Catwoman (film)
| Catwoman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Pitof |
| Written by | Comic Book: Bob Kane Story: Theresa Rebeck John Brancato Michael Ferris Screenplay: John Brancato Michael Ferris John Rogers |
| Produced by | Denise Di Novi Edward McDonnell |
| Starring | Halle Berry Benjamin Bratt Sharon Stone |
| Cinematography | Thierry Arbogast |
| Edited by | Sylvie Landra |
| Music by | Klaus Badelt |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates | July 23, 2004 |
Running time | 104 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $85,000,000 |
Catwoman is a movie directed by Pitof and released by Warner Brothers on July 19, 2004. The movie was adapted by John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris and John Rogers, from a story by Theresa Rebeck, Brancato and Ferris. The film stars Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt and Lambert Wilson, Frances Conroy and Alex Borstein.
The film was very poorly received and Berry later apologized for it, calling it a "piece of shit, God-awful movie" in her Razzie acceptance speech.
Plot
Template:Spoiler Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) is a shy woman who works for a cosmetics company. She is killed because she overhears her boss's evil plot to sell defective beauty products. After being murdered, she wakes up as Catwoman, a warrior with the force of a cat, that prowls the night in search of justice.
Response
The film was heavily criticized by fans of the Catwoman comic book character for departing from the basics of the character, with bad word of mouth starting to spread a full year before the film was released. The film also sparked debate among comic book fans over the casting of a black actress to play a character identified as caucasian for decades (although it should be pointed out that Catwoman was sometimes played by Eartha Kitt—herself a black actress—in the Batman TV series).
This debate subsided when it was learned that Berry would not be playing Selina Kyle, the "real" Catwoman, but a woman named Patience Phillips, who works at a cosmetics company in the beginning of the movie, therefore belonging to a 'parallel reality' and not belonging in the Batman universe. However there was still apprehension in that the plot created for the movie closely resembled the premise of another comic book title, The Crow, which was also adapted into a film. Some people have even taken to calling this movie "The Crow Lite."
Catwoman was poorly received, both critically and at the box office. The film received seven Golden Raspberry nominations in 2005, and later appeared on the list of Roger Ebert's most hated films. It won in the categories of Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay. Halle Berry accepted the award for worst actress personally, apologizing for the film, and speaking frankly in interviews about her views regarding problems with the film.
The movie studios have a schedule planned to release a major superhero-themed movie every summer, and due to problems with the production of the new Batman movie, Catwoman was greenlit for production instead to fill its spot in the schedule at the last minute.
Sequel
In 2004, soon after the release of the movie, a sequel was announced named Catwoman 2. This sequel was cancelled, though Berry did say that she was "really hoping to do another Catwoman" [1]