Mind behind Batman films speaks

The mind behind the record-breaking box office hit ‘The Dark Knight’ said he was laughed out of movie studios for nearly 10 years before he finally achieved his vision.
Michael Uslan, a key planner and producer for every film in the ‘dark series’ of Batman films, which run from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film to the summer blockbuster The Dark Knight, spoke to a group of students about the film industry, converting ideas into art and the role comics play in defining popular culture at Northeastern University Tuesday night.
‘It’s not about the numbers,’ he said. ‘It’s about the dream.’
Uslan said his dream of bringing the comic books to the big screen began within the comic book-lined walls of his New Jersey home as a young boy. He described himself as a true Hollywood outsider.
‘My last name isn’t Warner and I don’t have a bunch of brothers,’ he said.
Comic books were his passion since he was 8 years old, and his dream was to find a career in the comic world, he said.
While he was still a junior at Indiana University, Uslan taught a course on comic books, in which he focused on comics as a form of art and even a record of history.
‘Comics have been a mirror of society,’ Uslan said. ‘They reflect our fads, our slang, our biases and prejudices.’
Uslan said Batman was always his favorite hero because he was human without possessing any special super powers.
‘I could identify with this guy,’ he said. ‘If you shoot him, he bleeds. Batman’s greatest superpower is his humanity.’
Uslan said his ultimate goal was to bring the definitive ‘dark’ Batman series to theaters. Though he bought the rights to Batman in 1979, it took 10 years before Uslan’s Batman film achieved unprecedented box office success.
The 10 years when Uslan faced countless rejections from studios served as the basis for his message to students, he said.
‘If you fail, I believe, there are two options,’ he said.’ ‘You can go home and cry about it, or you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off and knock again, and knock again until your knuckles bleed.’
Northeastern second-year student Sam Northridge said Uslan’s story of unstoppable effort was familiar to him.
‘It was humble of him not to draw a parallel between himself and Batman,’ he said.’ ‘Batman had a dream himself and wouldn’t accept failure.’
Fellow Northeastern second-year Sean Galletta echoed his sentiment.
‘He’s the Batman of producers,’ he said.
Uslan said he is happy to be living his dream in what he described as the best job he could imagine.
‘I wake up every Monday morning and get to report to a sandbox and play with all my favorite toys,’ Uslan said.’ ‘It’s the only job I could find where I get to act 16 no matter how gray I get.’
Students at Uslan’s speech pushed him for details about the next Batman film. Uslan did not give anything away, but he left students with encouraging advice.
‘I think it is good he didn’t give anything away,’ Northeastern first-year Alicia Silvestri said.’ ‘It gives you a reason to see the films.’