The Batman that Clooney and director Joel Schumacher unveiled that night confirmed the worst fears of the country’s masses of Caped Crusader fans. Schumacher put nipples on the batsuit. His camera lingered gratuitously on Batman’s butt. He cast Chris O’Donnell and Alicia Silverstone–actors who are to film what ‘N Sync and Britney Spears are to music–as Robin and Batgirl.
The numbers on “Batman & Robin,” the fourth film in the franchise, fell through the floor after its opening weekend. “Warner Bros. wanted to milk it, thinking, ‘Oh, people just want to see Batman’,” remembers Jonah Weiland, a comic-book aficionado and executive producer of ComicBookResources.com. “Quite the contrary. They wanted to see a good story, with Batman.” Fans were greatly embarrassed by what Shumacher had done to their Dark Knight, and Warner Bros. was ashamed that they’d invested so much in a dud. For years afterward, Hollywood was tentative about adapting anything that reeked of geek.
Half a decade later, the pendulum has swung back with a vengeance: narratives that nerdy types are passionate about-books, comics and video games-are coming to the multiplex by the bunches. Look at the movies slated for 2002: “The Time Machine” (from the sci-fi classic: March 8), “Resident Evil” (based on a videogame: March 15), “Blade II” (comic: March 29), “Spider-Man” (comic: May 3), “Scooby Doo” (cartoon: June 14) and “Men In Black 2” (comic: July 3). After a lull in the fall comes “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” And that omits nonderivative fantasy blockbusters such as the Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise film “Minority Report” (May 16), “Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones” (also May 16) and the Mel Gibson alien flick “Signs” (Aug. 2). Next year’s got more.
When you consider that almost all of these projects are sequels or are designed to spawn sequels, it becomes clear that this isn’t just a fad: it’s a phenomenon. And it’s one almost no one saw coming just a few years ago.
After the “Batman” franchise died, studios became skeptical about the profit potential of big-budget fantasy. But then two forces fought against that tentativeness: One was the aggressive Marvel Comics, and the other was a little movie called “The Matrix.” In 1998 Marvel Studios–the TV/filmmaking arm of the comic book giant–released “Blade,” which became a minor hit, grossing $120 million. Characters in the flick flew through the air, dodging slow-motion bullets, and its hero killed dozens of bad guys with kung fu and automatic weapons. Sound familiar?
“The Matrix” picked up where “Blade” left off. Though not based on any fantasy source material, it was written and directed by two former Marvel comic artists and emulated real comic book/fantasy sensibilities. “That’s when the studios said, ‘Oh, that’s a comic-book movie!’” says Harry Knowles, self-described Head Geek at the movie Web site Ain’t it Cool News. After “The Matrix” earned $450 million worldwide, studios went looking to finance big talent, high-quality fantasy projects. And Marvel Studios was waiting with all their ducks in a row. With over a dozen comic brands in development or some stage of production today (including the Hulk, Spider-Man and the X-Men), Marvel is the biggest engine toward the fantasy-dominated cinemas of tomorrow.
What excites Hollywood about these films is what always excites Hollywood–money. Here’s the formula: geek source material + quality talent + high-price effects = a film that pulls in more than $200 million.
Cynicism aside, the fans have plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Studios seem to know that these movies require vision, not just stars. Behind the camera, we’re seeing more brains and less Bruckheimer. “The Incredible Hulk” will be directed by Ang Lee, who made “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and “Spider-Man” will be helmed by Sam Raimi, director of the supernatural critical hit “The Gift.” And another thing: these films look a lot more like comics, too. The new Hulk won’t simply be a former Mr. Universe painted green a la Lou Ferrigno from the 1970s TV series. He’ll be a full-on character rendered via CGI (computer-generated images).
Should those who cherish the characters hesitate? After all, Hollywood has a history of jumping from one action genre to another, from disaster movies to “Die Hard” ripoffs, leaving a trail of half-baked films in its path. Surely a devoted fantasy fan has to worry that in the frantic rush to make a fortune, a cherished character might be shoved into a “Batman & Robin”-esque feast of mediocrity, right? Wrong. “Hollywood gets it now,” says Knowles. “We might be on the edge of a 20-year dominance much like the American western enjoyed.” He and the other comic-book connoisseurs can see it. The producers see it, too. Now they’re just waiting to see if the rest of us will catch on.
