Search Results

Uslan recounts being driven since childhood by a goal of bringing a serious, dark-knight Batman to the screen, teaching the first accredited college comics course at Indiana University in 1971, and training at DC Comics alongside Paul Levitz and Bob Rozakis before moving into entertainment law at United Artists. He and Melnicker describe the decade-long path from optioning the Batman rights in 1979 through repeated studio rejections to Tim Burton's involvement and the film's production beginning in October 1988. Both discuss their extensive slate of future projects including Batman II, Monopoly: The Movie, Swamp Thing TV series, and Fantastic Voyage II. A follow-up phone interview covers the state of Batman II planning, casting questions, and the marketing phenomenon of the first film.

Uslan and Melniker recount their decade-long effort to acquire the Batman film rights and produce the 1989 blockbuster, discussing the resistance they faced from studios skeptical of a serious take on the character. They describe their vision for Batman as a dark, mythic figure rather than a campy TV hero, and how that vision ultimately prevailed.