Catwoman (film)

With Warner Bros. moving on development for Batman Forever in June 1993, a Catwoman spin-off film was announced. Michelle Pfeiffer was set to reprise her role from Batman Returns[5] while Tim Burton became attached as director and producer Denise Di Novi and writer Daniel Waters also returned.[6] In January 1994, Burton was unsure of his plans to direct Catwoman or an adaptation of "The Fall of the House of Usher".[7] 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."[8] 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.[9]

The film labored in development hell for years with Ashley Judd set to star as the lead as far back as 2001,[10][11] but eventually dropped out of the role.[12] Nicole Kidman was also considered for the role after Judd stepped out of the project.[13] When Warner Bros. canceled a Batman vs. Superman film scheduled for 2004, the studio decided to quickly produce Catwoman as replacement, starring Halle Berry.[14]

The catsuit was designed by Academy Award-winning costume designer Angus Strathie together with Berry, director Pitof and producers Di Novi and McDonnell. 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."[16]

Berry started intensive fitness training with Harley Pasternak in June 2003.[17] Berry was given instruction in cat-like movement by choreographer Anne Fletcher,[18] who also oversaw Berry's training in the Brazilian martial art style Capoeira.[17] Berry was trained to crack a whip by coach Alex Green.[17]

Principal photography began late September 2003. Shooting took place on 4th Street in downtown Los Angeles, California and Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as Lions Gate Film Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Warner Bros. Burbank Studios, 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California. Most of the cats cast in the film came from animal shelters throughout California. Filming finished on February 20, 2004.[18]

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

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.[2]

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 alongside The Bourne Supremacy and I, Robot.[19] 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, while topping the Bulgarian weekend listing.[20]

Halle Berry was panned by critics for her performance.

Catwoman was universally panned by critics, including Berry's performance. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 9% based on 197 reviews, with an average rating of 3.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Halle Berry is the lone bright spot, but even she can't save this laughable action thriller."[21] On Metacritic the film has a score of 27 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[23]

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".[24] In their onscreen review, Ebert and his former co-host Richard Roeper both gave the film a "thumbs down". Heldman et al said that as the film ends with Catwoman choosing "a solo existence as her sexualized body slinks into the full moon; even this otherwise agentic act is constructed for the consumption of the male gaze that follows her. The film presents her agency, power, and freedom as derivative of her hypersexualization."[25] Bill Muller of The Arizona Republic stated that Berry should possibly give back her 2001 Academy Award as a penalty for the film.[26]

Berry arrived at the ceremony to accept her Razzie in person with her Best Actress Oscar: "It was just what my career needed."[27]

A video game based on the film was published by Electronic Arts UK and Argonaut Games. Featuring the voice talents of Jennifer Hale,[28] the game varied from the film's plot and received negative reviews much like the film.[29]

In 2003, Warner Bros. approached Boyd Kirkland to write a script for a Catwoman direct-to-video animated feature film to tie-in with the film's release. Although the script was written, the project was discarded due to the film's critical and box office failure.[30]