Batman vs. Superman (Napoleon's World)

Batman vs. Superman is a 2002 American action adventure film based on the DC Comics characters of Bruce Waye/Batman and Clark Kent/Superman, with the lead roles portrayed by Nick Gross and John Cusack, respectively. It was produced by George Kent, directed by Pat Alden and written by the twin brother screenwriting duo of Ron and Steven Brissel, with input from novelist Don Rumsfeld. The film featured an ensemble cast, including Natalie Weaver, Kevin Ross, Jonathon Pryce, Kelly Ryan, Peter Dempsey, Jason Biggs, and Richard Hayes.

The film was one of the most expensive projects ever undertaken by Dooley Bros. Studios, but was the highest-grossing film of 2002, set the then-record for biggest opening weekend in history and an enormous financial success. It was met with mixed but mostly favorable reviews, and along with the success of 2001's Spiderman, revived interest in the superhero genre. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning three (Set Design and Effects Editing).

Cast

 * Bruce Wayne/Batman - Nick Gross: Gross was an avid fan of comic books while growing up an accepted the offer without reading the script after his audition. Gross trained with French Olympic wrestler Guy Villechamps for three months to prepare for his role, and took rudimentary tae kwon do lessons in Korea so that he could better do his own stunts. Gross was, apparently, the front-runner for the part since before he even auditioned for the role thanks to his performances in Clinic and City Under Siege.
 * Clark Kent/Superman - John Cusack: While a variety of actors were considered for the role of Clark Kent, eventually Alden chose to cast Cusack in the role in a somewhat questioned move. He described his decision as being based off of Cusack's ability to portray the introverted, shy Kent, which was critical to the emotional intrigue of the film. Cusack gained almost twenty pounds of muscle for the role and performed the majority of his own stunts.
 * Lois Lane - Natalie Weaver: A number of A-list actresses were considered for the coveted role in late 2000, and Alden finally chose Weaver, whom he had worked with before on Jake McCoy and the Last Crusade as well as Jurassic Park. Weaver chose to forego emulating the Lois Lane of previous film incarnations and play her as an independent, capable modern woman. She met with numerous female reporters to research for the role and then interviewed the CEOs of two New York companies as well as Vice President Bill Parcells to prepare and practice her interview style so that it was as realistic as possible in the film.
 * The Joker - Kevin Ross: Ross was chosen from a wide field of candidates to portray the Joker. Ross was attracted to the role due to his desire to portray a character "without limits - I could really do whatever I wanted in the skin of this character and explore the environment of his craziness." Ross chose to make the Joker less of a prankster, like the one portrayed by Jack Nicholson in 1988's Batman, and more of a loose cannon that Lex Luthor eventually cannot control. He helped rewrite dialogue to emphasize the fact that he and Batman have been enemies for a long time, as opposed to the previous incarnation where the Joker's rise was depicted.
 * Lex Luthor - Jonathon Pryce: While Pryce was not the first chose of the studio to play Luthor, instead wanting either Robert de Niro or for Gene Hackman to reprise his 1978 role. Alden suggested Pryce due to the actor's roles as a larger-than-life corporate villain in films during the late 1990's, and believed that "this foreign-based conglomerate run by a snarky Englishman taking over America - I think that's a fear audiences will really believe in." Pryce shaved his head bald and chose to portray Luthor as an opposite to Superman, a man who would use his intelligence instead of strength to combat the power of the Man of Steel.
 * Harlee Quinzel/Harley Quinn - Kelly Ryan: Dooley Bros., who owned the rights to the character of Harley Quinn as she was conceived in the animated Batman series, wanted her to be a "humanizing" aspect of the Joker's character, as a woman madly in love with a psychopath who eventually becomes something of a double agent, helping Batman and the Joker at the same time. Ryan, a teen sitcom star from the 1990's, was cast in the role after what Alden described a "slam-dunk audition."
 * Perry White - Peter Dempsey: Dempsey was cast as the Daily Planet's editor-in-chief as he was a fan of the Superman movies and wanted to do a "fun, ridiculous kind of role" like that of a character in a comic book movie. Dempsey allegedly offered to donate his entire salary to charity as he was appearing in the movie mainly for his own enjoyment.
 * Jimmy Olsen - Jason Biggs: Cast as a likable sidekick to Clark Kent due to his comedic turn in the American Pie series, Biggs was reportedly "always the choice to play Jimmy," despite not looking like the character from the comic books, although Biggs had his hair died to give it a lighter, more reddish color. Biggs had never read the Superman comics as a child and elected to play the part written in the script without worrying about trying to emulate the character from the comic series.
 * Alfred Pennyworth - Richard Hayes: Academy Award-winning actor Richard Hayes was chosen for the role over Michael Caine and Ben MacMillan, both of whom expressed interest in the part. Hayes thought the part was "silly, but I need to do silly more often," and enjoyed playing a comical father figure character as opposed to the more serious, complex roles he had played before.

Writing
After the quick successive failures of two proposed Batman films in the late 1990's, and the lengthy hiatus in the Superman franchise, George Kent had a bold proposal for Dooley Bros. in early 2000 as to how to resurrect both franchises simultaneously: