Batman is the new Superman for Warner Bros and last time around, they were trying their best to not screw things again. In this part we find out how successful they were in making Batman’s sequels not suck and how another once strong property, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is going down faster then you can say cowabunga. Finally we delve into a lot more lesser known superheroes so prepare you teeth cause we got a lot to chew.

Batman Returns was released on June 19th 1992 to $45.6 million, taking the highest opening weekend record away from Batman and continuing what would become a trend for the man dressed as a bat (yes, The Dark Knight wasn’t the only Batman flick to open to record numbers). Thing is, Batman Returns was very expensive at that time, $80 million, and only managed to grossed $162.8 million in North America and $266.8 million worldwide, significantly less then what Batman did 3 years before. Ultimately Batman Returns was way out there and turned a lot of people from the series. It wasn’t a bad movie, it’s just that it was to different. Now obviously Warner were not going to drop Batman just because of a minor misstep, I mean this was still very profitable and they were sure things could still be turned around in order for Batman III to not become Superman III.

Superheroes based on comic books were obviously the safe bet at the time since they came with a built in audience, but some studios, like Fox, tried their hand with original properties. Such a new, original property was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, released in July 1992. Yep, before the long running successful TV series with the same name, there was this low budget big screen movie that grossed $16.6 million. As it turns out, TV was a much better fit for Buffy. Now ask Joss Whedon, writer of this little flick, if he ever imagined that 20 years later it would be him making The Avengers.

In March 1993 New Line released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, an abysmal movie that only made $42.2 million in North America and sealed the faith of the ninja turtles so much that it took another 14 years for them to return in an unrelated CGI flick, not to mention Hollywood has been trying to reboot the series into another live-action movie for at least a decade.

On the Batman front things were moving in all but the right directions with Warner Bros. replacing Tim Burton with Joel Schumacher. Then Michael Keaton refused to return so Schumacher quickly found a substitute for him in Val Kilmer. Batman 3 became Batman Forever and filming started in the fall of 1994. But before this came out, a lot of other superhero movies tried their luck with just one managing to stand out of the pack.

There was The Meteor Man in August 1993 from MGM, only making $8 million in North America. Then there was The Shadow and Blankman and how could I forget, Tankgirl, with $32, $7.9 and $4 million. But if you look back, only The Crow, released on May 1994, is still remembered and considered a classic by many. It was a good movie that made $50.6 million in North America and thus became the highest grossing superhero flick not to feature Batman, Superman or 4 teenage mutant ninja turtles. But what really made this movie stand out was the drama behind it all. Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, died while filming a scene that involved him getting shot and little did he know, that would also be his last because the gun used was loaded with real bullets instead of blanks. Accident or not, you can read a lot more about this here.

May 16th 1995, Batman Forever was finally ready and Warner were riding a lot on it because if this were to fail like Superman III, everyone would be in trouble. Fortunately for them (but not so much for Batman himself, as we will see in Part 4) Batman Forever was everything they wanted it to be, opening with $52.7 million (again, the biggest opening at the time) and moving on to gross $184 million in North America and $336.5 million worldwide, thus falling between Batman Returns ($266M) and Batman ($411M). This new flashy, neon take seemed to work well with audiences but was this really the right direction for a superhero as deep and dark as Batman?

In Part 4 we’ll explore how Warner manage to almost destroy Batman, and how that didn’t slow down the other studios from trying their luck at more and more superhero movies in the coming years.

Superheroes at the box office (Part 1)
Superheroes at the box office (Part 2)

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Welcome to the second part in our look at the history of superheroes at the box office. Last time around Superman was the main topic, having raised and almost killed the superhero genre in just 5 years on the big screen. With the Man of Steel in the ground, Hollywood had to find another property to replace him, a more human hero, relatable to the mass audiences. It was Warner Bros again and, well, by now you know we’re talking about Batman here.

But wait, I got carried away for a second and forgot that before Batman, there was another Superman movie in 1987. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, a low budget last attempt at saving the series by trying to go back to the roots. By roots I mean getting Gene Hackman back to play Lex Luther (absent in Superman III) and setting Superman up to fight a super villain with similar powers in the form of Nuclear Man (like General Zod and his gang in Superman II). The movie was ultimately panned by everyone and is best left forgotten. It made only $15.6 million in North America and considering that just 6 years before, Superman II opened with $14.1 million, it was clear that this hero had to be buried for good, at least until following century.

Back when Superman still meant something on the big screen, Warner started working on another DC Comics superhero, Batman. Bringing the Dark Knight to the big screen had a lot of ups and downs and at one point Bill Murray was set to star as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) was to direct. From the initial stages of development Batman was set to be an origin story and the Joker was supposed to be the villain. In 1987 Warner started pursuing Tim Burton for the director chair while Sam Hamm was hired to write a new script. Come 1988 everything was in place, Tim Burton was to direct, Jack Nicholson would play the Joker while Michael Keaton would become Batman. A storm of fan backlash starts after hearing Keaton was cast as Batman, going as far as to petition Warner Bros. to recast the role. In October 1988 filming started at Pinewood studios, UK. In January 1989 the first trailer for Batman is released in theaters to fantastic reception and the Michael Keaton backlash was put to rest. The hype meter started going into overdrive in anticipation of the June 23 1989 release of what was the most highly anticipated movie of that year (a year that also had Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). Batman was finally here and it blew expectations out of the water with the highest opening weekend of that time, $40.4 million. It went on to make $251.1 million in North America or what would be almost $500 million today adjusted for inflation. Worldwide it grossed $411.3 million and Warner were already talking about Batman II. This was huge and they were given a second chance after screwing the cash cow that was Superman.

But Warner were not the only ones making superhero movies, after years of going back and forth, New Line finally released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in March 1990. The beloved comic book characters took the box office by storm after opening with $25.3 million (second highest that year) and going on to make $135.2 million in North America and $201.9 million worldwide, all on a $13.5 million budget. With such a new strong property on their hands, New Line rushed a sequel for release just a year later.

In August 1990, Universal tried its hand at another superhero (after the disappointment that was Flash Gordon), this time on a much lower budget ($16 million), playing it as safe as possible. Darkman came out to good reviews and with a worldwide box office of $48 million, it managed to turn a decent profit for the studio. Universal had plans for a sequel but because it was ultimately considered too expensive to release on the big screen again, Darkman only got two direct-to-video sequels in 1995 and 1996..

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II came out in March 1991 to a $20 million opening and a $78.6 million total. While it made a lot less and cost a lot more ($25 million), this was still considered a success and plans for part 3 were underway.

For every Superman or Batman, there is a lesser known superhero out there, one of such being The Rocketeer, brought to theaters in the summer of 1991 by Disney. This $35 million flick opened with $9.6 million and went on to gross $46.7 million in North America. This was nothing to write home about and plans for a sequel were abandoned because of the poor box office performance.

In Part 3 we’ll see how Warner Bros. slowly starts to fall into the same trappings as before with their Batman franchise.

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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot is certainly going through a number of writers. In 2009 John Fusco (The Forbidden Kingdom) was hired to write the script for the live-action reboot, and then last year Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway were brought on-board to re-work the script.

Now Paramount has hired the writing team of Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, who recently worked on Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol for the studio.

In 2010 we heard the movie was being fast-tracked so that it could be released in 2012, but that doesn’t seem likely now. Producer Scott Mednick said the live-action film may employ face replacement technology, which would allow the turtles to be much more expressive. This suggests they could be a mix of both actor and CGI.

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It’s been a year since Paramount hired the first writer for their live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, and while we haven’t heard anything on it since, Paramount has just brought Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway on-board to re-work the script.

According to Deadline the movie in being fast-tracked so that it can be released in 2012. Paramount wants the first draft by October so the studio can start offering the movie to potential directors.

Last year producer Scott Mednick said the film may employ face replacement technology, which would allow the turtles to be much more expressive. This suggests they could be a mix of both actor and CGI.

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John Fusco, writer of The Forbidden Kingdom, has been hired to write the script for the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. However, this is no ordinary screenwriter. This screenwriter can also kick ass!

From Variety:

Fusco will certainly be able to handle the action elements. He’s been practicing martial arts since he was 12, and continues to study Shaolin kung fu.

“It is always exciting when you can come aboard a project that bridges the worlds of what you do with what you love,” Fusco said. Fusco will incorporate elements of the “Turtles” comics, created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman in 1983, for the new adventure, which is being planned as an origins story.

No director or studio are yet attached to the project, which is being funded through Lightbox Prods. 4Kids Entertainment is handling licensing for the pic.

Casting for martial artists to perform stunts in the film began over the weekend at the Hollywood and Highland complex.

I wouldn’t really call myself a TMNT fan, but I would definitely be up for a non-cheesy Batman Begins-style origin movie. Producer Scott Mednick recently said that the live-action film may employ face replacement technology, which would allow the turtles to be much more expressive. This suggests they could be a mix of both actor and CGI.

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