You don’t mess with it, apparently. Warner Bros is not a perfect studio—in fact they’re a bit of an old boys’ club in the eyes of some—but I do admire the way they acquire and stay loyal to talent. They took the Wachowskis in from the cold on a good script and an indie lesbian mob movie, and got paid back with one of their biggest hits. They put Tim Burton in the chair on “Batman,” even let him cast Mr. Mom, and again they struck solid gold. And they let a promising indie director revive the franchise on the strength of a strong pitch and a positive experience making a Pacino thriller. The result? The third highest grossing American film ever. Well done, guys. Someone in your talent department is doing their job.
Never ones to let a good thing slip by, WB is not only bankrolling Nolan’s massive “Inception,” it was announced today that they’re also taking him on to “mentor” a Superman reboot. He won’t write or direct it, but he will be keeping his eye on the creative team. This spooks me just a tiny bit because we don’t have direct confirmation that he’s directing “Batman 3.” And why would they announce this before they make that official? The following eventuality frightens me…
-Nolan oversees “Superman” as part of an exit deal from Bat-franchise. I know it’s paranoid, but here me out: Chris doesn’t want to do “Bat 3.” WB says “pretty please,” he still says no. He does want to do “Inception,” though. WB tells him if he doesn’t make Batman, his sci-fi action flick isn’t happening. Now it couldn’t have gone too far, because Deadline Hollywood reports that no other studio even got a whiff of this script. That means he didn’t shop it, so maybe WB kept him close. Perhaps they agreed with a reduced budget, something more manageable, but Chris disagreed; we do know that when he makes a blockbuster, he insists on outdoing himself. They dance around each other a bit, and eventually come to an understanding: WB bankrolls “Inception” at full price, in exchange for Chris Nolan exec producing Batman AND Superman franchises, and his brother Jonah and David Goyer still pen the script. Not a bad deal for all parties: Chris gets to move on, WB gets most of the same creative team behind Batman, AND they get his watchful eye on a new franchise.
See? See why I’m worried? Or it could be this…
-Nolan gets “Inception” upon agreement for “Bat 3″ and “Superman.” If you slightly weaken Chris’ bargaining position by emphasizing the fact that “Inception” costs the GDP of a small country to make, you could argue that this thing was not such a cinch to green light. I’ve heard from some inside sources (yes, I actually have a SOURCE this time) that this not a “we have to make it” script; it’s confusing, and only Chris really understands what it means. They didn’t give him this movie because it just had to be made. Perhaps Chris needed to bargain the picture into existence. There is no doubt in mind—I can’t emphasize this enough—that at some point, WB tried to get Chris to direct this new “Superman.” I don’t see how that fact is avoidable. They probably told him, “Give me Superman and Batman, you can do whatever you want.” He probably came back at them with, “I’ll take the picture somewhere else.” At this point, WB likely decided that this guy was too talented to risk “Inception” being made by Paramount and becoming a huge smash; plus, they wanted to keep a good relationship with him. So what did they do? They said, “Look, just write Superman, okay? Write it.” He said no. “Okay executive produce it. Mentor it. Just come tell us if it sucks.” And to that, he said yes.
Mind you, that’s just another possibility. I can foresee a third eventuality as well…
-Chris gets “Inception” for “Batman 3,” and then agrees to “Superman.” It’s the least intriguing rendition, but Occam’s razor may make it the most likely. Before today, we all assumed that “Inception” was a small price to pay for “Bat 3,” and in truth it is. First of all, it’s likely to be a hit, so there you go. Second of all, even if it totally bombed (which is nearly impossible in my view), a viable franchise is worth one tremendous failure, and Chris is essential to maintaining that franchise. You can’t overestimate how lost WB was when Nolan came on board. They knew “Batman and Robin” was a mistake, but where to go? They were getting wild pitches, everything from Wolfgang Peterson’s “Batman versus Superman” (that one came THIS CLOSE to getting made) to Darren Aaronofsky’s bizarre “Batman as a homeless guy” idea. Nolan strolls in with a model Batmobile already completed, and a clear vision for a viable hit. When your guy is making it rain, you don’t mess with him.
So we’ve established that “Inception” for “Bat 3″ makes some sense. If that’s the case, then it’s very possible that this “Superman” issue, for however long it’s been on the table, has just been another talking point between friends. I see a lot of evidence for the fact that Nolan and WB get along, as far back as “Insomnia,” which Chris rescued from a late-stage director drop-out. Maybe execs were dropping by the office during pre-production for “Inception” and running ideas by him, and maybe Nolan was listening. Eventually they asked him to direct, it’s just impossible to me that they didn’t, but that conversation went nowhere. We all know it’s been hard keeping Nolan tied down to Batman this long, so another superhero franchise isn’t happening. At some point, in the name of keeping things amicable, Chris shrugs and agrees to keep his eye on where “Superman” goes.
So there you have it, my little dissertation on this new development. I do think we should bear one element strongly in mind though, an element I call “The X Factor.” We don’t know what Chris’ next movie is. We don’t know what his plans for the future are. “Inception” and “The Prestige” had both been around as ideas for years before he made “Batman Begins,” and it seems likely to me he’s got other things on the table as well. Maybe doing this Superman thing is giving him a leg up on a situation we don’t yet know about.
Either way, let me just say kudos to Warner Bros for this savvy move. They have instantly put a great deal of faith back in their Superman franchise, they’ve got a great new sci-fi hit coming out this summer, and most likely their man is back in the director’s chair for a third “Batman.” By any reasonable standard, they’ve done a great job keeping him happy and letting him make money for them. Well done, guys.
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