Sunday, March 27, 2011

[New post] Michael Uslan's long mission to adapt Batman as a modern motion picture

Michael Uslan's long mission to adapt Batman as a modern motion picture

dailypop | March 27, 2011 at 8:47 pm | Tags: batman uslan dark knight | Categories: Batman | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-2rI

Via BatmanNews.com:

Apparently Michael Uslan (Executive Producer of the Batman movie series) was interviewed on the  status of the third Chris Nolan Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Uslan was misquoted, leading to the piece getting pulled from mass circulation. To fill the space previously filled by this news, BatmanNews.com uploaded an interesting piece from last year by Cyan Banister of TechCrunchTV  in which Uslan details his long road to bringing the Dark Knight detective to the big screen. For anyone unfamiliar with the role that Uslan played in the modern interpretation of Batman in film, this is essential viewing.

watch?v=KLgzMz_zMQY

For anyone interested, you can read the 'pulled' interview here at BSUDailynews.com, which mostly repeats much of what he said last year. Here's an excerpt:

"People relate to Batman more than any other superhero," Uslan said. "Batman's greatest power is humanity. It's the fact that he has no superpowers that makes him so relatable to the public in a way we can't relate to others with superpowers."

By the time Uslan graduated from high school, he had collected about 30,000 comic books. Unlike many people who leave their childhood behind as they enter into adulthood, Uslan stayed faithful to his love of comics.

During his junior year of college at Indiana University, he saw a window of opportunity. IU was offering students the opportunity to create and teach their own classes. He submitted a suggestion to create a comic books class. He convinced the university to offer the course by comparing superheroes to the gods of ancient Rome, Egypt and Greece. The class was approved.

To recruit students, Uslan used a unique marketing technique. Instead of posting flyers and advertising, Uslan aimed straight at the media, calling the United Press International as a concerned citizen whose money was going to pay for an absurd class about comic books. Within a couple of weeks, the media began pouring in and doing stories on the class, getting Uslan's name in the public eye.

"It's all about opportunity and getting your foot in the door," he said.

After getting a job at DC Comics, he offered to write Batman comics. After a couple of other jobs and a law degree, Uslan purchased the rights to Batman.

In every interview I have watched with Uslan, his passion and devotion to the character is plain to see. Granted, he must have bitten his tongue clean off when Batman Forever and Batman and Robin were released... but he is a man with a mission.

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises currently has a July, 2012 release date.

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