

 

 

Batman vs. Superman Lives!

You may have heard that the epic battle between longtime allies Batman and Superman was kaput, but the two superheroes are now going head-to-head in another interesting battle. Only this one isn’t in front of the cameras, it’s behind them. And in this battle, the Caped Crusader is cruising to an easy victory.

 

Superman is the Man of Steel – faster than a bullet, stronger than Hercules and a curl of black hair that makes the women weak at the knees. Bullets bounce of his chest. He can, thanks in part to his alien costume, fly among the birds. He could light your cigarette with just a twinkle of his eye. A sneeze could result in gale force winds. Look through solid objects? Please. Tie a steel girder in a bow? Piece of cake. 20/20 vision? Pshaw. How ‘bout 20/20,000 vision? As a cherry on top, he’s also an upstanding guy. Give me those powers and I’m looking in the girl’s locker room in high school and stealing money from bank vaults. But Ma and Pa Kent brought this boy up right. Had Krypton exploded about 2000 years ago, we’d be reading bibles all about our savior Kal-El, who walked on water and rose from the dead. Basically, he’s a god. Maybe not God, but definitely of divine nature.

 

 

Batman, on the other hand, is a mere mortal born of no superhuman prowess. Everything he’s got is born out of blood, sweat and tears. He’s worked hard and honed his skills over his years, expanding on his father’s empire to amass a large fortune that he’s used to further his extracurricular activities with accessories like the Bat-Wing, the Batmobile and my personal favorite, the Batarang.

 

Perhaps it’s this everyman quality that has served the Bat so well after all these years. And perhaps it’s that humanism that’s serving the character well as it makes it’s way to the big-screen.

 

As I mentioned earlier, BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN was scheduled to be the property that revitalized the popular characters as well as rejuvenated the superhero genre at Warner Bros where it had recently begun to languish; despite an entire stable of DC Comics characters at their disposal. Tim Burton brought Batman 180 degrees around from the campy Adam West TV series only to have Joel Schumacher then steer the ship right back into Campy Swamp, where it’s been stuck ever since. BATMAN AND ROBIN nailed a coffin in the franchise with its much maligned costume nipples and goofball dialogue (said Mr. Freeze to Batman: “Chill out”) that was as hokey as anything dreamed up on that ABC series.

 

Meanwhile, Fox and Columbia were busy sparking a superhero craze with their Marvel properties X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN. Hell, even DAREDEVIL made over $100 million. WB certainly couldn’t afford to sit on its hands any longer. DC Comics, a sister company of Warner Bros under the Time Warner conglomerate, already had its two biggest properties, Batman and Superman, adapted into films. Both lost respectability after three increasingly embarrassing sequels.

 

 

Then came a script from Andrew Kevin Walker, a longtime collaborator with David Fincher with SEVEN and SLEEPY HOLLOW on his resume. That script was BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN and the studio had a marvelous idea. What better way to revitalize both characters than a blockbuster to end all blockbusters where the two engaged in an epic battled, orchestrated by their two arch-nemeses The Joker and Lex Luthor? Highly respected director Wolfgang Petersen signed on to direct and the casting process (and speculation) began immediately. Josh Hartnett, Jude Law and Colin Farrell were front-runners. Fans were whipped up into a frenzy. The movie was years away but it was all anyone could talk about. Everyone was happy. Except those behind closed doors at Warner Bros.

 

The story goes that there were varying opinions on how to relaunch the Batman and Superman characters in film. Production chief Lorenzo di Bonaventura was a big supporter of the VS. concept. President Alan Horn was not. He, and his faction, instead favored individual films for each character first with a VS. film somewhere down the line. Before a casting decision could even be made, VS. fell apart. The project was put on hold indefinitely with Petersen instead taking over directorial duties on TROY. In the aftermath, di Bonaventura left Warner Bros to start his own production company and the VS. script, since rewritten by Akiva Goldsman, is collecting dust on the shelf.

 

The decision was then, as the studio so delicately spun it, to develop the individual character films that Horn had envisioned to “reinvent” the characters. First up would be SUPERMAN. CHARLIE”S ANGELS director McG was hired to bring the property to the screen in February of 2002.

 

 

Early on in McG’s tenure as SUPERMAN director (he was prepping ANGELS 2 at the time), a person close to the situation told me not to expect McG to stay on long as his deal was widely considered to be a bit of Hollywood “horse trading.” Sure enough, after a few months attached to the project, McG was replaced with Brett Ratner. Publicly it was announced that McG was replaced because his commitment to ANGELS 2 would conflict with the WB’s planned shooting schedule. The studio got a hot director, a script they liked and a schedule that would’ve put SUPERMAN before cameras in early 2004. They just needed to find their Superman.

 

Darren Aronofsky planned to follow-up his critically acclaimed addiction study REQUIEM FOR A DREAM with an adaptation of Frank Miller’s BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Announced in September of 2000, before REQUIEM had hit theaters, Aronofsky was to eventually direct the film as well as co-write with Miller. This was to be the project that would resurrect the BATMAN franchise from its death at the hands of Schumacher.

 

After a few drafts written with Miller, Aronofsky instead turned his attention to another WB project, THE FOUNTAIN. It became his pet project for almost two years and began to consume much of his time. An ambitious sci-fi epic, the film was to star Brad Pitt and cost the studio upwards of $75 million. But with sets half-built, a cast that included Cate Blanchett and Ellen Burstyn and a scraggly beard Pitt had been growing for months, the plug was abruptly pulled and THE FOUNTAIN was drained. About four months later that same studio announced they had signed MEMENTO director Christopher Nolan to develop the next Bat-film. Eventually it was said what everyone knew – Aronofsky’s YEAR ONE was dead.

 

A new BATMAN project was at a crossroads. To the left was one path, dark and murky with the footsteps of Superman still fresh in the mud. To the right was a path straight and narrow with a bright light gleaming at the end. Christopher Nolan, now clearly running the ship didn’t even have to take out his map. He turned right.

 

Ratner’s RED DRAGON opened in theaters shortly after his attachment to SUPERMAN was made public. Prior to its release it had gathered highly positive buzz and kudos for its young director. Then it opened in October of 2002 and fell flat at the box-office and failed to impress critics or audiences. Butts squirmed in their seats for the first time at Warner Bros.

 

Ratner began his arduous pre-production process by looking for his star – his Clark Kent. High atop the list was Josh Hartnett, an actor who had been held in high regard when the VS. film was casting. But after

meeting with Ratner numerous times, Hartnett turned down an offer that would have paid him nine figures for a three-figure deal over ten years. Jude Law, the studio and Ratner’s second choice, turned down a similar offer. Ashton Kutcher walked too. And Paul Walker? Who were these guys to turn down a starring role in SUPERMAN? But suddenly actors all across town weren’t interested.

 

Eventually, as the bally-ho was building, the field was narrowed down to two candidates, Brendan Fraser and little-known soap actor Matthew Bomer. Ratner stood firmly in the corner of Bomer, thinking he and the studio could save money on an unknown lead, secure a big name for Lex Luthor and use the rest of the money on the budget (at this point soaring upwards of $180 million). The studio, however, felt ants in their collective pants about giving their most important franchise to a guy they had never heard of a few months ago. Fraser wasn’t their first choice but he was a name actor and could open a big-budget action film (THE MUMMY). Both Fraser and Bomer signed contracts during the screen tests, essentially obligating whoever was finally chosen to the part. It would either be Bomer or Fraser as Superman. They just had to decide.

 

Christopher Nolan had really only directed two films (not counting the little seen movie THE FOLLOWING) prior to being retained as the Captain of the SS BATMAN. But the studio had nothing but the utmost of confidence in Nolan. Since Nolan was hired to develop the film, he decided to start from scratch and throw out all previous drafts. YEAR ONE, VS., BATMAN 5 – all went in the garbage. Instead, Nolan interviewed screenwriters and eventually decided on David Goyer, who had success with the genre before with his scripts for BLADE. The two collaborated on a storyline and eventually Goyer submitted his script, subtitled INTIMIDATION.

 

The project is a melding of BATMAN 5 and YEAR ONE and follows a young Bruce Wayne as he becomes Batman fighting stylized villains like The Scarecrow and more humanized ones like Ra’s Al Ghul. Once the draft was completed, casting began and like SUPERMAN, many of the same names

discussed during VS. were revisited here. But unlike SUPERMAN where those names wound up turning down the role, Nolan and Warner Bros. were quick to sign on Christian Bale, a fan favorite, as Batman. The casting continued with Oscar-winner Michael Caine, Katie Holmes and Cillian Murphy. With its cast nearly set, BATMAN is set for a start date in late February or early March with an estimated budget of $150 million.

 

They had their SUPERMAN in their hands. All they had to do was eenie-meenie-minie-moe and they had their guy. But unhappy with either choice, the decision was made to start from scratch, ripping up the contracts Bomer and Fraser had signed and letting the option run out of Ratner’s gig. When the time came and Ratner’s contract expired, he graciously left the project to pursue other projects (he’s currently filming AFTER THE SUNSET with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek). WB quickly made efforts to reach out to other filmmakers they thought were up to the task and an early shortlist included Michael Bay (reportedly their first choice all along), Steven Soderbergh, Joseph Kahn (TORQUE) and even M. Night Shyamalan. For reasons still unclear, the studio wound up back with the same guy they reportedly never really wanted in the first place – Joseph “McG” McGinty.

 

And there the project sits, to this very day. All that to get nothing more accomplished than when McG was hired about two years ago. This is a lot of drama for SUPERMAN and this isn’t even including any of the SUPERMAN LIVES brouhaha that involved Kevin Smith, Tim Burton, Nic Cage and producer Jon Peters who wanted Superman to fight polar bears at the Fortress of Solitude. (For more on that and Kevin’s involvement, I highly suggest you check out the “An Evening With Kevin Smith” DVD or at least check out one of his speaking engagements.)

 

Meanwhile, it’s taken just over a year from the announcement of his deal for Nolan to get his BATMAN film written, budgeted, cast and ready to go before cameras. So why has BATMAN led such a charmed life under the same regime that takes one step forward and two steps back with SUPERMAN?

 

Bill Ramey of Batman-on-Film.com, a site that has specialized in exclusive pre-production news on the film, says it may not be the property itself but the team the studio assembled for this specific project. “The bottom line is that WB got the right crew together for BATMAN - Nolan, Goyer, etc. - and they haven't as of yet for SUPERMAN.”

 

Warner Bros seems to have nothing but the utmost in confidence in Nolan and Goyer (whose script has been saved the ridiculous rewrites that Abrams SUPERMAN script has endured). Nolan not only came aboard with some credibility – he’s not your typical blockbuster director – but also a great deal of respect and passion for the project and the character. And Goyer is a former writer for DC Comics who’s well aware of the Bat universe and what makes a compelling story that’s true to the character.

 

“[Nolan and Goyer] get who Batman is,” says Ramey. “I think both may have be driven to produce the ultimate Bat-film, because it has yet to be made. Nolan should get a lot of credit. WB gave him a chance and he produced. And they are letting him make the move without a lot of interference - obviously because they trust him.”

 

Dan Mulcahy, who runs SUPERMAN fansite Superman-V.com agrees. “Chris Nolan was the person who moved Batman forward - he has this great vision for Batman.”

 

So maybe McG and Brett Ratner weren’t the right guys to get SUPERMAN moving but why can’t the studio just find their version of Chris Nolan who will take over and deliver? It could be that the people behind the director are the ones responsible for the film languishing. Producer Jon Peters has long been criticized for his unorthodox beliefs of how Superman should be translated into a movie. He was the producer when Tim Burton was attached to direct and remains producer now and the project hasn’t made much progress at all in that time. Ramey says Peters “screwing things up” is a key reason why SUPERMAN is falling far behind BATMAN. While McG, Burton, Kevin Smith and particularly Brett Ratner were at odds with Peters, Nolan brought in longtime collaborator Emma Thomas to produce, eliminating much of the conflict.

 

To further that point, Nolan, Goyer and his team seem to respect the parameters for a BATMAN movie and wanted to stay true to the character and his comic origins. Peters, however, “seems to have no interest in delivering the Superman we all want to see,” says Mulcahy. Why did it take a scathing Ain’t It Cool News script review to convince someone at the studio and writer Abrams that Lex Luthor shouldn’t be a Kryptonian?

 

The casting debacle was probably the most devastating blow to the franchise in recent years. It was directly responsible for Ratner leaving the project and indirectly so for di Bonaventura leaving the company. No less than

five candidates actually turned down the starring role in what would’ve been one of the biggest movies of the next couple years. Turned down! Meanwhile Nolan was able to find his candidate – most importantly, the RIGHT candidate – Christian Bale with relative ease. Why are actors so afraid of taking on the role of Clark Kent/Superman?

 

The most publicized reason is the purported “Superman curse.” The two actors best known for playing Superman, George Reeves and Christopher Reeve, never overcame the part and had a difficult time finding work afterward. Reeves died mysteriously in 1959, four years after his last portrayal as SUPERMAN. An equestrian accident left Reeve paralyzed after a string of TV movies and supporting roles.

 

Actors seem much less concerned about the type-casting that can occur as the result of playing such a well-known character with BATMAN than with SUPERMAN. Perhaps it’s the fact that Batman is hidden behind a mask while Superman is out in the open. Mulcahy says in a Batman movie, “Actors can hide behind the mask, the dark colors or the Batmobile. Superman has no mask, a bright blue, red and yellow costume and no gadgets.”

 

Ramey adds, “I think actors are much more drawn to Batman/Bruce Wayne as a character. He's human. He's a little messed up because his parents were killed in front of them… that's some pretty heavy stuff for an actor.”

 

On a similar note, Batman and the brooding Dark Knight persona makes him a more appealing character to actors then Boy Scout Superman, who no one can relate to. As discussed earlier, Batman is the everyman. Superman is the nobodyman. Even when promoting films like SPIDER-MAN and DAREDEVIL, directors Sam Raimi and Mark Steven Johnson have made a point to stress their characters complexity and how they were the anti-Superman. Raimi said, “Superman is never caught awake in bed one night wondering, ‘Hmm ... should I have done something different?’ He's always so certain that what he's done is right and I'm never that way… Everything in my life is filled with questions and self-doubt, and that's why I like Spider-Man. He addresses that — he's one of us. He questions the morality of his actions often.”

 

There’s always the possibility, after all the trauma the studio went through with SUPERMAN, that they learned their lesson and were not going to let history repeat itself. They found a director they respected and had confidence in and let him do his own thing with very little intervention with trust in his vision for the film. Unfortunately the studio has been unable to find such trust in the people hired for BATMAN. They certainly didn’t trust Brett Ratner’s decision to cast Matthew Bomer. And I certainly hope they don’t trust McG’s decision to cast Beyonce Knowles as Lois Lane. It’s a telling sign that McG, again attached to direct SUPERMAN, still hasn’t officially signed on.

 

In less than a year-and-a-half’s time, BATMAN: INTIMIDATION should be hitting theaters worldwide on the approximate date SUPERMAN was scheduled to premiere. At that time SUPERMAN may be no closer to filming than it is right now. At the present time McG remains attached to direct but at any given time, the studio, who’s got one eye on McG and another one on possible replacements, may be imparted with his walking papers for a new director. After all, BATMAN stalled under Darren Aronofsky but flourished under Chris Nolan. Perhaps all this film needs is a shot in the arm from a visionary director to get the ball rolling in the right direction.

 

If BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN were a film about which film would hit theaters first, Batman would be standing atop the lifeless corpse of the Man of Steel with a black boot on the “S” on his chest. But it takes a lot to kill Superman and we all know he’ll be back for a sequel and another chance to take on Batman. Let’s hope he’ll be back with a vengeance.