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Catwoman (film)

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Catwoman
Movie poster that reads: "Halle Berry is Catwoman". In the foreground, Berry wears a leather suit and crouches on the edge of a tall building.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPitof
Screenplay byJohn Brancato
Michael Ferris
John Rogers
Story byTheresa Rebeck
John Brancato
Michael Ferris
Produced byDenise Di Novi
Edward McDonnell
StarringHalle Berry
Benjamin Bratt
Lambert Wilson
Frances Conroy
Alex Borstein
Sharon Stone
Narrated byHalle Berry
CinematographyThierry Arbogast
Edited bySylvie Landra
Music byKlaus Badelt
Production
companies
Village Roadshow Pictures
Di Novi Pictures
Frantic Films
Maple Shade Films
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • July 19, 2004 (2004-07-19) (Los Angeles)
  • July 23, 2004 (2004-07-23) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million[1]
Box office$82.1 million[1]

Catwoman is a 2004 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, who is traditionally an anti-heroine and love interest of the vigilante hero Batman.[2] The plot features a new character, Patience Phillips, taking the Catwoman name, and viewing the traditional Catwoman as a historical figure. It was directed by Pitof, produced by Denise Di Novi and Edward McDonnell, and written by John Rogers, John Brancato and Michael Ferris, with music by Klaus Badelt. It starred Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt, Lambert Wilson, Frances Conroy and Alex Borstein. Catwoman was released in cinemas on July 19, 2004, by Warner Bros. Pictures to almost universally negative reviews. The film grossed $82 million on a $100 million production budget.

Plot

Artist and graphics designer Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) is a meek people-pleaser whose main support is her best friend Sally (Alex Borstein). She works for a cosmetics company called Hedare Beauty, which is ready to ship a new skin cream, called Beau-line, that is able to reverse the effects of aging. However, when Patience visits the factory where it is being manufactured, she overhears a discussion between the scientist, Dr. Ivan Slavicky (Peter Wingfield), and Laurel Hedare (Sharon Stone), the wife of company-owner George Hedare (Lambert Wilson), about the dangerous side effects from continued use of the product. Laurel's guards discover Patience and are ordered to dispose of her. Patience tries to escape using a conduit pipe, but the minions have it sealed and flush her out of it, drowning her. Washed up on shore after drowning, Patience is mysteriously brought back to life by an Egyptian Mau cat, which had appeared at her apartment earlier; from that moment on, she develops cat-like abilities.

From Mau's owner, eccentric researcher Ophelia Powers (Frances Conroy), Patience learns that Egyptian Mau cats serve as messengers of the goddess Bast. Patience realizes that she is now a "catwoman," reborn with abilities that are both a blessing and a curse. Disguised as Catwoman to hide her identity, Patience, under cover of darkness, searches for answers as to who killed her and why. Eventually, her search (which includes finding Slavicky's body, and later being arrested for his murder) leads her to Laurel. She asks Laurel to keep an eye on George, to which Laurel agrees. However, when Patience confronts George (who is at an opera with another woman), he reveals he knows nothing about the side effects. The police arrive and Catwoman escapes. Later on, Laurel murders her husband, and admits to killing Dr. Slavicky because he wanted to cancel the product's release. She contacts Catwoman and frames her for the murder. Catwoman is taken into custody by the police, but not before Laurel reveals the side-effects of the product: Discontinuing its use makes the skin disintegrate, while continuing its use makes the skin as hard as marble. She also plans to release the Beau-line the following day.

Patience slips out of her jail cell, and confronts Laurel in her office, revealing that Laurel is the one responsible for her death. During the fight, she scratches Laurel's face, and Laurel nearly plummets to her death when she falls out of a window, grabbing onto a pipe for her life. Laurel sees her face in a reflection and is horrified by her skin's rapid disintegration, fails to grab hold of Patience's outstretched arm and falls to her death. Though Patience is cleared of any charges made against her regarding the deaths of Dr. Slavicky and the Hedares, she chooses to continue living outside the law, enjoying her new-found freedom as the mysterious Catwoman.

Cast

Missy Peregrym appears uncredited as the Hedare factory computer monitor image (Beau-line graphics model), depicting the bad effects of the beauty product. A photograph of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in Batman Returns can be seen among the pictures that Ophelia shows to Patience.

Production

Development

With Warner Bros. moving on development for Batman Forever in June 1993, a Catwoman spin-off was announced. Michelle Pfeiffer was set to reprise her role from Batman Returns.[3] Tim Burton became attached as director, while producer Denise Di Novi and writer Daniel Waters also returned.[4] In January 1994, Burton was unsure of his plans to direct Catwoman or an adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher.[5] On June 16, 1995, Waters turned in his Catwoman script to Warner Bros., the same day Batman Forever was released. Burton was still being courted to direct. Waters joked, "turning it in the day Batman Forever opened may not have been my best logistical move, in that it's the celebration of the fun-for-the-whole-family Batman. Catwoman is definitely not a fun-for-the-whole-family script."[6] In an August 1995 interview, Pfeiffer re-iterated her interest in the spin-off, but explained her priorities would be challenged as a mother and commitments to other projects.[7] The film labored in development hell for years, with Ashley Judd set to star as the lead as far back as 2001,[8][9] but eventually dropped out of the role.[10] Nicole Kidman was also reportedly considered for the role after Judd stepped out of the project,[11] until Halle Berry was chosen and the movie was released.

"I checked out some to see how Catwoman is treated in the comics, to make sure that our Catwoman was in the same vein. But I didn't want to be too influenced by the comic book, because the whole point of the movie is to be first a movie, and to be different. Different from "Batman," different from "Spider-Man" - this movie has its own identity. I tried to find my sources more in the character of Catwoman herself. To me, the Catwoman we're filming now with Halle Berry is in the continuity of the others. She's different than Michelle Pfeiffer's character, different from anybody who's played Catwoman in the past. But she is Catwoman. When you look at the differences between the comic book Catwoman and the TV or movie Catwoman, they're all different-but there's a feeling that they are all Catwoman. Halle brings her own personality, through her attitude and through the outfit."

—Director Pitof[12]

Catsuit

The catsuit was designed by Academy Award-winning costume designer Angus Strathie together with Halle Berry, director Pitof, and the producers. Strathie explained, "We wanted a very reality-based wardrobe to show the progression from demure, repressed Patience to the sensual awakening of a sexy warrior goddess."[13]

Choreography and training

Berry started intensive fitness training with Harley Pasternak in June 2003.[14] Choreographer Anne Fletcher was brought in to develop Catwoman's signature style and teach Berry how to think like a cat.[15] She also oversaw Berry's training in the Brazilian martial art style Capoeira.[14] Berry was trained to crack a whip by coach Alex Green.[14]

Filming

The movie was filmed on 4th Street in downtown Los Angeles, California and Winnipeg, Manitoba as well as Lions Gate Film Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California.[16] Most of the cats cast in the film came from animal shelters throughout California.[15]

Release

The film had its theatrical premiere in the United States on July 19, 2004.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on January 18, 2005. The film was released on Blu-ray on September 8, 2009.

Reception

Box office

Catwoman earned a gross of $40,202,379 in North America and $41,900,000 in other territories for a worldwide total of $82,102,379 against a production budget of $100 million.[1]

The film grossed $16,728,411 in its opening weekend playing in 3,117 theaters, with a $5,366 per-theatre average and ranking #3, next to the titles The Bourne Supremacy and I, Robot.[17] The biggest market in other territories being France, Spain, Japan and Mexico where the film grossed $5.2 million, $4.05 million, $3.05 million and $2.9 million.[18]

Critical response

Halle Berry was panned by critics for her performance.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Catwoman has a rating of 9%, based on 179 reviews, with the site's critical consensus reading, "Halle Berry is the lone bright spot, but even she can't save this laughable action thriller". On Metacritic the film has a rating of 27 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[19]

The film appeared on the list of Roger Ebert's most hated films. He criticized the filmmakers for giving little thought to providing Berry "with a strong character, story, supporting characters or action sequences," but his primary criticism came from the failure of the film to give the audience a sense of what her character experienced as she was transformed into Catwoman. He rather referred to it as being a movie "about Halle Berry's beauty, sex appeal, figure, eyes, lips and costume design. It gets those right."[20] In their onscreen review Ebert and his former co-host Richard Roeper both gave the film a thumbs down. Film critic Bill Muller of the Arizona Republic suggested that Berry should possibly give back her 2001 Academy Award as a penalty.[21]

Accolades

This film received seven Golden Raspberry nominations in 2005, including Worst Supporting Actress (Sharon Stone), Worst Supporting Actor (Lambert Wilson) and Worst Screen Couple (Halle Berry and either Benjamin Bratt or Sharon Stone). It won in the categories of Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Halle Berry), Worst Director (Pitof), and Worst Screenplay. Berry arrived at the ceremony to accept her Razzie in person, with her Best Actress Oscar for Monster's Ball in hand, and said: "First of all, I want to thank Warner Brothers. Thank you for putting me in a piece of shit, god-awful movie... It was just what my career needed."[22]

Video game

Main article: Catwoman (video game)

A video game was published by Electronic Arts UK and Argonaut Games. Featuring the voice talents of Jennifer Hale,[23] the game varied from the film's plot and received negative reviews much like the film.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Catwoman at Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
  2. ^ "6 Stupid Superhero Movie Recasts". Omglists.com. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  3. ^ Michael Fleming (1993-06-17). "Dish". Variety. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  4. ^ Michael Fleming (1993-07-22). "Another life at WB for Catwoman and Burton?". Variety. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  5. ^ Michael Fleming (1994-01-13). "Seagal on the pulpit may be too much for WB". Variety. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  6. ^ Judy Sloane (August 1995). "Daniel Waters on Writing", Film Review, pp. 67-69
  7. ^ Tim Egan (1995-08-06). "Michelle Pfeiffer, Sensuous to Sensible". The New York Times.
  8. ^ "Ashley Judd Talks 'Catwoman'". Killer Movies. 16 April 2001. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Film Notes: Ashley Judd Takes on 'Catwoman'". ABC News. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Halle Berry As... Catwoman?". The Daily Haggis. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Nicole Kidman Offered 'Catwoman' Role". Killer Movies. 5 February 2003. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  12. ^ Director Pitof on Catwoman. Superhero Hype
  13. ^ http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=2600
  14. ^ a b c http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=2598
  15. ^ a b http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=2599
  16. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327554/locations?ref_=ttfc_sa_5
  17. ^ "Weekend Box Office for July 23-25, 2004". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  18. ^ "Catwoman International Box office". boxofficemojo.com. IMDB. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  19. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/catwoman
  20. ^ Ebert, Roger (2004-07-23). "Catwoman". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
  21. ^ Muller, Bill (2004-07-23). "'Catwoman' provides less than purr-fect performances". Gannett News Service. Archived from the original on 2006-03-21. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  22. ^ "Halle Berry accepts her RAZZIE Award". Golden Raspberry Awards. 26 February 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  23. ^ https://twitter.com/jhaletweets/status/486958270251143168
  24. ^ "Catwoman for Xbox on Metacritic.com". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
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Awards
Preceded by Razzie Award for Worst Picture
25th Golden Raspberry Awards 		Succeeded by
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