Catwoman (Film)-Trivia

* Halle Berry became one of only six actors in history (only five at the time) to possess both an Oscar and a Razzie, after her "win" for her infamous performance in this movie. She also became the first to accept their Razzie in person, walking out on stage proudly holding both Oscar and Razzie aloft and feigning tears of joy. She gave a short acceptance speech: "I'd like to thank Warner Brothers, for making me do this godawful, piece of s\*\*t movie!"
* A rough cut of the trailer was put online a few months before the film's release, and drew such heavy criticism that it was quickly pulled. It was soon replaced with a new trailer which didn't feature any dialogue.
* The movie had to undergo re-shoots after testing poorly with screeners, with only a month left before the theatrical release date.
* 43 cats were trained for the film. Halle Berry adopted one of them afterward, an orange and white youngster named Play Dough.
* (at around 1h 12 mins) During the restaurant sequence with Benjamin Bratt, the sushi being gorged by Halle Berry was actually chunks of fruit molded to look like raw fish.
* Michelle Pfeiffer had low opinions of the costume's comfort level from Batman Returns (1992) and consequently declined reprising the role.
* According to Alex Green, the whip master, Halle Berry needed a week of 90-minute practice sessions before she was able to successfully crack a whip.
* A Bengal cat, a domestic breed, was used in the film. Halle Berry loved it so much that she announced that she was going to adopt it. Some media sources inaccurately described the 13 pound housecat as a tiger which caused the Fund for Animals to send Berry a nasty letter.
* (at around 50 mins) The setting of the film is ambiguous, as the city is never called Gotham City nor are there any references to Batman or other DC characters. It is possible that it takes place in the original Batman film universe as a picture of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman from Batman Returns (1992) can be seen in the pile of old catwomen pictures that Ophelia shows to Patience Phillips.
* Three Egyptian Mau cats played the role of Midnight.
* One of Halle Berry's stunt- and body-doubles is the 29-year-old Hawaiian male actor Nito Larioza, an expert in martial arts.
* Halle Berry was originally thought to play Catwoman in Darren Aronofsky's canceled Batman: Year One.
* When production stalled in mid-2003, rumors circulated that Warner Bros. would scrap the project and instead incorporate the character of Catwoman into Batman Begins (2005), but with Halle Berry still in the role.
* The fighting style used by Catwoman is the Brazilian martial art known as capoeira.
* The film was originally planned to be released in IMAX format (using IMAX DMR technology) but was cancelled because Warner Bros. decided that visual effects delays did not give IMAX enough time to re-master the film for release on 23 July 2004. The promotional title "Catwoman: The IMAX Experience" was to be used along with the tagline "CATch Her in IMAX" on posters. The decision to cancel the IMAX release was announced 30 June 2004.
* After reading the screenplay, director Pitof and Jean Rabasse presented to the producers an alternative version of the story that was refused using the argument that it was too artistic.
* Catwoman has been portrayed in live action by more actors than any other comic book villain: Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt in Batman (1966), Lee Meriwether in Batman (1966), Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns (1992), Halle Berry in this film, Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Camren Bicondova in Gotham (2014).
* The role of Ophelia Powers was originally offered to Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the TV series Batman (1966).
* Halle Berry ended up in a hospital after a stunt where she collided with a piece of stage equipment during a chase scene. The injury wasn't serious.
* (at around 3 mins) The monologue delivered by Halle Berry in the preview is taken from the movie The Crow (1994) with minor editing to fit the movie (e.g. "crow" to "cat").
* The film is included on the film critic Roger Ebert's "Most Hated" list.
* A newspaper reported that Sharon Stone's cell phone rang in the middle of filming a scene and Stone took the call, holding up filming for a time.
* The scene where Patience tries to rescue Midnight from the ledge and is then saved by Tom Lone when she nearly falls was originally supposed to be the opening scene of the film. This is why she's working on her graphic design, to turn in that same day, and why she's in a hurry and bumping into people on her way to work in the final cut. This resulted in a continuity error though, as moving the scenes around made it seem like all the characters and extras are wearing the same clothes as they did the day before.
* This movie features both Sharon Stone and Benjamin Bratt, Bratt was considered by producers for the male lead role in Basic Instinct 2 (2006), but Sharon Stone allegedly vetoed his casting because she did not consider him to be a good enough actor.
* Halle Berry had issues with the costume's practicality when first trying it on, complaining at one point that it was too tight and uncomfortable. The costume itself had to be fixed a few times for production, as the leather bra she wore would actually fall off at times.
* Cat breeds: The Egyptian Mau is all domestic cat; the Bengal is a crossbreed between a house cat and an Asian Leopard Cat.
* Halle Berry was given the nickname "The Halle Cat" by the cast and crew on the set of the film.
* Ashley Judd was originally slated for the lead role.
* Frances Conroy later appeared in Joker (2019), another movie based on a traditional enemy of Batman.
* Daniel Waters wrote a draft of the screenplay in 1995. The writers that revised the script include: Laeta Kalogridis, Theresa Rebeck (credited), Kate Kondell, John Rogers (credited), John Brancato (credited), Michael Ferris (credited), Jon Cowan, John O'Brien, David Reynolds, Harley Peyton, Valerie Breiman, Rita Hsiao, and Andrew W. Marlowe.
* According to the cat trainers and visual effects artists, 99.9% percent of the shots of cats in the film are of real cats, and CGI would only be used when it was absolutely necessary.
* Halle Berry was not a cat person when she was initially cast. She had two dogs at the time and said that she didn't like cats for being too aloof. During filming however, she grew rather attached to the dozens of cats she had to spend several hours filming with, and even adopted one of them soon after production wrapped.
* Sharon Stone had been in the running for the part of Poison Ivy in another movie in Batman & Robin (1997).
* Josh Lucas was offered the role of Detective Tom Lone, but turned it down.
* To help offset the film's poor box office showing, Village Roadshow Ltd. agreed to sell its 50% stake in Eye Shop (a mall advertising business) to its joint venture partner Ten Network Holdings Ltd. for $A14.9 million (US $10.6 million), which would give Village Roadshow a pre-tax profit of $A7.7 million (US $5.5 million). As a result, it expects a net profit after tax of $A45 million (US $32.2 million) for the year to 30 June 2005.
* Frances McDormand was once in talks for a role.
* Frances Conroy was listed as a potential nominee on the 2005 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Supporting Actress category for her performance in this film, she failed to receive a nomination however.
* Due to a scheduling conflict, Graeme Revell and William Orbit had to withdraw from their scoring duties. Klaus Badelt was then hired as their replacement.
* In pre-release promo interview, Halle Berry averred of her portrayal of Catwoman as :"Is she a red blooded woman who wants to have fun? Absolutely! .. [with] the duality of [her] new personality, which in turn makes for a well rounded woman which we all, er, I think, strive to be." [DVD extras]
* A remix of the Young Gunz song "Grown Man" featuring Ye was initially lined up to be the first single from the soundtrack. Due to label difficulties, the song was nixed for the R. Kelly and Britney Spears collaboration "Outrageous".
* Janet Varney, who played a party girl in one scene, was tasked to try to defend the movie years later on the SYFY channel series The Great Debate (2020). Toward the end of her segment a still of her appearing in the movie was shown.
* Halle Berry and Michelle Pfeiffer (who'd played Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992)) both appeared in New Year's Eve (2011), though they did not share any scenes together.
* Missy Peregrym: (at around 18 mins) the face of Beau-line test subject. This would be her feature film debut.
* (at around 1h 35 mins) Zoë Bell was a stunt double for Sharon Stone. She received an award for performing a 220-foot fall, where Laurel Hedare falls to her death.
* It took nine days to film the major fight scene between Catwoman and Laurel Hedare.
* DVD contains some deleted scenes: dialog scene between Patience and Laurel after George disapproves of her work, a chase scene with three dogs on a scrapyard after the resurrection, slightly extended love scene, omitted dialog between Catwoman and Laurel in her house, and an alternative more Hollywood-like ending: Patience is painting a wall somewhere outside. Tom comes to her and tells that Wesley has confessed and the murders are officially closed; after some talking they kiss and the camera pans away.