Exclusive Book Excerpt: How Batman vs. Superman's Development Hell Gave Way to Batman Begins

Film journalist and biographer David Hughes has long written with authority on subjects from Stanley Kubrick to David Lynch. But few writers know more about the vicissitudes of that uniquely Hollywood phenomenon known as "development hell." Hence the updated, revised edition of Hughes's book Tales From Development Hell, which arrives in store and online today. And Movieline has an exclusive excerpt that you can browse now. Development Hell is chockablock with gossip, infighting, false starts and dirty little secrets that afflicted films both realized (Indiana Jones 4, Total Recall) and abandoned (Crusade, Crisis in the Hot Zone), with a little bit of limbo thrown in for good measure (Fantastic Voyage, The Sandman). In this exclusive excerpt, Hughes revisits the Batman franchise's tortured road back to respectability - by way of the stalled Superman franchise. Really. ======= Warner Bros evidently saw a team-up movie as more than just a tantalizing possibility, but a viable way of bringing the Superman and Batman franchises out of the development mire. It was soon confirmed that the studio was excited about a script entitled Batman vs Superman, written by Se7en and Sleepy Hollow scribe Andrew Kevin Walker and subsequently "polished" by Akiva Goldsman (Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, A Beautiful Mind), in which the characters would begin as allies, albeit with radically different worldviews, before facing off in a showdown brought about by Bruce Waynes familiar desire to avenge the violent killing of a loved one. The story begins five years into Bruce Waynes life post-Batman, having put his costume back into the closet following the death of Robin. He has settled down, married a woman named Elizabeth, and is happier than ever. Over in Metropolis, however, Superman has not been so lucky in love, having been dumped by Lois Lane due to the myriad difficulties of being Clark Kents girlfriend. When The Joker, previously thought dead, kills Elizabeth with a poison dart, Bruce takes it hard. First, he blames Superman, because the Man of Steel saved The Joker from a fatal beating just before the murder; second, he resumes the mantle of Batman not, this time, under any pretense of metering out justice, but for the sheer cathartic pleasure of beating up bad guys. Superman, who has been busy wooing his first love, Lana Lang, in Smallville, tries to talk Bruce out of his vengeful ways, an act which ultimately pits the two heroes against each other. Eventually, it transpires that Supermans nemesis Lex Luthor was behind The Jokers return, hoping that Batman and Superman would kill each other. Instead, the two heroes unite to defeat first The Joker, and finally Luthor, the man fundamentally behind Elizabeths death. Opinions from Internet script reviewers were divided, either over the details of the Walker and Goldsman drafts, or the very idea of having Batman and Superman go mano a mano. Responding to an unfavorable review of Goldsmans rewrite by Coming Attractions Darwin Mayflower, Batman on Film reporter "Jett" said that, while he had not read the Goldsman draft, I very much liked Walkers original... I thought it was a very dark and powerful script and had a very clever way of pitting Batman against Superman. Mayflower flatly does not like the squaring off of Bats and Supes... [whereas] I found it quite exciting plus you know that they are going to end up as allies in the end. Mayflower also has a problem with Goldsmans (who many credit for the killing of the Bat-franchise with his p.o.s. Batman & Robin script) rewrites, Jett added. The only reason I can come up with why WB let Goldsman do rewrites was to lighten the script up a bit. Walkers original in my opinion was dark. Perhaps WB thought too much so. Nevertheless, the studio was sufficiently excited about the script to postpone its plan for a new stand-alone Superman film and a fifth Batman in order to fast-track Batman vs Superman for a 2004 release, with Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, The Perfect Storm) at the helm. It is the clash of the titans, the German-born director told Variety in July 2002. They play off of each other so perfectly. [Superman] is clear, bright, all that is noble and good, and Batman represents the dark, obsessive and vengeful side. They are two sides of the same coin and that is material for great drama. Petersen subsequently spoke to MTV.com about his love for the Batman and Superman films, especially in both cases the first two. I saw them over and over again. Batman vs Superman, he added, would be part of the lore of the films and the comics, but its also different. First of all, the dynamics are different because if they are in one movie together it changes a lot of things and it gives you a new perspective on superheroes... You also have the look and feel of Metropolis, the bright golden city, and the feel of Gotham, which is a shadowy, sinister city, in the same movie. This is Superman/Batman of the time after September 11th, also. It takes place in today or tomorrows world. Unsurprisingly, the announcement of a fast-tracked Batman vs Superman movie led to a surge of speculation as to which actors might don the respective capes. We have a script that really very, very much concentrates on the characters, Petersen told MTV.com. Its really material for two great actors. Although he had previously cited Matt Damon as a possible star, Petersen later clarified that he was merely an example of the kind of actor he was looking for. Someone who we so far did not really think of as a big action hero, who turned out to be a great actor who can also do great action... Hes one of these guys, but theres a lot of these guys out there. As far as the rumor-mills were concerned, Jude Law and Josh Hartnett were apparently front-runners to play Superman/Clark Kent, while Colin Farrell and Christian Bale the latter previously connected with the Year One role were widely mentioned for dual duties as Bruce Wayne and Batman. (No, thats Bateman, not Batman, quipped Bale, referring to Patrick Bateman, his character in American Psycho.) Barely a month after the Variety announcement, however, Batman vs Superman seemed suddenly to have fallen out of favor with the studio, leading director Wolfgang Petersen to quit the project in favor of Troy, an epic retelling of Homers The Iliad starring Brad Pitt. The studios swift about-face was based on a number of factors. Firstly, on July 5, Alias creator J. J. Abrams had turned in the first 88 pages of a new stand-alone Superman script, designed to be the first of a trilogy. Bob Brassel, a senior vice president for production at the studio, called producer Jon Peters, urging him to read the work-in-progress. I did, Peters told The NY Times, and it was amazing. In a world of chaos, its about hope and light. Abrams delivered the remaining 50 pages of the script in mid-July, just as Spider-Man began its amazing assault on box office records, suggesting that light and airy, not dark and powerful, was the way to go with superhero flicks. At that point, Peters, Abrams and Brassel met in the offices of executive vice president for worldwide motion pictures Lorenzo di Bonaventura the man behind the Harry Potter and Matrix movies, and a long time champion of Batman vs Superman who said that he liked the script (It had more epic ambition than earlier Superman scripts, he said later), but that he planned to release Batman vs Superman first. According to Peters, Abrams said, You cant do that, suggesting that it was akin to releasing When Harry Divorced Sally before When Harry Met Sally. Both sides had their points: with two iconic heroes for the price of one, Batman vs Superman arguably stood the better chance in a marketplace soon to be crowded with superhero films, ranging from Hulk to Daredevil, and more sequels featuring Spider-Man and The X-Men; however, if the darker sensibility of Batman vs Superman did not connect with audiences, it could effectively kill both franchises before they had had a chance to be revived. Besides, if either Batman or Superman failed, the studio would still have the team-up movie to fall back on. As studio president Alan Horn told The NY Times, In reintroducing these characters we wanted to do what was in the best interest of the company. Thus, in early August, Horn asked ten senior studio executives representing international and domestic theatrical marketing, consumer products and home video to read both scripts, and decide which of them stood the better chance in the post-Spider-Man marketplace. I wanted some objectivity, Horn explained. Why not get an opinion or two? At the meeting, di Bonaventura argued in favor of Batman vs Superman; others, however, felt that Abramss three-part Superman story had better long-term prospects for toy, DVD and ancilliary sales. Besides, even if the majority had not favoured the Superman script, Horn had the casting vote. I said I wanted to do Superman, he told The NY Times. At the end of the day its my job to decide what movies we make. The plan, Horn later told The Hollywood Reporter, was that Superman, the long-mooted Catwoman spin-off, and a Batman origins movie (presumably Year One) would revive both franchises, paving the way for a team-up movie. Id like to think that each character will evolve so that when we have Batman vs Superman, the meeting of the two will feel more organic, he said. Peters, the former hairdresser and Batman producer who had toiled through the development of a Superman film for eight years, was moved to tears when Alan Horn phoned to tell him the news. I swear I heard the flapping of angel wings when Alan was talking, he said. Peters, in turn, called Christopher Reeve, who had played Superman in four films between 1978 and 1987, and had recently guest-starred on the small-screen Superman show Smallville, despite a crippling spinal injury he suffered in a fall from a horse. He told me that his original idea was to do a film of Superman vs Batman, Reeve later recalled. They were pretty far into it, and then Jon saw that documentary that my son made about me and how five years after the injury I started to move. According to Reeve, Peters began to rethink the idea: Why should [they] have two superheroes fighting? The movie that Warner Bros is making now will be a much more uplifting and spiritual story. In August, Warner Bros officially switched off Batman vs Supermans green light. Days later, on Sept. 4, its greatest champion, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, quit after 12 years at the studio, giving credence to the widespread speculation that Horn vs di Bonaventura an epic battle of wills between two of the studios biggest guns over two of its biggest assets had contributed to his departure. Where all this left the Batman franchise was unclear. Almost anyone, it seemed, was invited to apply for the vacancy of the next films screenwriter, and even Grant Morrison, author of one of the biggest selling graphic novels of all time, Arkham Asylum, threw his hat into the ring. My own movie agent at Creative Artists Agency submitted a treatment Id entitled Batman: Year Zero, which had a young Batman traveling around the world, slowly assembling the familiar components of his outfit and disguise in the year before returning to Gotham as its protector. As a change from The Joker or the Penguin, Morrisons villains were Ras al-Ghul and Man-Bat from Denny ONeils widely acclaimed Batman stories of the 1970s. Although Morrisons application was unsuccessful, the team which was assigned the restoration of the Bat-franchise evidently agreed with his approach, electing to return to Batmans roots as part of their restoration effort. It was in early 2003 that Warner Bros revealed the new curator of the Bat-franchise: Christopher Nolan, director of the tricksy Memento and a well-received remake of Scandinavian thriller Insomnia. All I can say is that I grew up with Batman, Nolan commented. Ive been fascinated by him and Im excited to contribute to the lore surrounding the character. He is the most credible and realistic of the superheroes, and has the most complex human psychology. His superhero qualities come from within. Hes not a magical character. Although Variety also reported that both Year One and Catwoman the latter scripted by John Rogers (The Core), starring Ashley Judd (later to be replaced by Halle Berry) and directed by visual effects veteran Pitof were also on the cards, Nolans untitled Batman project seemed the most likely to move forward, although it remained unclear which script would form the basis of the film. Nolan, who knew Batman but was uncertain about his wider comic book context, turned to David S. Goyer, who scripted Dark City, The Crow: City of Angels, the comic book adaptation Blade and its sequels, and unused drafts of Freddy vs Jason, for help with the script. Ironically, Goyer, whose lifelong dream had been to write a Batman movie script, was unavailable, preparing to direct Blade: Trinity but agreed to give Nolan some ideas pro bono. As Goyer recalls, I said, If I did do it, this is what I would do, and you can have my ideas for free. I talked for about an hour and spitballed a large amount of what the film is, and Chris said, Wow, that sounds great. He went away again for a few more days, [then] I got a call saying, You have to do this. Goyer carved out the time to write the first draft of the script. The Nolan-Goyer Batman set out to achieve something no comic book or film had accomplished thus far: tell a definitive origin story, charting the journey from the murder of young Bruce Waynes parents all the way to the formation of Batman as a masked vigilante. Drawing heavily on the comic book history of the character, Nolan and Goyer filled in the blanks, working with Nolans regular production designer Nathan Crowley to build a Batman story from the ground up exactly the approach which Warner Bros wanted to re-boot its biggest property. Released on June 5, 2005, Batman Begins made just over $200 million at the US box office $50 million (and a few million audience members) short of Burtons Batman, but a healthy start to what would, with The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) signal the return of the bat to box office dominance not only among its comic book peers, but Hollywood in general. Sixteen years since Tim Burtons Batman gave birth to the film franchise and Joel Schumachers Batman and Robin killed it off, the Dark Knight had returned with a vengeance. The updated and revised Tales From Development Hell is available today in stores and online.

'Casanova' spurs strong emotions

When Terry McMahon's "Charlie Casanova" screened last April at a festival in Krakow, Poland, it sparked a fistfight between two audience members who disagreed about the self-financed Irish feature.And that suits McMahon just fine. A scabrous drama about an amoral yuppie, ferociously played by Emmett J. Scanlan, who kills a girl in a hit-and-run accident and then surrenders his fate to a pack of playing cards, the pic is designed to provoke divided reactions."I set out to raise as many questions as possible, and answer none of them" McMahon says. "When the audience ends up fighting over your film, that's the kind of response you want."As McMahon tells it, making the film wasn't so much a labor of love as a sick obsession.A former actor and TV writer, McMahon poured into "Charlie Casanova" all his contempt for Ireland's new moneyed class, along with his frustrations over years of working as a self-described hack on soaps while developing conventional screenplays that never got made."The Irish Film Board had been incredibly kind to three different scripts of mine, giving me a lot of money to develop them, but when those greenlit scripts turned into non-existent films, I thought, 'I can't keep doing this,'" he explains."I'm a huge fan of the Aristotelian concept and conventional narrative structures, but I decided to do something that deconstructed those," he says of "Casanova." "The Film Board hated the script. That meant nobody was ever going to make it, unless I did it myself."McMahon says the film became a two-year obsession for him, during which he pumped every dime he had into pushing the pic through each stage of development.In December 2009, he generated a Facebook page inviting anyone interested in working the project to get in touch, and setting the start of principal photography just three-and-a-half weeks later."Ireland shuts down for three weeks at Christmas, so I reckoned it might be possible to get people to work for free in the first week of January when there was no other work around," he says. "As soon as I created the Facebook page, I thought 'you've really embarrassed yourself' and I was reaching for the delete button when the first response popped up."Over the next 24 hours, 130 people volunteered. "Some were very experienced, some had no experience whatsoever," he says. When they gathered at the Clontarf Castle Hotel for the first of 11 shooting days (because the camera he had borrowed had to be returned at midnight on that 11th day), it was the first time McMahon had met many of his crew.Shooting cost a total of 987 ($1,292) in cash -- though McMahon acknowledges that doesn't reflect the full cost to his own pocket, nor the money his father gave him to cover his family's bills.He had an editor, Tony Kearns, but no budget for post-production. Through personal contacts, Dublin's leading post house, Windmill Lane, stepped in. "They showed staggering support, generosity beyond measure. It's a private company, a capitalist organization, but they never looked for anything, neither the bosses who own it nor the staff, who worked eight-hour days for nothing. It felt to them like they were part of an anarchist punk-rock thing."A friend passed a copy to UTA agent David Flynn, who sent it to the SXSW festival, which invited the project into competition. That invitation alone was a triumph for a self-financed Irish no-budgeter by an unknown filmmaker made without the sanction of the Film Board, which backs virtually every project made in Ireland.Though the SXSW honchos were enthused about the film, Variety's review was extremely negative (though there were no fistfights). McMahon was unfazed by the love it/hate it reactions."Charlie Casanova" went to the Galway fest, the premier gathering of the Irish film industry, where it drew a standing ovation and the award for best first feature. Other fest screenings included that combative night at Krakow's Off Plus Camera fest.Then last month came the major surprise of five nominations from the Irish Film & TV Awards, including picture, director, script, editing and rising star for Scanlan.A distribution deal with Studiocanal, which has a track record of nurturing raw new directors, has put "Charlie Casanova" among the small number of Irish movies to secure distribution across the U.K. and Ireland."As a company, we have a strong tradition of supporting debut features from filmmakers with a strong voice and vision such as Joe Cornish, Rowan Joffe, Ben Wheatley and Richard Ayoade, and Terry certainly fits that bill," says Danny Perkins, CEO of Studiocanal U.K. "He's an incredibly passionate writer and director, and has created an incendiary film."McMahon says he learned the hard way from serving as the pic's producer as well as writer and director. "Afterwards I had to ask myself, was it really worth it to be this broken on every level?" he says. "Yet all I want to do is get back on set and do it again."McMahon is developing a broad comedy called "Oliver Twisted" with experienced producer Tim Palmer, who contacted him after seeing "Charlie Casanova."The multihyphenate acknowledges that "Charlie Casanova" is too much of an anomaly to provide any kind of template for his future career. "The production model can never been repeated," he says. "I don't want to make 'Charlie Casanova' again, and I don't want to work that way again. No matter how anarchic your approach, you have to go back into the conventional fold." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Matthew Perry Lands Recurring Role On The Good Wife

Matthew Perry’s recurring role on CBS’ The Good Wife begins March 25. Hewill play a Chicago attorney tasked with heading up a blue-ribbon panel investigating a police shooting. When Alicia (Julianna Margulies) is assigned to the panel, she begins to questions his actions as chairman. Perry has been no stranger to TV since Friends. In addition to numerous arcs, he starred onNBC’s Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, which lasted one season,and co-created and starred in last year’s ABC midseason replacement Mr Sunshine, which was not brought back.

Lost's Henry Ian Cusick to Guest-Star on Fox's Fringe

Henry Ian Cusick Lost's Henry Ian Cusick cannot appear to escape J.J. Abrams. Cusick, who performed Desmond around the ABC island mystery series, has arrived a guest-role on Fox's Fringe, TVGuide.com has confirmed. Exclusive: Michael Massee drawn on as Fringe's best theif As first reported by TVLine, Cusick will have an FBI Agent who helps the Fringe Division having a situation in Episode 19. The 44-year-old actor will next star in Shonda Rhimes' new ABC drama Scandal, premiering Thursday, April 11 at 10/9c on ABC. Fringe airs Fridays at 9/8c on Fox.

FilmNation launches sales on 'All Is Lost'

Glen Basner's FilmNation Entertainment is starting sales on Robert Redford starrer ''All Is Lost'' this season in the Berlinale, which Lionsgate is delivering within the U.S.Pic, the next feature from ''Margin Call'' author/helmer J.C. Chandor, is really a guy versus character drama that happens around the water. Story is placed entirely at ocean and it has only one cast member. Prior To The Door Pictures' Neal Dodson and Black Bear Pictures' Teddy Schwartzman are going to make the pic with Justin Nappi from Treehouse Pictures, who're fully financing the project. Prior To The Door will even produce with Anna Gerb and Joshua Blum from Washington Square Films, who have been their partners on ''Margin Call.''Before The Door's Zachary Quinto and Corey Moosa, Cassian Elwes, Laura Rister and Treehouse's Kevin Turen will professional produce. Pic is skedded to lense this summer time in Mexico. FilmNation includes a hefty slate starting the EFM this season: the outfit are pre-selling Steven Soderberg's next project ''Bitter Pill,'' toplining Rooney Mara and Anton Corbijn's latest effort ''A Popular Guy,'' toplining Philip Seymour Hoffman.Cassian Elwes and Laura Rister discussed the financing deals with respect to the film, together with Alexis Garcia from WME. Redford is repped by lawyer Craig Tyerman and CAA, while Chandor is repped by Take advantage of Carlson and Simon Faber at WME. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

New Wrath In The Leaders Posters Online

Worthington and pals wrath up warmEven if Roland Emmerich and also the Mayan mates use be wrong in regards to the world ending this year, the truly amazing(ant) news is always that we've still got a potential Greek apocalypse also on our hands. That certain will come in the ginormous, multi-bonced kind of the Leaders, all delivering Khan-like levels of wrath in, er, Wrath In The Leaders, as you have seen inside the one-sheets below.Really the only factor browsing their path is Mike Worthington. He's seen inside the completely new character posters for Jonathan Liebesman's mythical blockbuster follow-up, despite the fact that the Danny McBride mullet is completely new, also might be the crew of sexy Titan-crushers he's getting along for your ride. Click on the photos below for a good look.Frontrunners Character SheetWrath In The Titans' story builds up ten largely peaceful years following a first film. With Leaders particularly and violent Earth-threatening business round the cards, Worthington's Perseus is grew to become part of by Rosamund Pike's warrior princess Andromeda, Toby Kebbell's demigod Agenor, and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy). Together they need to free Zeus (Liam Neeson) from his underworld prison and stop the Titans's schemes from going to fiery fruition.The film's trailer has stomped online in the blaze of action and angry cyclopses cyclopi monsters. There's more very good news for anyone left deflated with the franchise's first instalment: that certain was shot in 3d, so you will see none of the shonky very last minute retrofitting. Plus, you'll find actual Leaders within it. We're not able to stress that enough.Leaders will wrath on March 30. Excited? Inform us inside the usual place.

Box Office: Chronicle Edges Out The Woman in Black For Top Spot

Chronicle A magical wizard fell short to three superheroes at the box office, as Chronicle edged out The Woman in Black for the top spot, Box Office Mojo reports. Chronicle, about three teenage friends who gain superpowers, grossed an estimated $22 million in its opening weekend. The Woman in Black, starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe, drew $21 million to take second place. The Grey leads the pack at the box office At No. 3 was last weekend's top film, The Grey, drawing $9.5 million. The weekend's third new wide release, the whale drama Big Miracle, ranked fourth with $8.5 million. Underworld: Awakening completed the top five, attracting $5.6 million. One For the Money fell to No. 6, grabbing $5.2 million. Red Tails was close behind in seventh place with $5 million. Rounding out the top 10: The Descendants (No. 8, $4.6 million), Man on a Ledge (No. 9, $4.5 million) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (No. 10, $3.9 million).

China pushes for additional film exports

Hollywood bigwigs might be searching feverishly to figure out ways in to the flourishing but knotty China market, but a senior estimate the Sino biz stated the main focus ought to be on conveying Chinese movies. "Among several types of artistic representations, films hold the easiest influences around the export of Chinese culture. Chinese films should seek mutual understanding with audiences around the globe regarding content and adopt today's technology and marketing encounters overseas," Ren Zhonglun, prexy from the Shanghai Film Group, stated within an interview with condition-backed news agency Xinhua. In October, China's ruling Communist Party put down recommendations targeted at making the cultural and entertainment industry a "pillar from the national economy," like the car industry, and pledged to push Chinese culture worldwide. "The American film industry continues to be having to pay focus on china factor. Previously, American galleries thought about the way they could explore china market, however they have a tendency to pay attention to trading in Chinese films," Ren stated, adoring co-productions as a means forward. This season, SFG will show basketball-designed feature "Shen Qi" (Amazing), created using the co-operation from the National basketball association, featuring figures performed by former National basketball association star and native hero Yao Ming plus current gamers Dwight Howard and Anthony May. Based on Ren, National basketball association commissioner David Stern gave the pic its British title. SFG also lately worked with with Technicolor on "Uproar in Paradise," a three dimensional toon in line with the traditional Chinese story from the Monkey King. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com