Billion Dollar Batman
Page 76
Score
Batman (1966) 8
7
6
6.75
Batman (1989) 14
8
1
6.71
Batman Returns (1992) 18
9
3
5.56
Batman:Mask of the Phantasm
(1993) 17
10
5
9.17
Batman Forever (1995) 20
9
0
4.05
Batman & Robin (1997) 18
4
0
0.83
Batman Begins (2005) 19
10
5
8.63
The Dark Knight (2008) 16
10
7
9.50
The clear favorite was The Dark Knight, but interestingly, the second-runner up was The Mask of the Phantasm, the animated Batman film from 1993. The lowest ranking, to no one’s surprise, was 1997’s Batman & Robin. But it is interesting that the Adam West Batman of 1966 scored higher than Michael Keaton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) or Val Kilmer’s Batman Forever (1995). Apparently, while this small group clearly preferred the darker Batman, they still appreciated the humor of the Bright Knight. And why not? Adam West has himself become a contemporary cult hero, apart from his interpretation of Batman. And echoes of the TV show can still be seen in pop culture, as in the on-screen POWS and WHAMS that punctuate the fight scenes in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World (2010), or Nicolas Cage’s Adam West-style line delivery as Big Daddy in Kick-Ass (2010).
As I write this, Christopher Nolan and company are filming The Dark Knight Rises, which Nolan promises will bring his Batman trilogy to a close. Warner Bros., having budgeted the film at $250 million, expects it to be a gargantuan hit, perhaps big enough to dislodge Avatar as the highest-grossing film ever made.
After The Dark Knight Rises, it is anyone’s guess what the next Batman film will be. Perhaps we’ll get the long-delayed Batman Vs. Superman, or see Batman in a Justice League movie. Or perhaps another director with a unique vision will put his or her own personal stamp on a new, rebooted Batman series. But one thing is certain—as long as Batman remains Warner Bros.’ biggest corporate asset, there will always be a Batman on film and television.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Alejandro Arjona
BRUCE SCIVALLY, a pop culture historian with an encyclopedic knowledge of film and television, teaches screenwriting, film production and cinema history and theory courses at the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago and Columbia College.
Scivally is the author of Superman on Film, Television, Radio & Broadway (McFarland, 2006), the most comprehensive history of Superman in popular media. He also co-authored James Bond: The Legacy (Abrams, 2002) with John Cork, which sold over 200,000 copies worldwide and was featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox News Network and Headline News, and was highlighted in magazines as diverse as Glamour, Entertainment Weekly, New York Magazine, The New Yorker and Playboy. His first book was The Special Effects and Stunts Guide (Lone Eagle, 1989), co-edited with Tassilo Baur.
Scivally co-produced documentaries and other features for Special Edition DVD releases from MGM, 20th Century Fox and Sony, including documentaries on the making of the James Bond films, the Charlie Chan series, Pink Panther movies and many others.
For more information on Batman, to keep up with Bruce Scivally’s book signing appearances, or to order autographed copies of his books, please visit
www.BruceScivally.com.