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"It's exciting to see what you've worked on for such a long period of time on the Page, really end up on the Stage!"
Peter Guber[src]

Peter Guber is an American film producer. Guber produced Batman, along with his partner, Jon Peters.

Bat-History

Acceptance of the original pitch

Guber was approached by Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan of the newborn Batfilm Productions in 1979. They proposed to him a serious and dark Batman film project. Marshall Rogers created concept art for the pitch. At the time, Guber was an associated of Neil Bogart for Casablanca Records, in turn associated with Universal Pictures. He proposed the project to Universal, but it was rejected. Also, Frank Wells, the then Vice Chairman of Warner Bros., was eager to keep the Batman property inside the studio, so this led Guber and associates to start bargaining with Warner, beginning to develop the project concretely.

Development Hell at Warner Brothers

Tom Mankiewicz was selected as the first screenwriter in 1982, due to his his work on Superman: The Movie and Superman II. This script was under consideration for many years, but Guber & Peters had trouble securing a director for the project. At one point Joe Dante was hired as director, but he eventually backed away from the project claiming he had no interest in the Bruce Wayne character, only Joker. After the success of Ghostbusters, Guber & Peters pursued the possibility turning the property into a comedic vehicle for Bill Murray to star in. Jenette Kahn President of DC Comics began to correspond with producers and suggested Steve Englehart for a definitive comic book feel. Englehart submitted a total of two detailed story treatments but was never commissioned for a full screenplay.

Dark Knight hits

The turning point came when Jenette Kahn hired Frank Miller to re-invent Batman with his 1986 Dark Knight comic series. The trade paperback sales and unprecedented critical praise hit the cultural zeitgeist, thanks in part to a major marketing push from Warner Media. The media coverage proved a sincere drama-action/adventure approach was the right way to go for potential consumers. A new young screenwriter Sam Hamm was mandated to include references to Dark Knight, such as the island of Corto Maltese, the chest emblem being used to draw gunfire toward the strongest point of his body armor and a hologram used to hide the entrnace of the Batcave. The studio still felt that a major movie star would have to play the villain to finally fully greenlight the project.

Convincing Nicholson to accept the Joker role

Guber was vital in convincing Jack Nicholson to accept the Joker role, which would help secure financing for the movie to be a truly A-list production. While Peters was elsewhere, Guber planned an equestrian excursion in Aspen for director Tim Burton, Nicholson and himself to discuss their plans for the project. Guber hoped Nicholson would find a common bond with Burton while riding the trails and come to trust the young director's vision. Nicholson was convinced and the project fast tracked into a truly green-lit status from that point forward.

Finally filming the Batman movie

Batman 1989 - Guber, Peters and Nicholson on set

Peter Guber, Jack Nicholson and Jon Peters during the filming of Batman.

It was decided to shoot the movie in England at Pinewood Studios for similar cost effective tax incentives like WB had done with the Superman films previously. John Evans was hired to build props that appear in Hamm's script with the understanding that major changes would be coming when Burton selected his own writer Warren Skaaren to do a major rewrite. Derek Meddings was selected to do model shots for the film. The original costume designer was fired from the project and replaced by Bob Ringwood at the last minute. Guber rarely visited the set during filming, instead remaining in his Pinewood office making deals on the phone and handling the spending. Guber appeared for a photo opportunity with Nicholson during the filming of the Uncle Bingo scene. Guber also did b-roll interviews for the Making of a Hero documentary.

Power struggle for the Batman Film Franchise

Originally the Guber-Peters Company envisioned a trilogy of Batman movies, but when Tim Burton negotiated his contract for the sequel, he had had Guber and Peters demoted to executive producers, due to Peters' constant interference during filming. Jon Peters was specifically barred setting foot on set during days of filming due to other behavioral issues. The pair were replaced by Denise Di Novi and Larry Franco.

Career

PetersArnold

with Peters and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Guber began his film career as an employee for Columbia Pictures, and after a few years he became head of the studio. Then he moved to work in the subsidiary Sony Pictures Entertainment where he was promoted to chief executive and chairman. In 1976 he resigned from Columbia to act on his own, founding the FilmWorks Inc., and a year later he's associated with Neil Bogart of Casablanca Records to form the Casablanca Records and Filmworks. After a few years of activity for television with Casablanca-FilmWorks, in 1979 Guber creates PolyGram Pictures where he was elected chairman and co-head of distribution until 1983. In 1980, it is associated with Jon Peters and Neil Bogart and together they founded the Boardwalk Company. In 1983 he became the sole partner of Peters, thus founding the Guber-Peters Company. Together they produce great successful films such as Missing (1982), Flashdance (1983), The Color Purple (1985), The Witches of Eastwick (1987, starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer), Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Rain Man (1988).

The two took the biggest risk, which then marked their biggest success, with Batman (1989). After this, Peters and Guber got a seven years million dollar contract with Warner Brothers.

After a few months, they were courted by Sony Corporation, which offered one billion dollars for take the place of general managers. Subsequently, Guber founded, in solitary, the Mandalay Entertaimment Group, producing films such as Donnie Brasco, Seven Years in Tibet, Les Misérables (starring Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman), Sleepy Hollow (directed by Tim Burton, with Michael Gough), and The Score.

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