Official Site

Release Date: July 23rd, 2004 (wide)

Release Date Note: (12/17/02) Warner Bros. is eyeing this as being one of their big summer tentpole releases in whatever year it's released. They've already confirmed their five tentpoles for 2004, so the soonest we can probably expect this would be 2005 or 2006. Plus, of course, this film will probably have to negotiate its way to release around Batman: Year One, which is also a high priority for WB. (1/29/03) WB is indeed still aiming to get this in theaters for 2004. (6/23/03) FilmJerk.com reports that this movie, previously mentioned as a late 2004 release, is now being positioned as a late July release instead. Basically, WB is swapping one movie based on a comic book for another, with Constantine moving from the summer to September even as this movie gets bumped up. (3/8/04) WB has bumped this movie up a week to July 23rd, 2004.

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Production Company: DiNovi Pictures (Practical Magic, A Walk to Remember, New York Minute)

Cast: Halle Berry (Catwoman; AKA Patience Philips), Benjamin Bratt (Detective Tom Lone), Sharon Stone (Laurel Hedare), Alex Borstein (Sally), Michael Massee (Armando), Lambert Wilson (Georges); other cast not announced yet.

Cast Notes: (2/4/03) Ashley Judd had been reported as being signed to star as the new Catwoman, but according to "The Hollywood Reporter", she's dropped, with one of the biggest stars working today, Nicole Kidman now the top choice. Nicole is waiting to see the latest version of the script before signing, but if she does, this could be her next movie after The Stepford Wives, and before (or concurrently) she does her supporting role in Baz Luhrmann's Alexander the Great. (3/7/03) A casting rumor that goes back at least a year, which to my knowledge has never been confirmed by WB, has crept back onto the rumor sites again, which is the idea that Owen Wilson might costar as the new Catwoman's romantic interest. The thing to consider is that if they've had a tough time keeping the same actress as Catwoman, even if Owen Wilson had been in talks at one time, he might have long since dropped out. Consider him to be very unconfirmed at this point. (3/15/03) Nicole Kidman has dropped out, replaced by someone who was long rumored, but never officially announced until now: Halle Berry. (7/29/03) Owen Wilson recently denied having ever been in talks for a role in this movie. Perhaps he was just someone one of the producers mentioned at some point as an example? (8/19/03) This hasn't been confirmed by any other source, but a few weeks ago, the French site, Allocine.fr reported that Sharon Stone and French actor Lambert Wilson are expected to costar in this movie, playing a married couple. (8/21/03) Sharon Stone's casting has been confirmed. Rumors also continue to abound that Michelle Pfeiffer may take a cameo role in this movie as Selina Kyle as a bridge from one Catwoman to the next, with the British tabloid, The Sun, being the latest source to run with it. (9/18/03) Josh Lucas had recently been in talks to play Halle's romantic interest, but he has been replaced by Benjamin Bratt instead. According to The Chicago Sun-Times, Frances McDormand is also in talks for a role. (10/14/03) Nearly a month later, Frances McDormand has not yet been confirmed as being cast.

Director: Pitof (Vidocq)

Screenwriter: Ed Solomon (Men in Black, Levity, Leaving Normal; cowriter of Charlie's Angels, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure); rewrite by John O'Brien (cowriter of Cradle 2 the Grave; also has Starsky and Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard coming soon)

Screenwriters Note: (4/4/01) Among the writers who have previously tackled the project are Daniel Waters (Heathers, Batman Returns), Theresa Rebeck (cowriter of Harriet the Spy, Gossip), and Kate Kondell (see past script links below). (7/4/03) Until recently, the screenwriting credits for this project read as John Rogers (The Core), with a rewrite by John Brancato and Mike Ferris (writing team of The Game, The Net; cowriters of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). However, FilmJerk.com reported recently that Ed Solomon has been brought aboard to write the script from scratch, though incorporating elements from earlier drafts (so it's possible some of the above writers may ultimately be given credit by the WGA).

Based Upon: The popular DC Comics anti-heroine (she's not exactly a "villain"), and often romantic interest of Batman. Selina Kyle's first appearance was Batman #1 (Spring, 1940).

Batman Note: It's extremely likely that Batman will not be appearing in this film, though a sly mention might be nice.

Selina Kyle?: (4/4/00) The big question for fans is whether this movie is going to be about Selina Kyle, the traditional Catwoman, and if so, how closely she will be to the Batman Returns version played by Michelle Pfeiffer, or one of the many "phases" she has gone through in her 60+ year history. The recent (November, 2000) script that has been reviewed twice online (see links below) featured a new Catwoman following the death of Kyle (she's alive and kicking in the comics). The good news is that Michael Fleming of Variety implied on 4/3/01 that John Rogers is writing the script from scratch. (4/24/01) Comics2Film confirms that the character in Rogers' script will continue to be the new "Patience Price", and not Selina Kyle of the comics.

Premise: Set in Lake City (ie, not Gotham City), this is the story of Patience Philips (Berry), a graphic artist who is murdered when she finds out a dark secret about the cosmetics company she works for, Avenal Beauty, which is a front for criminal exploits of the husband (Wilson) and wife (Stone) team that run it. Price is brought back to life, however, by an Egyptian Mao cat who is indebted to Patience for saving its life. Reborn with a new attitude, Patience Price becomes the new Catwoman and sets out to see vengeance for her murder and to stop the evil doings of Avenal Beauty.

Premise Notes: (4/4/00)>Not much is known yet about the details of this movie, except that it's about Patience Price (Berry), a "cat-loving gymnast who runs an animal grooming business" who goes up "against the town's evil mayor and his business associate." (source: The Hollywood Reporter, 4/8/02) (5/3/02) According to a script review of a recent draft over at IGN FilmForce, the character is now a veterinary scientist, instead of a pet groomer, and the plot revolves around Price seeking revenge against an industrialist who had her killed (she gets a resurrection from cats, like in Batman Returns). (11/15/03) The character's last name has been changed from Price to Philips.

Filming: Production started on September 29th, 2003 in Vancouver, Canada.

Filming Notes: (4/4/01) There is currently no production date. The signing of Ashley Judd to star is a good sign, the project still lacks a director. Actors and directors both can be attached to a film for years and years before filming actually happens. There's a possibility that this could be Ashley Judd's first project "post-strikes" in late 2001, but a lot has to fall in place quickly for that to happen. (12/3/01) Filming is now expected to start in 2002. (7/6/02) With the release now scheduled for 2004, production probably won't start until sometime in 2003. (1/29/03) IGN FilmForce reports that filming is now scheduled to start sometime later this spring or in early summer (ie, probably May or June). (2/4/03) With Nicole Kidman now in talks to star, filming will probably need to be pushed back to the fall of 2003, after she wraps up The Stepford Wives, but before she appears in her small role in Alexander the Great. (3/15/03) Filming is still scheduled for the late summer or early fall of 2003. (4/17/03) September, to be precise.

Genre: Action, Crime, Eye Candy, Martial Arts, Superhero, Supernatural

Read a Very Early Script: 1995 (Daniel Waters' script, based upon Selina Kyle as played by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns, isn't going to be used, but hey... it's still there to read, complete with a villain called "Captain God"; I didn't say it was *good*; that's a .zip file, by the way, so you'll need to unzip it)

Interview with the Director: Catwoman Hype!

Unofficial Preview Page: HollywoodNorthReport.com (includes images from the sets in Vancouver)

Unofficial Rumor Control: IGN FilmForce

12/22/03 - It's not quite like the "cat's eye o" I saw a while back on some promotional art for this movie, but CHUD.com has received an image of what may be the "franchise teaser logo" (my wording). Unlike many comic book characters, Catwoman doesn't really have her own iconographic image (like Superman's S, etc.), so this image, I guess, is sort of trying to become one for her. I'm not too crazy about it; I don't really see what this image has to do with the character at all. I get that it includes a cat's eye, but other than that, it doesn't seem representative of the character in any other way. At least with that "cat's eye o" design, it included the word "Catwoman."

10/14/03 - According to Catwoman Hype!, the first teaser trailer may appear in theaters on December 17th, 2003, attached to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I've also received word that the promotional logo that Warner Bros. is currently using for the movie features a "cat's eye" where the 'O' in 'CATWOMAN' is supposed to be.

9/30/03 - Well, filming only started yesterday, but we've already got our first images of Halle Berry on set (the third one is her in *