Imaginary Stories: A DC Producer Quest

[Guiding Bolt]

Inspired by Charcolt's Deadpool's America, Truck on Empty Road's Age of Marvelous Mutants and Overmind's Doctor in the Tardis, this quest sets out to continue the tradition of collaborative storytelling and Elseworld-producing from a different time period and a different franchise. The struggles of DC Films and DC Entertainment throughout the years, at least in comparison to Disney's powerhouse of a MCU, are the subject of constant debates and online arguments; here, we might imagine an Elseworld where they succeeded or perhaps an Elseworld where they failed more spectacularly than ever before.

Participants in thread take on the role of Richard Weisinger, the head of the newly consolidated DC Entertainment branch of Warner Bros., as he is tasked with rebuilding DC comic films respectability after the failures of Batman & Robin and Steel. While DC's stock has fallen, their competitors have soared: Spider-Man, Blade and X-Men have rocked the world with the potential of superheroes outside of DC's Trinity. Butterflies abound in the distance.

Expect executive meddling, overblown director's egos and the demands of stars to subvert your plans and drive their own meanings home. Often, the directors and stars chosen in these producer quests make their influence known only through style or airs; in these imaginary stories, they will strive to have their demands met and use every tool available to them to see their goals met. Actors and directors talk to each other and to the public; be careful that the negative experiences or imagined slights of one bad apple don't spread to the entire tree.

Omakes and pitches are encouraged. Omakes give participants chances to shape the culture of Richard Weisinger's DC Entertainment and develop other faces, workers and characters of the office that might provide their own benefits and options to the studio down the line. Participant pitches can be attributed to an original character of the pitcher's choice and suggested to the studio directly or to potential directors directly. Scriptwriters developed this way can earn their own bonuses on presented pitches and ideas and may develop relationships with the directors and actors they work with on developed films.

Film development is expected to take on six stages—selection, direction, synthesis, casting, production, marketing—though some of these stages may take place simultaneously or may be repeated or restarted later on in development should issues or conflicts occur. Films without potential scripts cannot be selected, but script bounties can be put out during the selection process. Once a script bounty is in place, participants will receive bonuses for producing scripts fitting the bounty's description, other screen writers in setting will put forward their own takes on the bounty and interested directors will reach out to scripts that fit their interests or to the studio directly.

The average production period will be abstracted in quest to take two (2) years, with rushed productions abstracted to take one (1) year with the potential for severe penalties. Productions lasting longer than two years run increasing risks of entering development hell. Projects in development hell face constantly increasing risk(s) of actors, scriptwriters and directors leaving, heightening studio pressure and financial crunch, physicals or scripts leaking to the public and worse. The executives know to expect that some projects will inevitably enter development hell and will provide some support in these events, but there will come times when they pull the plug with or without Weisinger and his studio's approval.

There will be a two-hour voting moratorium period after each update and before each vote begins to encourage discussion and idea development. As participants settle in, that moratorium may be shifted or lifted to better suit the thread's style of discussion.

To all those out there left wanting a DC in cinemas that fits their childhood imaginations, we welcome you to pitch your own stories and movies here. They may only be imaginary stories, but as Alan Moore said, aren't they all?

 

[Guiding Bolt]

January 2003​

Batman & Robin, 1997, was a failure of a film. There's no debating that. Most fans of superhero movies, or superhero comics or even superheroes in general, hate the movie and everything it stands on. Right now, from your new office in New York City in the newly consolidated DC Entertainment Headquarters, it's weird to say you don't feel the same.

After all, if Batman & Robin had succeeded, you wouldn't be here right now. Chances are you'd have found yourself coordinating the bit-movies and passion-projects of B-list stars for the rest of your career. Through the grace of God's good movie critics and the ever-fickle mistress of public taste, Warner Bros. were moved to the point of miracle. When that push came to shove, they changed, and the arduous process of consolidating and reclaiming DC's film rights under one loyal, money-printing office came to fruition.

Back in 1998, Warner Bros. almost made the same Schumacher-born mistakes with their reboot of The Avengers. Almost. The few audience tests conducted before the studio decided on a full embargo were comparing the film to Howard the Duck, and the Duck was coming up on top. Your team was moved to the project as Warner Bros. reshuffled all DC-related staff, and through sheer luck and will, you and Chechik managed to turn the film to a bare box office success. As a reward, they assigned your team to a blur of failing productions, questionable assignments and problems to be solved.

Years of bouncing between dreaded projects developed a reputation, and that reputation as a problem solver did you better than any love of comics or spandex ever could. When you met Barry Meyer, you left him with a smile, a laugh and a guarantee of your position: the first head of DC Entertainment's Films Division. For Batman & Robin, there isn't enough in the world that you could give as thanks—though a gift basket to Joel Schumacher might be in the works.

Beyond the failure of Batman & Robin, there's another reason that your bosses were so keen to hire a problem-solver for your position. The predecessors whose roles you've consolidated left behind a mess of undeveloped films, struggling scripts, waning deadlines and potential poison pills that no idealogue would ever be able to work through. Everyone wants to reinvent the wheel when that wheel should be rolling in Warner Bros.' dough.

Warner Bros. Studio Head and President Alan Horn wants five tentpole films a year across WB's subsidiaries, and DC Entertainment hasn't provided a tentpole film since Batman & Robin's flop. You'll need to make producing a tentpole film a visible priority yesterday to keep on your bosses' good sides and to keep yourself in office, and once you've righted the ship for the studio, you'll be expected to put out a minimum of one tentpole film every two years and keep both Superman and Batman high priorities in the public's eye.

For this first major project, Alan Horn and Barry Meyer have clear expectations: Superman or Batman, make it new, make it sell. There's a dozen qualified directors and script-writers already attached in various ways with their own pitches and takes to share. Looking over them, there's even a few stories not centering the Dark Knight or the Man of Tomorrow that you think the executives would consider.

Darren Aronofsky wants to reimagine Batman and bring his origin to the slums, casting one Joaquin Phoenix as a darker Bruce Wayne and spinning his own version of Batman: Year One. Boaz Yakin has come together with the minds behind Batman Beyond to pitch his own take on the futuristic Dark Knight, introducing elements of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and penning in Clint Eastwood as a grizzled, retired Batman and mentor to Terry McGinnis. Auteur Christopher Nolan has come forward with his own rendition of Batman's origins, starring Christian Bale in a mix of mysticism and grounded realism tentatively called Batman Begins. Joel Schumacher's expressed a constant interest to remain involved in the franchise and take another shot at the dark knight, but his past failures with the franchise make you and the executives more than a little queasy.

J.J. Abrams wants to bring Superman boldly into the present with a new trilogy, beginning with a Matthew Bomer-starring Superman: Flyby that deals with Kryptonians coming to Earth, an ancient prophecy surrounding Kal-El's exile to Earth and both Superman's death and resurrection. Tim Burton hopes to do what he did to the Batman mythos to Superman in a complicated, but exciting film Superman Lives starring Nic Cage facing off against Lex Luthor, Braniac and Doomsday all in one film. Comics superfan Alex Ford has come forward and drawn both Warner Bros. attention and the public eye with his script Superman: The Man of Steel, a mythos-devout story of Superman torn between two lives, two women and two foes (in this case, Lex Luthor and Metallo). Bryan Singer offers a different take entirely, eschewing the tendency towards franchise restarts and instead proposing Superman Returns, a soft reboot of the Salkind film series that features Superman's return to Earth and battle against Lex Luthor's plot to reshape the world through Kryptonite crystals.

James Cameron has penned an ambitious, if unfinished draft for Aquaman, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mandy Moore penciled in as stars, set to explore new techniques in underwater filming, bring new depths to the famous "Dork Age" character and face off against a corrupt businessman taking the pseudonym Abaddon. The minds behind Smallville, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, have presented their own take as Aquaman: Prince of Atlantis, once planned for a TV-series but now scaled up to the big screen and featuring an Aquaman unaware of his heritage hunting for his lost mother Atlanna. Amateur screenwriter Ben Grant has his own take on Aquaman, tentatively titled Aquaman: Sunrise, that has drawn some attention in the casting offices for its choice of Santiago Cabrera in the title role but otherwise lacks clear direction.

Laeta Kalogridis has presented a finished script for Wonder Woman dealing with a young Diana coming to man's world alongside Steve Trevor and facing off against an international terrorist syndicate led by Ares himself, but no director has attached themselves to the project thus far. Joss Whedon has a similar but distinct take on Wonder Woman, choosing to play-up the character's inherent sexuality and ignorance to the ways of Man's World while shifting much of the protagonist's burden onto Steve Trevor himself. Scriptwriters Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland have presented a wildly different take on Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman 1943, a war-time story of Diana hunting for a lost Amazon sister Galina across Washington as Nazi bombers and collaborators launch an attack on America's capital, culminating with a Nazi attack on Themyscira itself and an attempt to seize the secrets and power of the Amazons, though like Kalogridis they lack an attached director.

There is, of course, one more option for a blockbuster film: Wolfgang Petersen's Batman v. Superman, an epic clash of veteran heroes following the murder of Bruce Wayne's fiancée Elizabeth Miller by The Joker as part of Lex Luthor's schemes that culminates in a meteor storm of epic proportions and a battle against a battle-mech wearing Luthor. Though some in the business consider the idea of throwing Batman and Superman into a fight against each other "creatively bankrupt," you're confident that the right framing can turn it into a star and springboard for future DC properties in Gotham, Metropolis and the rest of the world.

You'll have to make a choice on which of these projects you think are worthy of going into production. The executives want a smash-hit, and you're inclined to focus your efforts on giving them that one perfect film to start your tenure, but there's something to be said about having a back-up in the works if your initial plans come face to face with the development hell that's haunted your predecessors.

In theory, most films go through a two-year production cycle beginning with script and director selection, leading into story development and revision, followed by casting and finally physical production—though your experience tells you it's rarely so quick or straightforward, and the more star-power you bring on in cast or direction, the more control you'll have to cede to your collaborators and the more late-production revisions you'll have to complete.


Greenlight one (1) or two (2) TENTPOLE FILMS for the 2003 Production Cycle.


[] [Batman] Greenlight Wolfgang Petersen's Batman v. Superman.
[] [Batman] Greenlight Frank Miller & Darren Aronofsky's Batman: Year One.
[] [Batman] Greenlight Boaz Yakin's Batman Beyond.
[] [Batman] Greenlight Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins.
[] [Batman] Greenlight (…) player-created script.
[] [Batman] Do not greenlight any Batman projects this year.

[] [Superman] Greenlight Wolfgang Petersen's Batman v. Superman.
[] [Superman] Greenlight J. J. Abrams's Superman: Flyby.
[] [Superman] Greenlight Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.
[] [Superman] Greenlight Tim Burton's Superman Lives.
[] [Superman] Greenlight Alex Ford's Superman: The Man of Steel.
[] [Superman] Greenlight (…) player-created script.
[] [Superman] Do not greenlight any Superman projects this year.

[] [Aquaman] Greenlight James Cameron's Aquaman.
[] [Aquaman] Greenlight Ben Grant's Aquaman: Sunrise.
[] [Aquaman] Greenlight Alfred Gough & Miles Millar's Aquaman: Prince of Atlantis.
[] [Aquaman] Greenlight (…) player-created script.
[] [Aquaman] Do not greenlight any Aquaman projects this year.

[] [WonderWoman] Greenlight Laeta Kalogridis's Wonder Woman.
[] [WonderWoman] Greenlight Joss Whedon's Wonder Woman.
[] [WonderWoman] Greenlight Matthew Jennison and Brent Stickland's Wonder Woman: 1943.
[] [WonderWoman] Greenlight (…) player-created script.
[] [WonderWoman] Do not greenlight any Wonder Woman projects this year.

---

There is one other cat that's been let out of the bag and faces all kinds of attention. Catwoman has been in development hell for a decade—a millennia, if you ask anyone who's actually been working on it—and there's a growing public discourse over whether or not it'll ever be released. It's hard not to feel the breath of your executives and rivals on your neck when you think about the film and the work you'll have to do if you try to publish it. Dreams of a woman-led superhero film aside, it might be best to call an end to the project before it ends you. It'd certainly free studio assets to work on other projects.

Director Pitof is nearing finalization of his Catwoman project for release in late July 2004 (though calling the mess "his project" is an undue insult), starring Halle Berry as the titular Catwoman and working in a plotline around the Egyptian goddess Bast. Actresses Ashley Judd, Nicole Kidman and Michelle Pfeiffer have all been attached to the movie at some point in time and are amiable to return, given certain concessions are made. Judd is interested in a more serious and grounded take on Catwoman. Kidman wants a script fitting the rest of her career appearances and a chance at true iconicity. Michelle Pfeiffer wants a return to Catwoman as Selina Kyle, with allusions and references to her past Batman appearances. Halle Berry wants to continue her rising star profile and will likely cut ties with the franchise if the film is anything less than a success in critic's eyes. If you delay the film, you're sure you could work something out to satisfy any of the candidates, but Pitof's current work is unlikely to please anyone.

Canceling the Catwoman project would free studio assets to emphasize your ongoing tentpole productions or pursue the other minor projects of interested directors and collaborators. The Wachowskis have expressed interest in a Plastic Man film, though their initial script has left much to be desired. Guillermo del Toro has fielded a number of mystic DC stories but seems most interested in Deadman with a script already prepared. Robert Smigel, of course, has presented plans for a Jack Black-starring Green Lantern film that's thrilled the action comedy fans in the board but tests poorly with general audiences.

How will you proceed with PITOF's CATWOMAN?


[] [Catwoman] Greenlight Pitof's Catwoman for release in 2004.
[] [Catwoman] Delay Catwoman and continue production.
[] [Catwoman] Cancel Catwoman and open up an additional production slot.


With your decision in mind, you pull up your email, ready your hand on the phone and sigh. It's time to hurry up and wait.

 

[Guiding Bolt]

Reserved.

 

[Guiding Bolt]

Voting will open at 6:00 PM CST 12/16/2022, ~approx. two hours from the time of this post.

Please vote by task when posts are laid out with [bracket vote] options. If you wish to vote by plan in a vote set up for task voting, please consider voting for a participant's name instead, ala [x] Guiding Bolt. When I expect voting by plan to be necessary or useful as a response to a post, I will try to set it up to not make use of voting by task or the [bracket vote layout.

I've been stewing on the idea of a producer quest for a while, and finally settled on DC and this early time period quite recently with the news of James Gunn's recent choices. While I'm optimistic for his direction and cinematic universe, it's certainly made me look into fancasts and Elseworlds that could've been under a different DC direction these past decades. I hope that we can all work together and produce some beautiful, imaginary stories. Questions on the details of the film options mentioned in this first vote are certainly welcome, but will likely be responded to after I return from work. Most of the scripts referenced are publicly available online and can be read and reviewed at your leisure, though a few have been lost to time.

 

[Guiding Bolt]

Frank Miller and Darren Aronofsky's Batman: Year One, Alex Ford's Superman: The Man of Steel and continued production of Pitof's Catwoman have won the initial vote. We'll reach out to Aronofsky and take an overview of Pitof's Catwoman in the next update, with meetings with Alex Ford and potential director negotiations for Superman following.

 

[Guiding Bolt]

Darren Aronofsky and Frank Miller have prepared a number of scripts for Batman: Year One, but they all share common throughlines and elements. At its core, the script is an adaptation of Frank Miller's Year One plot to the silver screen:

After a brawl with prostitutes Selina Kyle, Holly Robinson and a confrontation with a dirty cop named Campbell leaves a trail of bodies and guilt, Bruce realizes his need to change his methodology and become something more than a thug fighting criminals. Bruce amps up his myth and method over the course of his investigations into Gotham's corruption and crimes. As he confronts more and more members of Gotham's high society and law enforcement that have intertwined themselves with the Gotham underworld, he comes to understand that he will have to be both Bruce Wayne and The Batman to bring true change and hope to Gotham. In a boiling subplot, Detective Gordon struggles with his infidelity and the blackmail opportunities it has given the corrupt cops around him, leading to an attack on his family and a show of cooperation between Gordon and The Batman that brings hope for what is to come.

Though the general premise is agreeable to the executives, Aronofsky and yourself, there are a number of sub-points that are already causing contention.

First, the "Wayne fortune."

Bruce Wayne has often held a public persona of a billionaire playboy philanthropist, occasionally losing the playboy elements or the philanthropist elements to better suit the needs of the plot. Aronofsky would prefer he lost it all. In their attached script, Bruce Wayne is a missing person after the murder of his parents, kept separate from his family fortune and largely away from the public eye. Rather than being raised by his family butler, Alfred, he is raised by a pair of garage owners Big Al and Lil Al.

This concept has its fingers all throughout the story. The emphasis on Bruce becoming Bruce Wayne and The Batman is not just about his commitments to society, but about accepting a past that he's lost and run away from. The lack of family fortune leads to a MacGyvering Batman, rather than a technologically superior Batman, equipped only with the tools he's specifically made for the situation and unique, potentially absurd gadgets. His Batmobile concept is a jacked-up and modified Lincoln Continental. His suit begins as a hockey mask and hoodie and constantly iterates.

Second, the tone of Gotham.

Aronofsky and Miller have come together to present a bleak, violent and sexual Gotham that fits the noir genre much better than the superhero genre. The film is kickstarted by Bruce Wayne's encounter with Selina Kyle, addressed in script as "Mistress SELINA" and immediately described by a beat cop by her age, measurements and job ("works a sex dungeon, uh, obviously"). Kyle's pimp, Chi-Chi, is a major player in driving the plot forward when he isn't telling his pregnant sex workers to get back on the streets. Lil Al performs a blood transfusion from himself to Bruce with a live hose to avoid going to the hospital and having Bruce sent to the Arkham Asylum. There are open attempts to murder children. The dialogue eschews any sense of being television friendly. Drug use and altered perceptions play a heavy role in scenes throughout the film.

The film is meant to be R-rated, from top to bottom, and Aronofsky believes that's one of its strongest features. The public has dealt with kiddy films about superheroes for a while, and with how Batman & Robin attached itself fully to a campy and corny "kid-friendly" style, he thinks that a return to Gotham's grit and grime will do wonders for pulling in audiences and establishing a new Batman mythos. Aronofsky cites Se7en as an inspiration, calling the '95 classic a "blueprint" for what Batman should be.

Third, the cast.

Aronofsky wants a very particular man as his Batman: Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix is a well-known actor best known for his role in Gladiator as Commodus, the villainous and cowardly Emperor who competes with Russel Crowe's Maximus. Putting aside the lingering concerns of backlash for casting a non-white Bruce Wayne, the executives question the specific choice of Phoenix and consider it a casting both against type and out of the actor's capabilities.

Perhaps it is a moot point. Aronofsky has made clear that casting anyone other than Joaquin Phoenix in the role will be a deal breaker for him and his involvement with the project. He might be bluffing, but you risk offending him if you even suggest other candidates.

Aronofsky is less set on the other members of the cast, but he does have a question for your team: What is being done with Catwoman?

Selina Kyle is a constant figure within his planned script and a major player in Miller's Batman: Year One comic. He has seen that Pitof's script for Catwoman rejects the Selina Kyle name in favor of "Patience Philips," but he'll need to know more before he starts work on his next draft. It's clear from your discussions with the man that Aronofsky does not want to constrain his script with in-jokes and references to Pitof's film, but it isn't an impossible ask of the man. If it doesn't become a burden on his filming schedule, he suggests he's willing to cast the same actress in the role and adjust the names to fit.

Frank Miller tells you his thoughts more directly. Pitof's Catwoman doesn't fit in any Batman story, let alone a Year One story, and he won't be losing any sleep on edits to make the two characters consistent. There are a few voices in your writer's room inclined to agree. There's a risk of confusing the audience and damaging your marketing if you try to attach the characters and films too closely. Aronofsky and Pitof are certainly shooting for different markets with their choices in direction.

Fourth, the choice of villains.

Aronofsky is telling a crime drama through a superhero lens, and he's chosen villains that fit that to a tee. While Aronofsky is incredibly confident in his ability to pull iconic performances out of his actors and leave lasting images of Falcone (if he even appears) and Loeb in the audience's mind, they just aren't toyetic characters. Bringing in someone that merchandising can slap on a LEGO kit or put on an action figure will certainly increase the film's working budget and please your executives, if Aronofsky and Miller can be persuaded to agree.

Black Mask has been floated as a potential replacement character to fit that role without offending Aronofsky's intentions with the story. There are certainly other characters that are more toyetic than that, though…

Another meeting with your team it is. You'll need a strategy for your negotiations with Aronofsky.

Please propose REVISIONS to Batman: Year One to be negotiated with Miller & Aronofsky.

It's suggested that these revisions be sorted by CATEGORY [Plot, Tone, Cast, Characters]. Each revision will be negotiated separately between your team and the Miller-Aronofsky team. Demanding too much in the form of changes or revisions will see directorial backlash and potential for malicious compliance.

Plan-voting for revision suggestions is encouraged, following the format below or similar:

[] [REVISION] Plan XXX

• Plot: Change xx to highlight ….
• Plot: Change xy to …
• Tone: Move from R-rated to …

The QM will be sorting these votes by header, not by individual line. It is not necessary to use sub vote formatting.

---

The choice to delay production on Catwoman, rather than outright cancel it, has been met with acceptance and support by most of your team and your executives. Though Catwoman has gone through years of development hell, there's a certain hope in the staff associated with it and a determination to put forward a new seminal work in women-led superhero film.

It's not hard to see that there's a strong disconnect between that hope for a good Catwoman film and the hope felt for this Catwoman film. Confusion and disarray are facts of life on Pitof's set, but it's hard to say how much of that comes from the director's forced ascent to the role and struggles to drive the production out of development hell and how much comes from true incapability.

Pitof reached out to you over email immediately at your ascent to DC Entertainment's head, asking to discuss plans for Catwoman and questioning if you planned to clean house on the project. There's a feeling of resignation in his words, though others in the industry have suggested that's just how Pitof is. Straightforward, even to self-deprecation.

It's a reasonable question. Cleaning house on the production would let you re-establish control and get a new set of staff in on the project. It'd also give you an opportunity to go through script, director and actor changes without much risk for individual blowback.

Pitof is deeply attached to the John Rogers, John Brancato and Michael Ferris script he's been iterating from, but it's always been a divisive take on the character. There are a few other scripts from the past years that've been rejected by WB already that might be worth looking into. Otherwise, you've got the resources to put out a bounty on the project. Your other projects for the year have already got substantial scripts attached to them.

You're already aware of some names that would be interested in directing if you did move on from Pitof, and there's always hope more will throw their hat in the rink if you put out a call.

Joss Whedon has expressed his interest in working on the project every few years, though he's always ended up working on something else when it comes time to return the call. Jan de Bont has been on a mercenary run throughout Hollywood and most recently directed Tomb Raider 2 to a successful box office and certainly fits the bill for a more action-driven Catwoman, but the spectre of 1999's The Haunting still hangs over him. Lee Tamahori's name has been suggested a few times in discussion over possible directors; he's a good friend of Halle Berry's and has been eager to direct a film starring her ever after their work together on the Bond-film Die Another Day.

Pitof is a woefully inexperienced director with experience primarily in visual effects and digital cinematography, but he's certainly passionate about the project and looking for ways to make up for his shortcomings. He's suggested he has a number of "big ideas" to make Catwoman fit better into any Batman-world your other films set out to create, but he's waiting to discuss in person (and to find out whether he still has a job, you imagine) before he shares more.

If you decide to continue with Pitof's direction, you can expect that the production will continue and will zero-in on Rogers, Brancato and Ferris's Bast-inspired script. Halle Berry will continue in her starring role for the film. The changes made will come primarily in additional shooting time, slight revisions to the script and improvements on sets or costuming, not from foundational adjustments to Pitof's plan. Conversely, if you decide to clean house, you'll have to extend your planned delays, but you'll be able to assume much more control over the film's development and figure out a script and cast more fitting to your vision. It might even be possible to work something out that fits with Aronofsky's envisioned world.

[] [CATWOMAN] Continue with Pitof's direction. Production continues.
[] [CATWOMAN] Clean house. Production is delayed further.

It's time to start thinking about how Aronofsky's Batman and Pitof or his replacement's Catwoman will intertwine, if they will at all. There's no decision to be made, yet, but it'd be good to tap the writer's room and figure out the basics of your plan.

 

[Guiding Bolt]

Voting will be remain closed until 02:00 AM CST 12/17/2022, ~approx. 2 hours from the time of this post. Players are encouraged to discuss target areas of negotiation in this time and consider what elements of Aronofsky's vision they might be willing to compromise on.

A draft of the real Aronofsky-Miller Batman: Year One is available online at archive.org, linked here. There are other pdf copies of the script available online elsewhere should you choose to look.

 

[Guiding Bolt]

VOTE 2 looks to need some more time to it, at least for the Batman question. Let's focus in on the Catwoman part of the vote for the mean time: Do y'all want to continue with Pitof's cast and direction or go into a new direction with the film?

Please put forward your vote on Catwoman for the next update. We'll either return to Batman or move on to Superman depending on if y'all want more time to consider.

[] [CATWOMAN] Continue with Pitof's direction. Production continues.
[] [CATWOMAN] Clean house. Production is delayed further.

I agree with a lot of the sentiments expressed here, for what its worth. A goal of this quest is to show the power of directors and their differing opinions on a production, and Aronofsky was an early option that showed that off quite well. This was not a trap option—there's a lot that can be negotiated and worked on to make a truly great film—but it is a suggestion of how things will go in the future with directorial intentions and the need for the studio producers to rein in overly eager minds.

 

[Guiding Bolt]

With the decision made to clean house on the Catwoman project, you informed Pitof of your plans and received his resignation in person. The Frenchman took the turn in good grace and wished you luck with the ongoing project, only briefly expressing his disappointment with departure.

Quiet unease spread through out the cast and crew in the brief intermission between Pitof's departure and your announcements, and some emails and calls from agents slipped in before you were able to formally announce the film's restructuring. The scriptwriters even sent an elaborate email pushing on the merits of their approach to Catwoman, a "plea for Patience Phillips." Your crew returned most of the calls and sent out kind emails in response, relieving the first part of the tension but confirming a new start is soon to come.

There are a few calls you'll have to make to get this project restarted. You'll need to negotiate with a new director, settle in on an agreeable script and confirm or change the casting changes that've been made by your predecessors. While most projects have the benefit of spacing these decisions out, the flux of Catwoman's development means you'll have to work on each of these areas at once.

As it stands, there are three nearly-finished scripts in circulation at the studio that you could move forward on production with: the 1995 Dan Waters script, the 1999 John August script and the ongoing Rogers, Brancato and Ferris script.

The 1995 Dan Waters script was intended for Tim Burton to direct and features much of Waters and Burton's humor within, strongly resembling the tone of Dan Waters's earlier film Heathers. This script features an amnesiac Selina Kyle facing off against the Cult of Good (made up of Adonis, Cactus, Mammoth, Spooky and of course their humble leader Captain God), a group of "heroes" who have masterminded the local crime scene to create constant PR and take their own cuts of the criminal profits. Initially a complete amnesiac relying on support from a local woman's group, recovering the Catwoman suit allows Selina to regain some of her earlier memories and pushes her to face off against the Cult of Good.

A showdown between Selina Kyle and the Cult of Good preludes a black cat's travel through the film's setting, inspiring women to rise against the abuses of society by becoming "Copycatwomen" everywhere it goes. These Copycatwomen join forces behind Selina's Catwoman to resist the Cult of Good and the abuses it allows, taking down the members of the hero team and leading up to a final confrontation between Catwoman and Captain God. Catwoman defeats Captain God by turning his own heat-seeking, phallic missile against him, pronounces "God is dead" and disappears as the mayor attempts to crown her the new Hero of Oasisburg. Oasisburg undergoes a societal transformation after the Cult of Good is vanquished, becoming "hip" and "cool" in the mind of 1995's popular culture.

The 1999 John August script was pitched absent an intended director and remains vague in the later parts, likely leaving space for a potential director's considerations and insertions. The film's opening doubles as a way to explain what's happened since Batman Returns and softly ret-con the failures of Batman & Robin: while explaining her past and present to a psychiatrist, Selina secretly cases the place for a return and robbery. Since her last appearance, Catwoman has backslid into her life of crime and walked away from the moral lessons Batman sought to impart on her.

Everything changes for the Cat when a car explosion nearly knocks the life out of her and leaves her not just amnesiac but completely unaware of her past as Catwoman and devoid of her villainous tendencies. After a visit by Bruce Wayne during her recovery, Selina leaves Gotham to move in with family and focus on her recovery. While Selina recovers, she joins her father's company in Lake City and elements of the Catwoman slowly creep back into her life. Slowly, Catwoman creeps back into public life, hitting a spree of crime within Lake City that's never directly shown, only hinted at through news reports and discussions; this mirrors Selina Kyle's continued ignorance of her double life, even as her other-self sneaks out at night and commits crime. Lake City's council, helmed by Selina Kyle's father, decides to create their own costumed hero to hunt this Catwoman named "Victory," intended a shiny mirror to Gotham City's Batman. However, the man who becomes Victory is in fact the Gothamite criminal responsible for Selina's amnesia in the first place. The council's creation carries out justice, but it carries it out without mercy and with hints of corruption, leading to confrontations with Catwoman and a mostly unwritten third act.

This third act, yet unfinished, would have to deal with the reconciliation of Selina Kyle's civilian identity and her status as Catwoman as well as the resolution of the Victory character and arc. There's enough space left in the treatment to add another major villain to the picture, perhaps a corrupt police official that could parallel some of Aronofsky's plans for Batman: Year One or a criminal mastermind with a public persona influential enough to influence the Lake City Council.

The ongoing Rogers, Brancato and Ferris script for Catwoman was intended for Pitof to direct and highlights Pitof's desire to reimagine Catwoman and reinvent her for a hero of the modern day. Patience Phillips is a mousy cosmetics company worker who uncovers a conspiracy to cover up the dangerous side effects of the company's newest product. The company discovers her and has her disposed of, but she's saved by a Mau-cat servant of the Egyptian goddess Bast. As a reborn Catwoman empowered by the Goddess, Patience develops a vigilante identity to continue investigations on the Hedare Beauty conspiracy and discover who had her killed.

Patience discovers the death of Dr. Slavicky, the developer of the new and dangerous Hedare Beauty product, and cooperates with love-interest and detective Tom Lone to advance her investigations into Hedare Beauty's owner George Hedare. When her first suspect turns out to be uninvolved, the Catwoman vigilante identity is framed for the murder of Dr. Slavicky by the true culprits and Patience is arrested. Patience slips the noose at the jailhouse and goes for a final confrontation with the conspiracy's mastermind, Laurel Hedare, in the process saving her love interest Tom from certain death. Laurel falls to her death after the shock of seeing her own face disfigured by the dangerous products her company planned to sell and Patience is cleared of all charges for her vigilantism and involvement in three deaths.

Patience leaves Tom Lone to go forward on her own, finding herself in love with her costumed adventures and her new Bast-given purpose.

Any of these scripts could be moved forward on to restart production and give a sense of direction to the set teams, costuming teams, marketing teams and talent. If none fit your fancy, there's still the option of putting out a SCRIPT BOUNTY on Catwoman, but doing so will necessarily delay the film's production to give time for feasible scripts to be sent in. Interested screenwriters will contact the studio, presenting formalized script proposals or offers to develop scripts to producer specifications. There is some hope that famous Catwoman comic writers Ed Brubaker or Mindy Newell could be convinced to put their own scripts forward given enough time and incentive…

[] [SCRIPT] Move forward with the Dan Waters 1995 script "Catwoman and the Cult of Good"
[] [SCRIPT] Move forward with the John August 1999 script "Catwoman: Rebirth"
[] [SCRIPT] Move forward with the Rogers, Brancato and Ferris script "Catwoman: Bast's Blessing"
[] [SCRIPT] Put out a script bounty for Catwoman. Production will be delayed.

---

Almost as important as the script for a superhero film is the star, and that is a topic that has come into contention repeatedly throughout Catwoman's decade of development. There are four main candidates all with high fan interest and good potential for the role: Halle Berry, Ashley Judd, Nicole Kidman and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Halle Berry is the most recent attaché to the role in production, winning praise for her performance in Die Another Day and the X-Men series and winning an Oscar for her much more serious role in Monster's Ball. Success is the name of the game when it comes to her recent appearances, and as long as she sees a strong success at the end of the production, she's happy to work on the film in any direction the studio chooses to take it. Well, any but one—Berry has been vocal about her distaste for nudity or erotic scenes ever since her work on Monster's Ball. Mild allusions and the usual Hollywood affairs are fine, but she has no intention of going for anything more than that. It's an easy line to respect, and one you don't expect any of the Catwoman scripts to come close to crossing, but it's not so easily reconciled with the Catwoman alluded to in Aronofsky's preparations. Friends among the company's other branch-heads consider Halle Berry a steal if she can be kept, jokingly suggesting that pulling her away from Fox and their X-Men franchise would be a feather on the company's cap.

Ashley Judd was attached to the role before Halle Berry and left during the long years of development hell the movie experienced, but her agent has already reached out to you asking about a potential return to the film and to Aronofsky's Batman: Year One. Judd has had significant experience with crime dramas, legal dramas and noir works over the past decade and achieved significant acclaim for her work on Smoke and Frida. Judd is interesting in exploring stories that take on the dark, gothic tone Batman and Catwoman are known for; she is pointedly uninterested in popcorn action affairs that don't bring out a deeper feel, noir or otherwise. Certain figures in the industry have less than positive things to say about Judd, with Miramax films suggesting that she's damaging to work with and suffers from vitriolic swings in mood and attitude.

Nicole Kidman is a more distant ask, vaguely attached to the film at a few points in its development, that comes with unmistakable star power. Already acquainted with members of the studio after her involvement with Batman Forever, she's been highlighted in the public eye after her stellar performances in Moulin Rouge!, The Others and her Oscar-award winning performance in The Hours. Her asks, if she joins the film, are heavy: alongside the highest starting salary point for negotiations, she wants her own team to pass over the script and be given creative control on revisions. She's willing to work towards fitting Catwoman into the studio's vision, but the specifics and exact extents of scenes and her character are areas that will have to be meticulously sculpted to fit her acting acumen and the rest of her Awards-bringing performances. Reminiscing over past experiences working with Kidman on Batman Forever, members of the production note that Kidman comes from a strongly Catholic family, and that the actress will be unwilling to cross religious thresholds lightly.

Michelle Pfeiffer has iconicity as the Catwoman of the 90s and a strong attachment to the character she played then, but she's been in something of a career hiatus since 2000. Pulling her back into the scene is doable, and something Pfeiffer herself has expressed a lingering interest in, but it comes with some level of risk. Pfeiffer has a strong grasp on Selina Kyle and Catwoman both from her on-screen performances and from the comics, enough so that she's provided support for previous revision and rewrite attempts to bridge the gap between screen and page. Her agents make it clear she'd be happy to return to Catwoman and continue the story of the Burton-verse Selina Kyle, but she's less interested in reprising the role in part of a new Batman telling without a level of creative control.

There are, of course, other options. Countless unknown actresses send in audition tapes for the role monthly. Putting out a CASTING CALL for the role will certainly bring in new faces and new options, but you can expect it to sour relationships with the Big Four in current consideration.

[] [ACTRESS] Move forward with Halle Berry
[] [ACTRESS] Move forward with Ashley Judd
[] [ACTRESS] Move forward with Nicole Kidman
[] [ACTRESS] Move forward with Michelle Pfeiffer
[] [ACTRESS] Put out a casting call for the titular Catwoman. Production will be delayed.



With a star and a script decided, you'll be putting Catwoman in a much better position to restart production and hone-in on the film's direction after your negotiations with the Aronofsky-Miller pair and decisions on Catwoman and Batman's cross canonicity. At least, you hope you will be.

You've started to compile a list of negotiation points with your team for Aronofsky, at the very least identifying the film's R-18 rating as a non-starter, but you've still got time to discuss and figure out any other points of emphasis before you return to him. Besides, Alex Ford's eager to meet you and talk potential directors and stars for his Superman dreams…

 

[Guiding Bolt]

Voting will open at 9:00 PM CST 12/19/2022, ~approx. 2 hours from the time of this post.

Minor formatting updates are being made to the previous updates, not changing any content but adjusting how headers are handled. These shouldn't really be noticeable. Depending on how discussion goes for this voting period, we'll either move back to talking with Aronofsky, move on to Superman or continue into the details of Catwoman's production after this update.

Once again, the scripts mentioned in this update are real and available in part or fully online. The John August script is only partially available due to August's leaks of certain portions on Twitter and his discussion of certain plans for his film. The Waters script is available fully online, as is the Rogers, Brancato and Ferris script.

Putting out a script bounty on a property will allow for plot development more akin to traditional Producer Quest plot developments. These will have to be negotiated with potential directors later on, in an inverse of the current Aronofsky-Miller discussion. Script bounties will also bring in ahistorical scripts/treatments that I've generated based on popular comics at the time and potentially interested screenwriters from the era, which may come with a director attached. They are also an opportunity for players to pitch larger treatments, develop screenwriter characters of their own to be inserted in the plot & potentially loop in otherwise uninterested directors or writers. Player-submitted scripts during a script bounty will accrue a reward either in Contribution Points that can be exchanged for benefits to rolls or more specific bonuses/butterflies based on the contents of their script.