Intriguing details about Tim Burton’s Abandoned CATWOMAN spin-off film revealed

There are countless stories of films that never had the opportunity to make it to the big screen. One of those projects was Tim Burton’S Catwoman spin-off movie, a fascinating concept that could have seen Michelle Pfeiffer reprising her iconic role as Selina Kyle. We have some new details to share with you for this unproduced project thanks to The Return of Batman writer Daniele Acque. It reveals what Burton was planning to do with the film and it looks pretty awesome!

When Burton and Waters began discussing the possibility of a Catwoman spinoff shortly after the 1992 film’s release The Return of Batman, they had some ambitious and unconventional ideas in mind. In a recent interview with Indiewire, Waters shed some light on Burton’s initial vision, revealing that the director wanted to create an $18 million black-and-white film inspired by the classic Van Lewton-produced RKO film Cat People, offering a vision raw and artistic. about the character of Selina Kyle.

“He wanted to make an $18 million black-and-white movie, like the original ‘Cat People,’ with Selina living low-key in a small town, and I wanted to make a ‘Batman’ movie where the metaphor was about Batman. So I had her moved to a version of Gotham City in Los Angeles, run by three asshole superheroes. It was The Boys before The Boys. But he was exhausted reading my script.

Burton’s idea would have depicted Selina in a low-key setting, living a quiet life in a small town. This move away from the fast-paced action of the Batman franchise was a bold artistic choice, promising a deeply introspective, character-driven experience. However, Waters obviously had a completely different take on the character of Catwoman.

While Burton leaned towards a black and white, arthouse approach, Daniel Waters had a more contemporary and satirical approach in mind. Although his screenplay was a precursor to The Boys, the story would challenge traditional notions of heroism in the superhero genre.

In an interview with Film Review magazine in 1995, Waters provided more information on the plot of the Catwoman spin-off he was developing saying:

“After the traumas of Batman Returns he has amnesia and doesn’t really remember why he has all these bullet holes in his body, so he goes to relax in Oasisburg. What Gotham City is to New York, Oasisburg is to Las Vegas-Los Angeles-Palm Springs. [It’s a] tourist area in the middle of the desert. It’s run by superheroes and the film has a lot of fun poking fun at the whole male superhero mythos. Then they end up not being good at all deep down, and she has to go back to that whole Catwoman thing.

Both ideas would have been interesting Catwoman film, but if I had to choose one of the two, I would have followed Burton’s vision of the film. That would have been really interesting to see.

Unfortunately, Burton Catwoman the spin-off project never came to fruition. Both Burton and Pfeiffer moved on to other projects, and the Batman franchise continued Joel Schumacher’S Batman forever AND Batman and Robin. Catwoman eventually received her own standalone film in 2004, starring Halle Berry, which received mixed reviews and failed to adequately capture her character.

Regardless of which version of the film they might have proceeded with, the Burton-Waters collaboration could have offered a revolutionary take on the character of Catwoman, exploring her complexity and challenging the conventions of superhero storytelling.