BATMAN: The Radio Drama Adaptation

[Kamdan]

Lately, I've been working on a radio drama series based on the Dick Tracy comic strips. So far, it's been at a standstill and I'm interested in doing something similar. I came across the notion of adapting the first film into a radio drama that can be distributed on the Internet. This would be an interesting opportunity to include material from the initial drafts of the script to make a more definitive incarnation of the story. I'm posting to here to see if there's interest in seeing it produced and who would be interested at all in contributing. Let's get to work!

[Paul (ral)]

You mean like voice acting and sound effects etc?

[DocLathropBrown]

I'm good with voices, I just don't have any recording equipment, though for this project (a dream of mine) I'd be willing to buy some reasonably priced stuff.

[Kamdan]

Yeah, gathering the sound and rounding up willing voice actors with the ability to record their voices will be a big part of making this project come to fruition. A model to follow would be the radio adaptations of the Star Wars films. I'd like to pull off a decent trilogy based on the initial three films and shift around some story details. I like the idea of possibly combining the characters of Vicki Vale and Alicia Hunt to make Silver St. Cloud and have Vicki replace Chase Meridian's character in the third installment. I read a fan revised copy of the script that gave many of Knox's character's dialogue to Harvey Dent, namely in the party scene and it worked rather well. It was also nice to read a scene where Batman meets up with Gordon after the Axis Chemicals scene where their alliance is formed. Something also intriguing about this revision was including the red book subplot into the script.

[johnnygobbs]

Yeah, gathering the sound and rounding up willing voice actors with the ability to record their voices will be a big part of making this project come to fruition. A model to follow would be the radio adaptations of the Star Wars films. I'd like to pull off a decent trilogy based on the initial three films and shift around some story details. I like the idea of possibly combining the characters of Vicki Vale and Alicia Hunt to make Silver St. Cloud and have Vicki replace Chase Meridian's character in the third installment. I read a fan revised copy of the script that gave many of Knox's character's dialogue to Harvey Dent, namely in the party scene and it worked rather well. It was also nice to read a scene where Batman meets up with Gordon after the Axis Chemicals scene where their alliance is formed. Something also intriguing about this revision was including the red book subplot into the script.

This is such a promising idea Kamden.

Have you written anything yet?

Also, I like the idea of introducing Silver St. Cloud into the story but where would that leave her relationship with reporter Knox, and is it possible to keep Alicia and Silver in the story (it's easy to forget that Alicia's affair with Jack Napier essentially puts the plot into motion)?

Would you be willing to collaborate with fellow posters here over the three scripts or if not, take suggestions and pool ideas?

[Kamdan]

I'm going to first get all of the story laid out, such as what needs to but kept and what needs to be changed. Many ideas from the initial drafts of the script would be most welcomed. I'm very much open to collaboration and taking a pool of ideas on what can be done with this project.

I came across the notion of having Vicki and Alicia be combined to strengthen why The Joker is after her. She can be a socialite with some secret mob ties, making her more of a femme fatale instead of a damsel in distress. Wanna make Knox's presence in the story more subdued, like the reporter character in Batman Returns. He's always working on a scoop, so to speak. His presence will build throughout the trilogy.

[johnnygobbs]

I'm going to first get all of the story laid out, such as what needs to but kept and what needs to be changed. Many ideas from the initial drafts of the script would be most welcomed. I'm very much open to collaboration and taking a pool of ideas on what can be done with this project.

I came across the notion of having Vicki and Alicia be combined to strengthen why The Joker is after her. She can be a socialite with some secret mob ties, making her more of a femme fatale instead of a damsel in distress. Wanna make Knox's presence in the story more subdued, like the reporter character in Batman Returns. He's always working on a scoop, so to speak. His presence will build throughout the trilogy.

These are great ideas Kamden.

Will you be converting as many original characters from the films to characters from the comic-books?  For the first film I might suggest changing Grissom to Rupert Thorne, who could be pretending to be a legitimate businessman, but one who Harvey Dent and others suspect of criminality, partly thanks to his association with gangsters like Jack Napier.

Maybe the Mayor could be Mayor Marion Grange or Hamilton Hill from the comic-books (I'd favour the former and leave Hill for the sequel with Michael Murphy).  Or even a variation on Commissioner Loeb.

And Max Eckhart could be Flass, Gordon's partner from 'Batman: Year One'.  They could still have a rivalry based on their earlier days on the force.  Gordon of course leapfrogged Flass and became Commissioner whereas Flass only got to the status of a lowly Lieutenant.

Maybe you could still combine the film's version with Vale and Alicia to make her Silver St. Cloud, and turn Knox into Vicki Vale proper, and do a sort of love-triangle, and then bring back Vale, to fill in for Chase Meridian, for the third story.  I do agree with your idea about giving some of Knox's lines to Harvey Dent.  Maybe also give him some more to do.  Perhaps have an attempted assassination on his life early on in the story to demonstrate that Rupert Thorne's men, including Napier, are trying to take Dent out in order to prevent him getting close to Thorne's shady business deals, and thus put him away.

As far as non-comic-book characters that would only leave 'Bob', and he's too cool to get rid of. 

Also, will Napier still be the murderer of Bruce's parents in this version?

[Kamdan]

Yes, we'll be sure to fit in some characters from comics, like have mob figures like Sal Maroni and Tony Zucco. I'm wanting to save Rupert Thorne for the sequel to have him fill in the Max Shreck role, but we can establish his presence in the first one.  Let's keep the Mayor as the same guy, in our case, Hamilton Hill. I want to keep the bits between Napier and Eckhart, so we could either use Flass or Bullock to fill in that role. Don't want to make the same mistake Batman Begins made by making Flass be more like Bullock. I do like the backstory of Flass being former partners with Gordon, who is now commissioner, but we'd have to come up with a good excuse as to why he's still there.

I'm wanting to keep it simple with the love interest characters. The only time I can imagine a real love triangle is in the sequel by making The Ice Princess Bruce Wayne's arm candy to save good face as playboy socialite in the public eye. Really wanting to make her Julie Madison, since she was an actress as well in the original comics, and she'll meet the same fate as The Ice Princess did in Batman Returns.

Let's let Batman's reputation build up over the course of the shows. At first only reporters like Knox are on the case and by the end of the first film, the reputation is well established. He still gets wide publicity by during the second, but it gets in jeopardy when he gets framed for murder. The third will have it restored and the interest is wide enough for someone like Vicki Vale to come into the picture. 

Yes, we should follow up more on how Dent was affecting the mob's work. I'm intrigued with the idea of instead of The Joker killing Vinnie in front of City Hall, it's an attempt to kill Dent. Let's do what was in the original script where Wayne and Vale (St. Cloud, in our case) are out and about when The Joker makes his mark. That persuades Joker to go after St. Cloud. 

Of course we'll have Bob. He'll be a difficult character to pull off for radio, since he's mostly silent.

The fan revised version of the script I have took out the Napier as the killer detail and managed to work in the origin scenes from Batman Forever to establish the origin and it worked quite well, so we won't have him be the killer.

[johnnygobbs]

Those are great ideas Kamden.  Your radio drama concept is like the perfect remake of Burton and Schumacher's wonderful Batman movies.

Yes, we'll be sure to fit in some characters from comics, like have mob figures like Sal Maroni and Tony Zucco. I'm wanting to save Rupert Thorne for the sequel to have him fill in the Max Shreck role, but we can establish his presence in the first one.  Let's keep the Mayor as the same guy, in our case, Hamilton Hill. I want to keep the bits between Napier and Eckhart, so we could either use Flass or Bullock to fill in that role. Don't want to make the same mistake Batman Begins made by making Flass be more like Bullock. I do like the backstory of Flass being former partners with Gordon, who is now commissioner, but we'd have to come up with a good excuse as to why he's still there.

Maybe Grissom can be Falcone instead.  I always saw him as a bigger figure in Gotham's criminal underworld than Maroni or Zucco.  Those two seemed like pretenders to the throne.  Maybe some of those guys at The Joker's conference can include Maroni and Zucco.

I like your idea about Rupert Thorne filling in for Max Shreck.  Instead of the skinny, gaunt, self-made Christopher Walken maybe Thorne can be part of the plutocracy, and like his comic-book counterpart, a fat, overfed businessman.  Will he still have a son like Chip Shreck?  Maybe 'Chip' Thorne?

I like your idea about having the same mayor across the films, so Hamilton Hill makes sense.

I think Flass should fill in for Eckhart rather than Bullock.  In terms of duplicitous and corrupt personality, Eckhart is more like Flass.  It's only in physical appearance that he seems like Bullock, who may break the rules to get a conviction but is generally portrayed as a fundamentally honest and passionate cop.  I agree with you about 'Batman Begins' though.  Flass should be a former athletic jock.  It's a good point about how he could still be there bearing in mind Gordon would surely have kicked his ass out of the force.  Hmmm.  That one requires some thought.  Maybe Flass was never Gordon's partner but someone who started out around the same time, and Gordon was just aware of the rumours but was never able to pin anything on him.

I'm wanting to keep it simple with the love interest characters. The only time I can imagine a real love triangle is in the sequel by making The Ice Princess Bruce Wayne's arm candy to save good face as playboy socialite in the public eye. Really wanting to make her Julie Madison, since she was an actress as well in the original comics, and she'll meet the same fate as The Ice Princess did in Batman Returns.

I like this idea, but can't the princess survive in this one?  I never understood how Catwoman could allow herself to get involved in a scheme that resulted in an innocent's death, or how Batman was exonerated of her murder without any other eye-witnesses.

In the comic-books Julie Madison becomes Princess Portia eventually so perhaps the 'Ice Princess' element could be tied in there.  I also like that Madison was an heiress in some stories.  Perhaps Bruce knows her because they come from the same social background and the Ice Princess/Julie Madison is one of those socialites/celebutantes who is trying to strike a career based on her fame (ala Paris Hilton and the like) rather than any genuine talent.  Bruce dates her because she's precisely the type of woman he think a billionaire playboy should be seen dating, and plus she's too dumb to work out his superhero identity.  He's not interested in a real relationship and using her effectively as his 'beard' (but as cover for his superhero activities rather than his sexuality).  It's only when Selina Kyle enters the scene that he falls in love, for real.  The Ice Princess/Julie's kidnap also forces him to realise that his playboy cover has dangerous and unfortunate implications for innocents.

Let's let Batman's reputation build up over the course of the shows. At first only reporters like Knox are on the case and by the end of the first film, the reputation is well established. He still gets wide publicity by during the second, but it gets in jeopardy when he gets framed for murder. The third will have it restored and the interest is wide enough for someone like Vicki Vale to come into the picture.

That's a good idea.  Is there anyone from the comics who could fill in for Knox?  You could just make Vicki a minor character.  I was just thinking that if Silver St Cloud is more of a femme fatale, which is a good idea by the way, you don't have a 'good girl' type character to balance her out (and with 'Batman' you had the good girl, Vicki, and the bad girl, Alicia).

Yes, we should follow up more on how Dent was affecting the mob's work. I'm intrigued with the idea of instead of The Joker killing Vinnie in front of City Hall, it's an attempt to kill Dent. Let's do what was in the original script where Wayne and Vale (St. Cloud, in our case) are out and about when The Joker makes his mark. That persuades Joker to go after St. Cloud.

That's a good idea, but does that mean that Silver won't be the one to come between The Joker and Grissom/whatever gangster character from the comic-book (e.g. Falcone, Maroni or Zucco etc) fills in for him?  Also, can Dent get scarred in either 'Batman' or 'Batman Returns' so that his transformation is established before the events of 'Batman Forever'?

Also, how about giving Dent a fiancé, like Gilda Gold from the comic-books (not Rachel Dawes  )?

Can I also assume that Sugar & Spice will now be Query & Echo?  Maybe they could be former Ice Lounge/Penguin-Girl employees of the Penguin before he is defeated and they end up looking for a new villain to set up with (i.e. The Riddler).

Of course we'll have Bob. He'll be a difficult character to pull off for radio, since he's mostly silent.

To get round that, instead of being totally silent, maybe he could repeat the last word of his boss, Jack Napier/The Joker, each time, to emphasise Napier's threats.

The fan revised version of the script I have took out the Napier as the killer detail and managed to work in the origin scenes from Batman Forever to establish the origin and it worked quite well, so we won't have him be the killer.

That's good although it's a shame you won't have the 'I created you, you created me' line, or the flashback scene (which is one of my favourite moments in the film).  Then again, I guess the flashback scene, as portrayed by Tim Burton (i.e. as a silent scene) would be difficult to pull off on radio. 

Do any of these suggestions appeal to you?

[Kamdan]

Yeah, Falcone will be the logical choice. It'll be good symbolism of The Joker literally killing the mob and paving the way for criminals like him. The Mob is the big time before Joker's fall into the vat of chemicals and by the sequels, they're small timers.

It'll be difficult to get Chip in there with the major reworkings the adaptation for Batman Returns will endure. Going to work on a different climax that doesn't involve penguins with bombs on their back and attempting to kill off all of the first borns. The Penguin still will be a candidate for mayor and get the tables turned on him by exposing his true words.

Sounds good about Flass and he'll be the one who takes Napier's bullet sounds good. Perhaps Bullock is on the Mob payroll as well, but wises up, like he did in the comics.

The way I picture Julie "The Ice Princess" Madison in this version will be very like what you described, a Paris Hilton type and how Bruce Wayne feels about her. A fuel of rage Selina Kyle will have for the character is knowing what she is to Bruce Wayne, since she gets to see the real him and not the public persona.  Really think we should preserve that point of The Ice Princess getting killed, since it's a main point of framing Batman. Catwoman does express her regard to the murder when she says, "You said you were going to scare The Ice Princess," so it works. The novelization has a beautiful scene between Batman and Dent where Dent states that he will clear him of all what he was accused of as long as he keeps him protected and his hate for him is fueled largely by him thinking he betrayed him, so that's definitely going to be our adaptation.

Alexander Knox just rings better for a reporter's name, since reporters are quite obnoxious and that was a good name for a character like himself. I liked a piece of fan art that stated "When News Knox." That would be a great way to show his rise in Gotham City, always getting the scoop on these "War of the Freaks."

No good girl for this first outing, since it would get in the way of his duties as Batman. Think of Andrea Beaumont from "Mask of the Phantasm." That's what we should aim for and it makes Selina Kyle more out to be that one woman for him.  Wanting to keep that notion of St. Cloud coming between Falcone and Napier. Going to have to work out and change some details to keep her connections a secret from one and the other. Perhaps looking at the Tom Mankiewicz screenplay would help as well. Hoping for a scaring for Dent at the end of the second film or even told in flashback in the third would work just fine.

Gilda Gold would show up in the second, so we can have him flirt a bit with St. Cloud before Wayne takes the make. Not as familiar with Query & Echo, but I like what you proposed about having familiar henchwomen and henchmen for that matter pop up.

Bob will be more of a yes man. Otherwise, having him repeat Joker makes him out to be someone like Otis from Superman I & II. The whole Joker being the Waynes' killer is good for a one-off film, but not so much for an ongoing series, so that'll have to go as well.