When you hear the words, “Catwoman movie”, most people think of the 2004 film starring Halle Berry, a film which had nothing to do with Batman and Catwoman wasn’t even known as Selina Kyle. However, did you know that there were once plans to make a Catwoman movie about Selina Kyle Catwoman? After Batman Returns had been released, Tim Burton had plans to make a solo Catwoman movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer reprising her role as the Princess of Plunder.
Although Catwoman was referenced briefly in Batman Forever, there were originally plans for Pfeiffer to star in a standalone movie as the character. Batman Returns screenwriter, Daniel Waters, was hired to write the screenplay, and Tim Burton was set to direct the film. Although Burton signed a development deal with Warner Brothers, he was pondering whether to direction the Catwoman movie or an adaption of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Of course, both films, ended up never being made.
Even so, Waters turned in a draft of the Catwoman screenplay in 1995. He described the plot as:
“After the traumas of the Batman Returns she has amnesia, and she doesn’t really remember why she has all these bullet holes in her body, so she goes to relax in Oasisburg. What Gotham City is to New York, Oasisburg is to Las Vegas-Los Angeles-Palm Springs. [It’s a] resort area in the middle of the desert. It’s run by superheroes, and the movie has great fun at making fun at the whole male superhero mythos. Then they end up being not very good at all deep down, and she’s got to go back to that whole Catwoman thing.”
The day Waters turned in the script was the same day Batman Forever was released into theaters. Given that Batman Forever made more money for Warner Bros than Batman Returns, it’s easy to see why they would want to put this film on the back burner.
At the time, while Pfeiffer was still interested in the project, she was also busy juggling other commitments. Although Burton and Pfeiffer both eventually lost interest, Warner Bros still attempted to give the film a chance and planned to recast Catwoman with either Ashley Judd or Nicole Kidman, as a different character than her role in Batman Forever.
Ultimately, it was Halle Berry who starred in the solo Catwoman film, which was named “Worst Picture of the Year” at the Golden Raspberry Awards and is considered by many to be one of the worst comic book movie adaptions of all time.
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