The Time Has Come for a Legitimately Good Catwoman Movie

Sometimes Twitter takes a break from being a nazi-fueled tire fire to have moments of inspiration. The latest example of this has been the trending hashtag #ShareYourRejection, where folks share stories of rejections (both professional and personal) and how it shaped them. It’s affirming to know that even the most successful people out there have dealt with rejection and failure, and went on to great success.

Screenwriter John August (Charlie’s Angels, Big Fish, the upcoming Aladdin) shared his own #rejections in a series of tweets, which involve a shelved 1998 Catwoman follow-up movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer:

UPDATE: I found my old pitch and I actually still love it. Dated January 13, 1999. Also, I used to be a double-spacer. pic.twitter.com/mMngeQ2XCt

— John August (@johnaugust) August 16, 2018

A few more paragraphs. #catwoman #shareyourejections pic.twitter.com/Q0gG8CjfMX

— John August (@johnaugust) August 16, 2018

Last chunk for now. This would be about page 10 of the script, had I written it. #catwoman #ShareYourRejections pic.twitter.com/Nfq0Czj8Go

— John August (@johnaugust) August 16, 2018

One more bite. Keep in mind, these were just my own notes for the pitch, thus the many typos (incl “Selena”). These would and should *never* be left behind. #catwoman #ShareYouRejections pic.twitter.com/rCHziIteOK

— John August (@johnaugust) August 17, 2018

Of course, John August went on to become a wildly successful screenwriter, (cue Sarah Jessica Parker voice-over) but I couldn’t help but wonder: why don’t we have a good Catwoman standalone film?

After all, we are living in the golden age of geek cinema: superhero movies have never been more popular than they are right now, with studios already pursuing projects based on more obscure comics. Warner Bros. and DC are currently developing Supergirl and Batgirl standalone projects. And Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey film is already in pre-production.

Of course, Catwoman has already appeared in three big studio films: Michelle Pfeiffer gave arguably the most memorable performance as the unhinged Selina Kyle in 1992’s Batman Returns, while Halle Berry starred in the ill-fated 2004 mess Catwoman. Director Pitof made the bold(?) choice to include absolutely nothing from the comics, and it paid off about as well as you’d expect.

The most recent Catwoman was portrayed by Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, and she gave us a highly intelligent, grounded Selina Kyle that fit perfectly into Nolan’s trilogy. Hathaway’s performance gave us a self-assured, capable Catwoman who is more than worthy of her own standalone film. And there’s decades of fantastic Catwoman stories to adapt to a feature.

Or, bring back Michelle Pfeiffer as an older Selina Kyle. She’s already said that she would love to revisit the role. I’m sure she’s busy playing Janet van Dyne, but I’d love to see more mature women headlining comic book movies. There are still plenty of Selina Kyle stories to tell, we’re just waiting for Hollywood to have the guts to tell them.

(via Collider, image: Warner Bros.)

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