“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter,” Ventimiglia added. “By the way, I’m kind of busy.”
He’s nominated again for “This is Us” and he’s out promoting his new film, “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” which opens August 9. (Will this dog movie make you cry more than “This is Us”? Chances are very, very good.)
For what it’s worth, Ben Affleck had just turned 41 when he was cast as Batman back in 2013, but Zack Snyder was looking for an older Bruce Wayne. Michael Keaton was 38 when the first “Batman” film hit theaters. And Christian Bale was 31 when “Batman Begins” came out.
Looks like the former “Heroes” star would have had a better shot after Bale hung up the cowl in 2012.
25 years ago, iconic pulp hero The Shadow made the leap to the big screen. The result wasn’t the smash success fans and studios execs were hoping for, but the movie is still an important reminder that Batman wasn’t the first vigilante detective on the block. Celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary by learning more about the making of the odd and deeply underrated “The Shadow.”
1. Like 1989’s “Batman,” “The Shadow” went through a prolonged period of development before finally seeing the light of day. Producer Martin Bregman originally bought the film rights in 1982.
2.Sam Raimi lobbied to direct the adaptation but was rejected. Raimi instead went on to create the Shadow-inspired “Darkman” instead.
Universal Pictures
3. The version of the Shadow featured in the movie is intended to be an amalgamation of the classic radio and pulp magazine incarnations, drawing plot elements, lines of dialogue and powers from both.
4. Author James Luceno’s novelization delves even deeper into classic “The Shadow” mythology, including alluding to the fact that the hero’s true identity is Kent Allard, not Lamont Cranston.
Universal Pictures
5. Production on “The Shadow” was set back after an earthquake destroyed the Hall of Mirrors set, forcing director Russell Mulcahy to shoot an abridged version of the climactic sequence.
6. Co-stars Tim Curry and Ian McKellen had worked together before, starring in the stage version of “Amadeus.”
Universal Pictures
7.Chow Yun-fat was considered for the role of Shiwan Khan.
8. “The Shadow” was originally intended to serve as the start of a longer franchise and a major merchandising push. Those plans were abandoned due to its poor box office performance.
Universal Pictures
9. Among the various tie-in products canceled was a “The Shadow” video game for the Super Nintendo console. The game was actually completed before its last-minute cancellation, and playable ROM files have been circulating the Internet for years.
It’s been 30 years since the world was gripped by Bat-Mania. “Batman” truly dominated the summer movie season in 1989, giving starving superhero fans a taste of a darker, more dramatic Caped Crusader. While we wait for the dark Knight to return to the big screen in 2021’s “The Batman,” learn more about the making of Tim Burton‘s epic superhero revamp.
1. The origins of “Batman” can be traced back to 1979, when producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan purchased the rights to the franchise from DC Comics in the hope of making a darker movie more in line with the original Bob Kane/Bill Finger comics.
2. The project went through numerous incarnations over the course of that next decade. At one point “Ghostbusters” director Ivan Reitman pitched a more comedic take starring Bill Murray as Batman and Eddie Murphy as Robin.
Columbia Pictures
3. Despite this prolonged period of development, WB didn’t officially greenlight “Batman” until Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice” became a box office success in 1988.
4. Burton has admitted to never having read the Batman comics before being hired as director, though this is due to his dyslexia rather than an actual distaste for the source material (as many detractors have claimed). Burton has also said the 1988 graphic novel “Batman: The Killing Joke” helped him gain a better handle on the Batman/Joker dynamic while preparing for the job.
Warner Bros.
5.Jack Nicholson negotiated an extremely favorable deal with WB that granted him top billing in the credits, control over his shooting schedule and percentage points of both the box office gross and merchandise sales.
6. In fact, Nicholson’s deal is considered to be one of the most lucrative in Hollywood history. He’s estimated to have earned at least $100 million from the franchise over the years, including being compensated for sequels in which he never appeared.
Warner Bros.
7. Nicholson may have eventually reprised his role had the series not been rebooted following 1997’s “Batman and Robin.” A planned fifth movie called “Batman Unchained” would have featured the Joker returning in the form of a hallucination caused by Scarecrow’s fear gas. That story pitch also introduced Harley Quinn as the vengeful daughter of Jack Napier.
8.Robin Williams lobbied for the Joker role and came very close to winning the part when it appeared Nicholson would bow out. Williams’ remained bitter about losing the role for many years, even refusing the opportunity to play The Riddler in 1995’s “Batman Forever.”
Warner Bros.
9.Michael Keaton improvised some of Batman’s most memorable lines in the movie, including the now-iconic “I’m Batman.” The script has the character instead saying, “I am the night.”
10. The newspaper cartoonist’s rendition of “The Bat-Man” is actually drawn by Batman co-creator Bob Kane. Kane was also supposed to have played the cartoonist, but he fell ill during filming.
Warner Bros.
11. To date, this is the only theatrical Batman movie to feature exactly one supervillain from the comics. Every other Batman movie has included at least two villains.
12.Pat Hingle (Commissioner Gordon) and Michael Gough (Alfred Pennyworth) are the only two “Batman” actors to reprise their roles in all three sequels.
Warner Bros.
13. Sam Hamm’s original screenplay included a pre-Robin Dick Grayson. Child actor Ricky Addison Reed was cast in the role, but the character was cut when Warren Skarren revised Hamm’s script shortly before filming commenced.
14. The ending was another source of many last-minute revisions. Originally, the climax revolved around an enraged Batman attacking Joker after the death of Vicki Vale.
Warner Bros.
15. “Batman” became the highest-grossing DC Comics movie of all time and wasn’t unseated until 2008’s “The Dark Knight.”
If luminaries like Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, John Barry and John Williams embody an older, perhaps “classic” generation of film music, Danny Elfman, along with Stewart Copeland, Mark Mothersbaugh and others heralded the arrival of composers who began their career as pop and rock artists before transitioning into the work for which they have become best known – film scores. Elfman, born on May 29, was a member of the band Oingo Boingo for over 20 years, but began composing film music in the late 1970s before making his breakthrough with the score to his brother’s film “Forbidden Zone,” and three years later, the first of dozens of partnerships with Tim Burton on “Pee-wee’s Big Adventures.” In honor of Elfman’s birthday, we’re taking a look back at just a handful of the film and television projects that not only earned him acclaim, but cemented his status as one of the most beloved and recognizable composers in modern music.
Warner Bros.
“Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” (1985) – Searching for the sound of Paul Reubens’ whimsical road trip to recover a stolen bicycle, Elfman borrows from Nino Rota’s scores for “8 ½” and “The Clowns,” creating an indelible calling card that would establish him as one of Hollywood’s most idiosyncratic and instantly-recognizable composers.
Warner Bros.
“Beetlejuice” (1988) – Elfman’s next outing with Burton would not only become equally famous but helped establish the sound that defined much of his work for the next few years — gothic, mischievous music driven by propulsive, low-end brass and embellished by soaring choral arrangements.
Warner Bros.
“Batman” (1989) – Effectively setting a musical template for superhero movies that would help reintroduce them to audiences, Elfman won his first and only Grammy cribbing the main theme from Burton’s film from a few notes of Gottfried Huppertz’ “Die Nibelungen” for what remains one of the most identifiable superhero themes outside John Williams’ for “Superman.”
20th Century Fox
“The Simpsons” (1989) – Elfman made a detour into television with this, possibly one of the most famous themes in the medium’s history. Though Alf Clausen skillfully expanded it for the series, Elfman’s music dug in like an earworm, establishing the tone of the show for decades to come.
20th Century Fox
“Edward Scissorhands” (1990) – Burton and Elfman had become a bygone conclusion by 1990, when they teamed up for this Christmas-themed gothic romance that indulged the filmmaker’s outsider impulses for what became yet another signature work for both artists.
Walt Disney Studios
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) – Elfman worked triple duty as composer, songwriter and singer in this future Hot Topic favorite, providing the singing voice of its misguided hero Jack Skellington and proving his instincts as a performer in his own right were still as sharp as ever.
Miramax
“Good Will Hunting” (1997) – Elfman won his second Oscar nomination with this delicate, guitar-driven score for Gus Van Sant’s film about a troubled prodigy and his relationship with a scruffy therapist. Merging his sound with singer-songwriter Eliot Smith’s, Elfman broke new ground in his filmography and showcased his evolving versatility.
Sony Pictures
“Spider-Man” (2002) – Elfman again helped define a new era of superhero movie music with this distinctive and memorable score for Sam Raimi’s film. Raimi shares in common with Burton a unique, idiosyncratic personality as a filmmaker, which undoubtedly made him and Elfman great collaborators.
Sony Pictures
“Big Fish” (2003) – Burton’s then-most-mature film to date challenged Elfman to create something that combined the magic of the filmmaker’s earlier work with more somber and grounded tones, and he pulled it off, earning Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for his work.
Focus Features
“Milk” (2008) – Another Van Sant collaboration, another nomination: Elfman once again complemented the filmmaker’s thoughtful, sensitive work with a score that communicated the drive and humanity of their real-life protagonist, nabbing Oscar and Grammy nods in the process.
Warner Bros.
“Justice League” (2017) – After more than 25 years as a composer, Elfman is so prolific that it’s hard to top himself, or to do something he hadn’t before. For Zack Snyder’s team-up film, Elfman beautifully combines music from his own repertoire (the ‘89s “Batman”) with work from other contemporary superhero films and an homage to Williams’ iconic ’78 “Superman” music for an irresistible mix tape of heroic themes.
According to Variety, Robert Pattinson, best known as the sparkly vampire in the “Twilight” franchise but more recently renowned for a series of adventurous independent features by renowned filmmakers like David Cronenberg, James Gray and Claire Denis, will be donning the cape and cowl for the tentatively titled “The Batman,” set to open June 25, 2021.
Not much else is known about the project, besides it being an (obviously) fresh take on the character, most recently played by Ben Affleck in a series of middling DC efforts and before that Christian Bale in the iconic Christopher Nolan-directed “Dark Night” trilogy. (Pattinson is starring in Nolan’s new, untitled film.)
What do you think about the casting? Who would you preferred? Is this really a done deal? Sound off below!
At a Director’s Cuts event (a video of which was posted to Reddit), Snyder addressed complaints about Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight being a killer. Comic fans were particularly angry, since Batman has a no-kill policy in the comics.
“Batman v Superman” and Snyder’s follow-up “Justice League” have been criticized for their dark and grim tone.
“Someone says to me: Batman killed a guy. I’m like, ‘Fuck, really? Wake the fuck up,’” Snyder said.
He continued, “Once you’ve lost your virginity to this fucking movie and then you come and say to me something about like, ‘My superhero wouldn’t do that.’ I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’ I’m like down the fucking road on that.”
“It’s a cool point of view to be like, ‘My heroes are still innocent. My heroes didn’t fucking lie to America. My heroes didn’t embezzle money from their corporations. My heroes didn’t commit any atrocities.’ That’s cool. But you’re living in a fucking dream world.”
Snyder is no longer involved with the DC Extended Universe films (though he retains producing credits on “Aquaman” and the upcoming “Wonder Woman 1984”). He left “Justice League” near the end of production due to family issues; Joss Whedon stepped in to finish the film. And Warner Bros. appears to be aiming for a lighter, entertaining tone with its recent and upcoming movies, including next week’s “Shazam!”
If James McAvoy’s time as Professor X in the “X-Men” universe comes to an end, he knows what iconic role he’d like to tackle next.
During a live Q&A on Instagram (captured by Fandom), McAvoy was asked which character he’d like to play in Warner Bros.’ DC Universe.
“The Riddler, maybe,” he said, referring to the infamous Batman villain. ” Always liked him when I was growing up.”
“I’ve always thought DC does really good bad guys.”
McAvoy has been Charles Xavier for nearly a decade in the Fox franchise, but playing the Riddler is definitely more of a possibility now that the future of the “X-Men” franchise is up in the air, following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film studio.
The next (and maybe last) movie in the franchise is this summer’s “Dark Phoenix.”
As for The Riddler, he hasn’t been seen on the big screen since Jim Carrey inhabited the role in 1995’s “Batman Forever.” However, director Matt Reeves is working on “The Batman” for Warner Bros. and has said it’ll feature a “rogues gallery” of villains.
Don’t start fitting Armie Hammer for a cape just yet.
After rumors floated that the “Call Me By Your Name” and “On the Basis of Sex” actor was in final talks to star in “The Batman” for director Matt Reeves, Hammer himself denied those reports.
“No one who can actually give me the job has asked me if I’m interested,” he told Yahoo! UK.
“I don’t even know if they’re done – I think they’re still working on a script. I don’t think that they’re close to production but I can conclusively tell you that no one has checked my availability, which is a bummer.”
Warner Bros. has set a release date of June 25, 2021, but little is known about Reeves’ plans for the next Bruce Wayne. He is definitely not adapting Frank Miller’s comic “Batman: Year One,” though he reportedly is looking for a younger actor to play the character.
