Noticias

Kevin Smith is a lifelong comic book fan and received arguably the biggest opportunity of his career when he was hired to write a Superman movie in 1996. Smith’s unmade script was initially written with actor Ben Affleck in mind for the role of Clark Kent / Superman, who eventually played Batman in the Dceu.

While Affleck might sound like an odd choice for the role, the actor wasn’t Warner Bros.’ first choice for the titular superhero. Instead, the producer wanted another talented actor who rose to prominence during the 1990s for the role. Here is what Smith had to say about the first choice for his unmade Superman movie.

WB wanted Sean Penn for Kevin Smith’s Superman movie

In 1996, Kevin Smith was hired by producer Jon Peters to write a Superman movie. Smith’s take on the iconic DC Comics character was based on the Death of Superman...

What Did The Director Of Wild Wild West Say About This Bizzare Scene Featuring Will Smith?(Photo Credit –Instagram)

Before Wild Wild West flopped its way into pop culture infamy, Will Smith was riding a red-hot streak. But one scene in that 1999 disaster left even the director shaking his head. Barry Sonnenfeld, who had just directed Smith in the blockbuster Men in Black, later admitted the moment “made no sense” and might’ve dragged the whole film down with it.

It wasn’t supposed to go that way. In the mid-’90s, Smith had been leveling up fast. He scored back-to-back hits from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Bad Boys and Independence Day. Then came Men in Black in 1997. It dropped on July 4th weekend and cemented Smith as the summer box office king. So when Sonnenfeld pitched Wild Wild West, another summer spectacle with gadgets, comedy, and action,...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, “One Battle After Another,” arrives in theaters on Sept. 26. But you can watch the brand-new trailer for the movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, below.

The new movie is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland.” (Anderson already has a Pynchon adaptation under his belt – 2014’s nutty “Inherent Vice.”) In the film, DiCaprio’s character is attempting to save the life of a half-Black baby from white nationalists (led by a villainous Sean Penn). From the trailer, the movie looks like a muscular action movie as much as it is a satire of our contemporary times. The supporting cast also includes Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Alana Haim and Wood Harris.

This marks Anderson’s first movie since 2021’s “Licorice Pizza,” which was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and saw Anderson claim nominations...

Corporations are not big fans of risk, and they're even less enamored of controversy. In sane times, they would prefer for their brands to be associated with fun, consumption, and more consumption. They want you to feel ecstatic about buying their product, and they don't want you running off to the competition to sample similar goods. Most importantly, though, they don't want to piss off their shareholders. So when their product is associated with something that bucks the system or is simply unsavory, they get their hackles up.

Once upon a time, movie studios didn't have to worry what corporations thought about their movies. Then corporations like Gulf + Western, Coca-Cola, and Sony, drawn by the glamor of the dream factory, bought into the movie business. They wanted their prestige of owning a Hollywood studio. Some of them were also keen on having their products showcased in motion pictures, a medium...

Hollywood’s entertainment industry has been the hub of quite a few fiascos over the course of the decades, catching a lot of people in affairs they should have not been involved in the first place. Surprisingly enough, the list of names for the same included the names of Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, and even Jon Peters.

Michael Keaton in Batman. | Credits: Warner Bros.

Apparently, there was a time when Keaton, the renowned fan-favorite iteration of the Dark Knight, was allegedly infatuated with his co-star and Academy Award winner Kim Basinger. But in the middle of this love story came Peters, the renowned producer of Batman, who ended up sleeping with Basinger, leading to Keaton allegedly being furious at them.

Jon Peters infuriated Michael Keaton by swooping Kim Basinger from under his nose

Back in the day, in the late 1980s, Michael Keaton‘s Batman was in the works, but...

Kim Basinger won an Academy Award in 1998 for her performance in L.A. Confidential, but even though she’s an Oscar-winner, she says she was “put in a box” of being the typical “bombshell” Hollywood star. In a new interview with Variety, her Batmanco-star, Michael Keaton, and the movie’s producer, Jon Peters, defended her acting chops.

“When you’re extraordinarily beautiful - not beautiful, but extraordinarily beautiful - like Kim, Hollywood doesn’t want to give you your due,” Peters told the outlet. Basinger played reporter Vicki Vale in the iconic Tim Burton-directed Batman (1989), alongside Keaton, who starred as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Related'Didn't Everybody Know That?': Michael Keaton Recalls Spoiling Batman's Big Twist on Letterman

Michael Keaton accidentally dropped a big revelation about Tim Burton's Batman movie.

“You’re Put in a Box”

Keaton agreed with Peters in the Basinger’s performances over the years have been...

In the mid-’90s, Kim Basinger was newly married to actor Alec Baldwin and had just given birth to their daughter, Ireland, when her William Morris agent sent her the script for “L.A. Confidential.” She was tired of playing the siren roles that had defined her — from a Bond girl in “Never Say Never Again” to a New York gallery owner in the erotic classic “9½ Weeks” to a barefoot Vicki Vale running through the streets of Gotham City in Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman.”

“I said, ‘Well, I’m not interested in playing a whore. Not doing it. I’m a mom, so I’m not going to play that,’” she recalls.

But her agent persisted, and she agreed to take a 3 p.m. meeting with the late director Curtis Hanson at the Formosa in West Hollywood. The lot was empty, and she drove around mulling the parking spaces...

Michael Keaton’s 1989 Batman movie is still hailed as one of the coolest superhero movies ever. Keaton’s portrayal gave life to one of the most iconic masked vigilantes. Moreover, it also laid the groundwork for all The Dark Knights that appeared in films afterward.

Michael Keaton as Batman | Credit: Warner Bros.

As such, the entire Batman fan base is eternally grateful to the actor. It turns out, though, that while Keaton’s magnificence enhanced the character, it was someone else that saved its storyline.

In fact, it was none other than Kim Basinger, the leading lady of Keaton’s movie, whose ideas made Batman immemorial to fans for all time.

Kim Basinger saved Michael Keaton’s Batman in 1989

Michael Keaton’s Batman movie took the entire superhero fans community by storm. Although there were protests from the audience at first when Michael Keaton was announced to be the face...

It's hard to think of a multi-hyphenate more iconic than Barbra Streisand, and with a career spanning over six decades, it's not shocking that Streisand has a high net worth. The singer-songwriter-actor-director-producer found success right out of the gate, winning a Grammy for her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album. Streisand has the distinction of being awarded the first-ever Egot — meaning she's won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Her first Emmy was for her TV special, My Name is Barbra, her first Oscar for her lead role in Funny Girl, and her Tony for Star of the Decade.

Streisand was born in Brooklyn, New York to parents Diana Ida and Emanuel. A performer from a young age, Streisand got her start singing in nightclubs as a teenager before earning guest appearances on The Tonight Show. In her personal life, Streisand has had several high-profile romantic relationships. She was married...

Was Harrison Ford Being Considered To Play Batman Before Michael Keaton? (Photo Credit – Facebook)

Hardly any fictional character is as popular and iconic as Batman. One of the greatest superheroes ever written, Gotham’s detective has been as successful in movies as in comics. The role of The Dark Knight has seen a revolving door of talented actors, each leaving their mark on the iconic DC superhero. Michael Keaton’s portrayal of the character in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) was the turning point for the superhero in live-action. However, before finalizing Keaton for the role, Warner Bros. had considered a talented roster of actors, including the king of fantasy roles, Harrison Ford.

Known for the roles of Han Solo and Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford was considered by the makers for the role of Batman. His potential casting as Bruce Wayne remains a fascinating “what if” moment in Hollywood history.

Why...

James Gunn reveals why he decided to give Superman his signature red trunks after nearly a decade of depictions that eschewed the accessory. Ever since Superman debuted in 1938, his costume has remained iconic. While the details have changed over the years, the core pieces tend to be a red cape, a blue jumpsuit with a big 'S' on the chest, and a pair of red trunks. Despite the outlandish nature of the character, the red trunks are seemingly a bridge too far for some, and with The New 52 in 2011, DC Comics ditched the iconic red trunks on Superman to make him feel more modern.

One of the questions many had about James Gunn's upcoming Superman when the movie was announced was whether it would include trunks or not, with the first official image of the character showcasing the classic piece of the costume. Ahead of the release of the new trailer for Superman,...

Pamela Anderson is setting the record straight on her marriage record. Specifically, the newly minted Golden Globe-nominated star of Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl would like the world to know that she never actually tied the knot with veteran Hollywood producer Jon Peters.

During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg on his Awards Chatter podcast, the executive editor of awards asked Anderson to reveal “the biggest misconception about you?” The 57-year-old actress wasted no time in coming up with an answer. “That I’ve been married six times instead of four,” she explained. “I never was married to Jon Peters. Do you want to know the Jon Peters story?”

Of course Feinberg welcomed the anecdote, and Anderson dove right in.

“I had just come home from France and my son called me. He goes, ‘You’re not going to believe it. Jon Peters called me. He...

Nicolas Cage as Superman in Superman Lives ( Photo Credit – Wikimedia )

Nicolas Cage as Superman? Yep, it happened—well, kind of. DC fans watching The Flash got a wild multiverse cameo of Cage battling a massive alien spider as Clark Kent himself. But here’s the twist: Cage’s Superman dream wasn’t just a random CGI throw-in. It was a callback to Hollywood’s most prominent “what-if” stories.

In the late ‘90s, Cage was set to wear the red cape in Superman Lives, a Tim Burton-led reboot that could’ve redefined the Man of Steel. The movie had Cage rocking samurai-style long hair as a darker, emo-ish Superman. Think moody, broody, and not your classic Clark Kent. Kevin Smith wrote the script, Jon Peters produced, and Burton was fresh off Batman and Batman Returns. Everything seemed primed for a super comeback—until it wasn’t.

The movie was supposed to pit Superman against Brainiac,...

Notorious hairdresser turned movie producer Jon Peters, whose notable credits include A Star is Born (1976), The Color Purple, and Batman, wants to make a movie about Donald Trump's July assassination attempt. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Peters shared his vision for the project that would start with Trump and President Joe Biden as children. If the project, which he says would be helmed by acclaimed director Oliver Stone (more on that later), comes to fruition, he'd like to see it land on Netflix.

"The story begins with Trump as a little boy and Biden as a little boy. And you start to see how Biden was obsessed with Trump, who was always movie-star good-looking and rich."

Stone has directed several politically focused films throughout his storied career, including JFK, Nixon, and W. Stone's impressive credits also include his Oscar-winning films Platoon, Midnight Express, and Born on the Fourth of July.

His knees are bad, he’s paunchy and puffy, and the former celebrity hairdresser has gray roots at least 2 inches long. At 79, Jon Peters no longer is the bad-boy seducer of women from Barbra Streisand to Pamela Anderson, the inspiration for the Warren Beatty film Shampoo, the wild-man character that Bradley Cooper portrayed with all the old bluster in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2021 film Licorice Pizza.

But as he sits in a combination bed- and sitting room in his apartment in the Beverly Hills flats, he still spins out grand plans that may or may not be grounded in reality. Let no one say that Jon Peters no longer dreams big.

I had not seen or spoken to Jon in the more than 25 years since the publication of Hit & Run, the book that Nancy Griffin and I wrote about Sony’s ill-advised 1989 decision to hire him and his then-partner,...

Legendary hairdresser-turned-producer Jon Peters makes a lot of wild claims—as is his wont—in the new profile from The Hollywood Reporter. Among his claims are political assertions of a conspiratorial bent, including that President Joe Biden arranged for the attempted assassination on Donald Trump at a rally in July.

Liam Neeson, 72, revealed his admiration for co-star Pamela Anderson, 57, confessing that he is “madly in love” with her after working together on the upcoming The Naked Gun reboot.

“With Pamela, first off, I’m madly in love with her,” he told People. “She’s just terrific to work with. I can’t compliment her enough, I’ll be honest with you.”

Neeson expressed particular admiration for Anderson’s humility, noting that she doesn’t carry a “huge ego” and consistently brings humor and dedication to her role. “She’s funny and so easy to work with,” he explained. “She’s going to be terrific in the film.”

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Anderson, in turn, shared warm sentiments about Neeson, calling him “the perfect gentleman” and “humble.” She expressed her gratitude for his kindness and respect on set,...

Liam Neeson is starring in the reboot of Naked Gun. He has been out promoting the upcoming movie and had nothing but good things to say about his co-star in the film, Pamela Anderson. In a recent interview, Neeson even said he was “madly in love with Anderson.”

Here is what you need to know about Neeson, Anderson, and their upcoming Naked Gun movie.

Liam Neeson Starring In Naked Gun Remake With Pamela Anderson

The original Naked Gun starred Leslie Nielsen as Police Squad Lieutenant Frank Drebin. In this mostly slapstick comedy, Drebin is a bumbling police officer who often saves the day by accident. Along the way, he meets a beautiful woman (played by Priscilla Presley), who helps him in his mission and eventually falls in love with him.

Liam Neeson YouTube The View

In the 2025 remake, Liam Neeson will play Frank Drebin Jr., and Pamela Anderson will likely...

The clever thing about new Batman (1989) sequel Batman: Resurrection is that writer John Jackson Miller sought to use existing holes in the original plot to build out a story. In doing so, Miller manages to write two of the most famous Batman villains whove never appeared in a live-action DC movie, as well as centering the story around the hugely popular figure of Jack Nicholsons Joker. Its a brave thing to do, given how believed Tim Burtons Batman movies are, but Resurrection is a resounding success.

Not only does the novel introduce Clayface as a natural continuation of Jokers story, but it also poses a question a lot of Batman fans have asked since 1989: was Joker really dead? It always seemed so final, and the characters brand was so strong that his abrupt end turned desire to see more of him into that irresistibly nagging question. Thats the same anxious question Batman faces,...

Succession might as well have been a documentary. The HBO series, about ruthless media mogul Logan Roy and the children who may or may not be equipped to inherit his empire, captivated audiences for four seasons. It may be over now, but the entertainment industry is still going through its own succession dramas, in some cases with a reality that is stranger than fiction. Sony’s recent CEO transition from Tony Vinciquerra to Ravi Ahuja seems to have gone off without a hitch. But that is the exception, as The Hollywood Reporter‘s editor-at-large Kim Masters and media and business writer Alex Weprin break down what could happen next.

Alex Weprin: Hi, Kim — Vinciquerra’s surprisingly seamless Sony succession to Ahuja has us thinking about the poor track record that the industry has when it comes to CEO transitions. Vinciquerra told me he’d been planning his exit for two and a half years,...

Quick Links Wild Wild West Could've Been a Good Film Will Smith Is Not a Fan of Wild Wild West

If there's a truly misguided late '90s blockbuster, it's not Godzilla, which was blatantly more inspired by Jurassic Park than the Big G. It'd be Wild Wild West, with an ultra-hammy antagonist performance by Kenneth Branagh, zero chemistry between the leads, and attempts at condemning racism that come across as, well, racist. And that's when the movie isn't being blatantly sexist.

Oh, and then there's the giant metal spider, which producer Jon Peters had been desperately trying to get into a movie for years, including a Superman movie. In the end, it's as if the rights to an old IP were purchased on the cheap just to work a big metal spider into the narrative somehow. It's just one of the many baffling and wrongheaded decisions that went into crafting this $170 million dud.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld has been chatting about 1999’s Wild Wild West, and how the hugely expensive movie failed to click.

Barry Sonnenfeld has just released a new memoir, titled Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, and the filmmaker has been promoting it by dropping a few brilliant stories here and there.

While one tale about the noxious toxicity of Will Smith’s farts on the set of Men In Black has already picked up plenty of traction online, it’s his take on the conflict at the heart of 1999’s Wild Wild West that is particularly interesting.

Despire earning $220m at the global box office, Wild Wild West has always been viewed as something of a miss for all involved.

In his memoir (via SlashFilm), Sonnenfeld gives his take on the action comedy that featured Will Smith and Kevin Kline as the two leads, with Kenneth Branagh in the villain role.

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Barry Sonnenfeld had one heck of a career as a director in Hollywood. In the '90s, he was hard to touch, from his work on "The Addams Family" movies to "Men in Black," it was hit after hit. Unfortunately, even the best careers hit speed bumps from time to time. Sonnenfeld hit a massive one in 1999 when he directed the infamous, expensive flop that was "Wild Wild West." While the director must always shoulder responsibility, there were many factors at play here. Perhaps none bigger in spelling the film's doom than producer Jon Peters.

/Film's Ethan Anderton recently spoke with Sonnenfeld in anticipation of his upcoming memoir "Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Career in Hollywood," which is available for pre-order now on Amazon. During the conversation, Sonnenfeld discussed the mess that was "Wild Wild West.

Actor and country singer Kris Kristofferson reportedly passed away at the age of 88. His family put out a statement on September 28, saying that the Me and Bobby McGee singer had passed peacefully. Kristofferson had won four Grammy Awards and earned a number of nominations for his career as a country singer.

Kristofferson’s most widely known role as an actor was in A Star is Born. The 1976 musical drama saw him play a washed-up rock star falling in love with an upcoming musician, played by Barbra Streisand. The two reportedly dated long before they shared the screen, which Streisand detailed in her memoir.

Barbra Streisand Wrote About Her Whirlwind Romance With Kris Kristofferson Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand in A Star is Born | Credits: Warner Bros.

Before Kris Kristofferson became the leading man of the musical romance A Star is Born, many other actors were reportedly considered. The role of John Norman Howard,...

Nicolas Cage's unrealized Superman movie remains one of Hollywood's most popular "What if?" projects. Director Tim Burton looks back on the film that would have altered the course of the Superman franchise.

Director Tim Burton confirmed Superman Lives faced a gauntlet of production challenges. In an interview with Variety, he compared his experience to the quest for the Golden Fleece from the Greek legends. "There's always this Jason and the Argonauts-style journey that everyone goes through to get a movie made," he explained. "I've worked on a couple movies that didn't happen after working for years on them, and those are quite traumatic. I just try to focus on things that I feel strongly about and get rid of all the noise surrounding them." Burton reflected on this after saying he's not interested in making another superhero film at the moment.

Related Nic Cage Explains Why His Superman Lives...

In previous episodes of The Best Movie You Never Saw, I’ve talked a little bit about how much I like the eighties and nineties actor Tom Berenger. From Platoon through Shoot to Kill and The Substitute, he was a great character actor with some serious action chops. Were he to have come along in another era, he could have easily been an action star in the vein of Liam Neeson or Gerard Butler, but in his heyday, audiences seemed to prefer larger-than-life heroes. Yet, some of his movies proved to be modestly successful, and one of the more intruding examples is the 1993 movie Sniper, which is probably the best movie you ever saw that got nine sequels.

In it, Berenger plays Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett, a legendary sniper with many confirmed kills under his belt. His work nowadays is embroiled in the war on drugs, with him having...

Real-life inspirations like Gary Goetzman and Jon Peters bring authenticity to the nostalgic world of Licorice Pizza. Alana Haim's debut and Cooper Hoffman's role as Gary Valentine add personal connections to the film's characters. Licorice Pizza showcases a mix of real figures like Joel Wachs and Lucy Doolittle alongside fictional characters for a rich storytelling experience.

Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza (2021) may be a fictional coming-of-age story, but the nostalgic Hollywood film features many characters portraying or based on real-life people. Licorice Pizza documents the misadventures, tumultuous friendship, and romance of Alana Kane (Alana Haim), a photographer's assistant in her mid-20s, and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), a 15-year-old actor and entrepreneur. Set in the early 1970s, Licorice Pizza also includes real Hollywood-set memories of Anderson and his friend Gary Goetzman.

Licorice Pizza has an unmatchable quality of realism compared to the director's past films, partially because...

Quick Links Nicolas Cage Was Almost Superman Nicolas Cage's Cameo Was Heavily Altered There's a Big Difference Between CGI and AI

The Flash has one of the most interesting development periods in the history of DC films. Announced back in 2014, it went through various directors and release dates before the finished film finally came out in June 2023, as the Dceu was coming to an end and a new Dcu franchise was on the horizon. It was marketed as being one of the best superhero movies of all time, all while dealing with the controversies surrounding its lead star, Ezra Miller. In the end, The Flash came and went, becoming a box office bomb and just one of many failed DC film adaptations.

One of the film's biggest controversies was the CGI, particularly in the film's climax, which saw the filmmakers use digital deep fakes of deceased celebrities like Christopher Reeve...

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

"That's their stuff, their business. They have a film in mind. I've already done it. I've done my Batman." Those were the words uttered by TV's Batman Adam West when asked about the casting of Michael Keaton in a new "Batman" film being put together by Warner Bros. in the late '80s. "Do you want the classic Coke, or do you want the new stuff? Maybe both." West suggests his hammy take on the DC Comics hero was Coke while Keaton would become New Coke. The only problem with West's metaphor is that, in this scenario, New Coke won the battle handily.

It's easy to forget now but there was a time when the general public's only image of Batman was...

Jennifer Lopez’s career is floundering amid marriage trouble. Could country music be the answer to her problems?

Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck Marriage Issues

Jennifer Lopez had a successful acting career before she became famous for her music. She starred in the 1997 hit movie Selena, playing the title role of the iconic Tejano singer who was murdered in 1995 by an obsessed fan.

Lopez also starred in Anaconda and Out Of Sight before her debut album was released in 1999 and kick started her music career.

She’s almost as famous for her romantic entanglements as her entertainment career. She dated Sean “Diddy” Combs back when he was called “Puff Daddy.” Jennifer Lopez was married to singer Marc Anthony for ten years and shares two kids with him.

She famously got engaged to former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez but they called off the wedding in 2021. She then rekindled her romance with actor Ben Affleck,...

There is yet another Superman reboot on the horizon, this time courtesy of James Gunn and Peter Safran, and much of it is being kept under wraps. This is, dare I say, a good thing, because the last thing we need is yet another troubled Superman production. Despite the character's enduring cinematic legacy, almost none of his cinematic solo outings can be discussed without their lingering baggage: creative infighting, script leaks, casting rumor mills, and even the occasional director's cut long after release. For a hero that is seemingly impenetrable, the Man of Steel sure has taken a beating in development hell.

Part of the problem is that nobody can quite agree on who Superman is or should be. In the early days, Warner Bros. avoided bogging Superman down in comics lore. Then, when fans became outraged over creative liberties, the studio frantically tried to cater to them. Superman used to strive for a clean,...

Most of Wild Wild West plays exactly in the way you would expect, as a uglier, less charismatic version of Men in Black. Sure, Will Smith still has his ineffable cool and Kevin Kline’s always lovable, even when playing a motor-mouthed and egotistical inventor. But the two just don’t click like Smith did with Tommy Lee Jones, and Barry Sonnenfeld’s direction feels forced and mechanical instead of electric. So when Smith’s secret agent Jim West and Kline’s U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon find the secret lab of mad scientist Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh), the audience feels just as unimpressed as the characters. As the exhausted duo mocks Loveless’s offerings, they ask “What has he got?” listing off his failures. The same question could be posed to Wild Wild West, with its garish set-pieces and flat humor.

But then, with a rumbling of rocks and a turning of gears,...

Mark Damon, who starred in the Vincent Price horror classic House of Usher and spaghetti Westerns before revolutionizing the foreign sales and distribution film business and producing features including 9 1/2 Weeks, Monster and Lone Survivor, has died. He was 91.

Damon died Sunday of natural causes in Los Angeles, his daughter, Alexis Damon Ribaut, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Damon spent the first 20 years of his career as an actor, including about a dozen as a leading man in Italian action movies, before he transitioned to the business side.

He had early success as an executive producer with two movies written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen: the German-language World War II drama Das Boot (1981), which received six Oscar nominations, and The NeverEnding Story (1984), a big-budget fantasy film that featured a Damon-commissioned score by Giorgio Moroder for non-German audiences.

He shared an Independent Spirit Award with director Patty Jenkins and others...

The year 1989 saw Tim Burton joining the world of DC Comics with his movie Batman. Michael Keaton starred as the brooding vigilante opposite Jack Nicholson’s Joker. The movie also spawned a sequel titled Batman Returns in the year 1992.

Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman

The idea for the movie first came from the mind of Michael E. Ulsan, who purchased the film rights of Batman from DC Comics in 1979 along with his producing partner, Benjamin Melniker. He wanted to bring back the dark and serious Batman instead of the campy 1960 version from the Adam West-led television series. But it took him a long time to find a home for the Dark Knight before Tim Burton and Michael Keaton could give the audience a Batman like that of the 1989 movie.

How Producer Michael E. Ulsan Made Batman The Way He Was Intended

Michael Keaton as Batman in 1989’s Batman

Michael E.

Recently, we had the chance to sit down with Michael Keaton and chat about his new movie, Knox Goes Away, which he also directs. Keaton is still out there promoting the film and recently ran down some of his best roles with GQ, including Batman. In the interview, which is really fascinating, Keaton remembers the controversy that surrounded his casting initially by director Tim Burton, which he calls a “ballsy move.”

For those who may not have been around in 1988, when Keaton’s casting was first announced, may fans hated him getting the role as his career up to that point had largely been focused on comedy roles. Indeed, he had many comedy hits in the 80s, including Night Shift, Johnny Dangerously, Gung Ho, The Dream Team, and Beetlejuice. In fact, it was his work on that last movie that directly led to his casting, as him and Burton had...

Actor Michael Keaton’s collaboration with director Tim Burton resulted in two live-action Batman movies that are loved and appreciated even today. As a result, it might surprise some fans that the duo butted heads over one casting decision during the production of Batman, which introduced several popular comic book characters.

Michael Keaton in Batman

One of the biggest struggles during the making of the sequel was the casting of Selina Kyle / Catwoman. While Burton cast Michelle Pfeiffer for the role, lead star Keaton earlier did not want the actress anywhere near the sets of the first installment. Nonetheless, Pfeiffer’s performance remains memorable, making viewers curious why Keaton was against her casting.

Michael Keaton Was Against Michelle Pfeiffer’s Casting in Batman Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in Batman Returns

After the critical and commercial success of 1989’s Batman, Michael Keaton and Tim Burton were signed for a sequel that...

Maestro star Bradley Cooper was the victim of brutal trolls this awards season, most of which came out of an alleged rivalry with Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy. While Cooper never made any ill comments towards his awards competitors, the actor’s several actions clearly suggest that he yearns for Oscar recognition. He was famously snubbed for the Best Actor Award at the 94th Academy Award for the film Nightmare Alley, which fans are celebrating on X now.

Bradley Cooper in Maestro (2023)

Many fans believed that Cooper was also snubbed for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar the same year for his brief appearance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. The Guardians of the Galaxy actor is currently among the Oscar nominees for his performance as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.

Fans Hail Bradley Cooper For His Performance In Nightmare Alley Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett in Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley...

Ridley Scott’s Very Expensive Roman Holiday

With accidents on the set, complaints about animal abuse and now reports that the production went wildly over budget, sources tell Rambling Reporter that Ridley Scott’s long-anticipated Gladiator sequel is leaving Paramount execs feeling a bit like Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor Commodus — “terribly vexed.” Initially budgeted at $165 million, sources say that figure has ballooned to something closer to $310 million. (Paramount insiders insist the net cost of the 49-day shoot was under $250 million.) “It’s a runaway,” says one source. “It’s not being managed.” The strikes account for some of that money; the shutdowns starting in July reportedly cost $600,000 a week, or a total of about $10 million, until Scott resumed shooting in December (though there were reports he kept cameras rolling during the work stoppages, shooting extras at crowd scenes in Malta, where he built a Coliseum set). But even before the walkouts,...

“Shit, I’ve been around, dude,” cracked Bradley Cooper on Thursday night after he watched a montage of his 25 years of screen work with a capacity crowd inside Santa Barbara’s historic 2000-seat Arlington Theatre en route to collecting the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Outstanding Performer of the Year Award.

The 49-year-old — who is currently Oscar-nominated for producing, co-writing and acting in Maestro, a film that he also directed for Netflix about the complicated marriage of Leonard Bernstein, played by Cooper, and Felicia Montealegre Bernstein, played by Carey Mulligan — was feted by Mulligan and, in a surprise appearance, by his friend Brad Pitt. Pitt declared, “For me, Maestro is a masterwork,” adding, “Yes, it takes great actors, but it also takes great construction. And I’m telling you, not since [Robert] Redford have I seen anyone do it so well.”

Cooper has accumulated 12 Oscar noms over the course of...

"Tron" and "Caddyshack" star Cindy Morgan has died, TMZ is reporting. The actress who appeared in several hit films and TV shows, most notably in the 1980s, was 69 years old. The outlet confirmed the news with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, but the details surrounding Morgan's passing are not currently available.

Morgan began her career as a weather reporter, but her first on-screen acting role came in 1979, when she played Elaine in the erotic comedy "Up Yours." Known for her striking blonde hair and blue-eyes, Morgan was cast in bombshell roles, including as the goofily named character Lacy Underall in the 1980 Bill Murray-led comedy "Caddyshack." The actress soon found herself in the zeitgeist, appearing in the cyberspace action-adventure film "Tron" as Dr. Lora Baines, a scientific assistant who was dating Encom programmer Alan (Bruce Boxleitner). In the same film, Morgan also played Yori, a cool and powerful computer program that,...

Brad Silberling's 1998 romance "City of Angels," a remake of Wim Wenders' indispensable 1987 film "Wings of Desire," stars Nicolas Cage as an immortal angel named Seth who gently breezes around Los Angeles, unseen by the people who live there. He appears to people only when they die, accompanying them to the afterworld. Observing humans as if they are an ineffable alien species, Seth becomes particularly enamored of an ambitious and compassionate young doctor named Maggie Rice. Seth finds that he might be experiencing love for the first time, and becomes visible to Dr. Rice, courting her and asking her deep questions about what it means to be human. Seth eventually chooses to transform into a human, sacrificing his immortality in order to be with his beloved. 

What both Wenders and Silberling communicate with aplomb is how inhuman angels are. They live among humans but only interact when the humans die.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Anatomy of a Fall (Justin Triet)

The ensuing days after a romantic breakup, even if it isn’t a cataclysmic one, are an uncanny time. Perhaps once the spell of verbal conflict and sparring’s ceased, suddenly your sole companion for the most intimate thoughts is yourself once again, but it’s an opportune moment for contemplation: how did it really go wrong? Or, can I be honest with myself and acknowledge my own partial responsibility for its demise? For Sandra (Sandra Hüller) and Samuel (Samuel Theis), the key onscreen and offscreen players in Anatomy of a Fall, are enduring this quagmire, although their inevitable breakup was enforced––the latter has just tragically died. – David K. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD...

Nicolas Cage is invading everyone’s dreams in his new A24 film Dream Scenario. After a dark era of doing straight-to-video film after straight-to-video film, Cage is looking like he’s still finding some dramatic inspiration with his new movie. Our own Chris Bumbray glowed in his review, “Dream Scenario is a clever social satire that should do wonders for Cage’s indie cred. Along with Pig, it’s evidence that when Cage gets the proper role, nobody’s better, and while this might be more overtly hilarious than some were expecting, given how it was initially teased, it’s entertaining and oh-so timely. “ According to Deadline, the eccentric actor recently made an appearance at the Red Sea Film Festival that is taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he regaled an excited crowd about some details of his film career, including the infamous Superman Lives.

While much has already...

Warner Bros. made multiple attempts in the '90s to bring Superman back after the failure of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. A screenplay entitled Superman Reborn by Gregory Poirier had elements such as Superman dying, Parasite and Silver Banshee as villainous stooges, and a revamped Brainiac. The draft was heavily influenced by the overly commercialized '90s Batman films, making it questionable whether they would have pleased diehard fans of the character.

Welcome to the 29th installment of Page One Rewrite, where I examine genre screenplays that just couldn't make it. This week, another one of Warner Bros.' many, many attempts to kill Superman in the '90s. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.

Just as the sting of 1987 box office flop Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was fading, Warner Bros. saw incredible success...

Sharon Stone is making a serious allegation.

The 65-year-old actress says she was sexually harassed by a former head of Sony Pictures, who allegedly aggressively propositioned her during an office meeting in the late ’80s.

During an interview on the SiriusXM show “Let’s Talk Off Camera” with Kelly Ripa, she spoke out the situation, but did not name the alleged abuser.

It’s the first time she has explicitly mentioned the incident, although she’s made vague references previously.

Keep reading to find out more…

Sony was constituted in late 1987 with co-chairs Peter Guber and Jon Peters. Peter has never been publicly accused of sexual harassment, while Jon was ordered by a jury to pay $3.3 million in 2011 to a former assistant who accused him of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, The Wrap notes.

“It was my Ralph Lauren jacket with the little ruffle on the shoulder, my...

Sharon Stone says she was sexually harassed by a former head of Sony Pictures, who allegedly aggressively propositioned her during an office meeting in the late 1980s, before the “Casino” star became a household name.

Stone remembered several specific details of the incident during a longform interview on the SiriusXM show “Let’s Talk Off Camera” with Kelly Ripa, but did not name her alleged abuser. It’s the first time Stone has expressed a specific #MeToo-type incident, though has hinted in previous interviews that she had experienced sexual harassment during her Hollywood ascent.

Sony, which was constituted in late 1987 with co-chairs Peter Guber and Jon Peters, did not immediately return a request for comment. Guber has never been publicly accused of sexual impropriety; Peters was ordered by a jury to pay $3.3 million in 2011 to a former assistant who accused him of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.

Stone...

Fifteen authors of books that were recently chosen for The Hollywood Reporter’s list of “The 100 Greatest Film Books of All Time” will convene on a panel — which is being advertised as “the greatest gathering of its kind ever” — this Saturday afternoon in Hollywood as part of AFI Fest.

The event, which will take place inside the historic Tcl Chinese Theater and will run from 4 p.m. -5:30p.m., is open to members of the public free of charge provided they reserve their tickets in advance via Fest.AFI.com/GreatestFilmBooks.

Participating in a discussion about the origins and impact of their books will be A. Scott Berg (Goldwyn: A Biography), Cameron Crowe (Conversations with Wilder), Nancy Griffin (Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood), Aljean Harmetz (The Making of The Wizard of Oz: Movie Magic and Studio Power...

Jonathan Dolgen, the tough-minded dealmaker and skillful numbers-cruncher who spent a decade at Viacom working for Sumner Redstone and alongside Paramount Pictures head Sherry Lansing, has died. He was 78.

Dolgen died Monday evening of natural causes at UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his family, a publicist announced. He had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 2012.

A native of Queens and a former Wall Street lawyer, Dolgen also held top positions at Columbia Pictures, Fox and Sony Pictures before becoming the first top executive recruited by Redstone for the newly merged entertainment conglomerate forged by Viacom’s $8.2 billion purchase of Paramount Communications.

“I had known Dolgen off and on over the years when I was a motion picture exhibitor, even before I gained control of Viacom,” Redstone recalled in his 2001 book, Passion to Win. “He was with Columbia Pictures, and I remember sitting with him in one particular meeting that became rather heated and thinking,...

The Flash movie featured many cameos from other iterations of DC heroes, including Nicolas Cage as Superman fighting a giant spider. This scene is part of a Hollywood legend about Tim Burton's Superman Lives, a movie Warner Bros. canceled. Cage suited up as Superman to fight a 'Thanagarian Snare Beast' as more than just an Easter egg to a film that never was.

Cbr supports the hard work of creators and industry professionals to create movies fans all know and love, but it's important to remember the ongoing controversy with Ezra Miller. You can find Cbr's continuing coverage of Miller here.

One of the most baffling pre-release reveals about The Flash movie was including a fan-favorite Man of Steel who never was. Nicolas Cage suits up as Superman for a brief cameo in The Flash, inexplicably seen fighting a giant spider. However, this is a deep-cut, inside joke for...

Clockwise from top left: First Blood (Orion), Rocky (MGM), Creed (Warner Bros.), Rhinestone (20th Century), Over The Top (Warner Bros.)Graphic: AVCliub

Whether it’s the slurred, street-toughened voice that seems lifted from the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood where he was born, the monosyllabic heroes who cemented his iconic status,...