UPDATE Axel can draw, see this vid –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AaBzEKARJ4
"Holy porn parody, Batman! Vivid Entertainment Group today officially unveiled a teaser for Axel Braun’s long-anticipated "BATMAN XXX" at the AEE show in Las Vegas. Featuring the top names in the adult entertainment world, and a production that spared no expenses in faithfully recreating the look and feel of the original, "BATMAN XXX" is a sexy spoof of the 60’s Adam West/Burt Ward TV show. Coming soon on DVD and Blu-ray."
I talked to Axel today. He is producing Batman XXX. When I complimented him on the cool graphics in the teaser and asked who the cartoonist was, he said he drew them! Axel also told me that the costumes were made by the same people who made the originals in the ’60’s, and cost over $20,000! I can tell that this movie is going to be made with Axel’s money, sweat & blood. I can’t wait to see it. I will keep you up on it’s development. They are in preproduction. It will be shot in February and the scheduled release date is in April.
Here is the first look-
Randy Spears as The Joker!
Evan Stone as Riddler
Gotta admit i will be watching for this one. Usually its gonzo for me , but this brings me back… cat woman, cat suit, eartha kitt…..
Love the trailer. Only if they could get some guys that don’t feel like my grandfather, I’m 37. Are there no guys any more that can act and are a bit younger? Another of the many issues adult has these days. No one wants to see these old guys in every movie that is of quality.
So sad!
Not a single Vivid girl? Just like with the Throat remake, they didn’t pick a single one of their contract stars. WHY?? I remember reading how the women were really upset Hirsch overlooked all of them for Throat. Now here comes another big budget feature and once again, they’re being overlooked.
Another porn parody, this time channeling the campy Batman TV series from the 60’s. Anyway, regardless of how you feel about this parody and whether you like the idea of turning a schmucky thing into something far more schmuckier or not, here is a good question: Had Vivid obtained DC Comics’ legal permission to make a porn parody based on Batman and his allies/enemies; or is Vivid trying to pull off a fast one like Digital Sin tried to do with their X-Files porn parody? The reason I’m interested to find that out, is because I know how restricted DC Comics are when it comes to their characters. I’ll give you an example so you get the idea: Some months ago, Anthrax’s guitar player Scott Ian went to DC Comics to discuss writing a Batman mini-series. Apparently Ian wanted to depict a more brutal, violent version of Batman; and DC executive editor Dan DiDio said they can’t accept that:
‘There are several certain things we can’t do with our main characters.’ DiDio told Ian.
Now, think about it: When DC Comics won’t allow a famous musician to write a Batman story which would have been written under DC’s direct supervision and published by DC, how would they allow a porn company to take Batman, their multi billion dollar character and all his allies/enemies and do whatever they want with them in some porn parody? If Vivid doesn’t have the legal permission to do this, they’ll be in a whole lotta trouble.
Colonel, because Axel is specifically using the 60’s TV show he’s got some wiggle room to not worry as much about DC/TW because of all the various rights issues in regard to who owns the show.
Sides, I don’t quite see Axel sticking the actual Bat logo on the costumes. He’d have to know to change it up just a little.
But man do I want to see this. Randy Spears is really looking like Ceaser Romero!
I just need to get my suspension of hatred over Nick Manning as Batman.
Good question Colonel, I’ve been wondering about the legality of all the recent parodies. I must have missed something cause obviously they must have some agreement to parody The Munsters, Brady Bunch, etc. I just don’t know how they do it, please someone fill me in.
Also, is it me that remembers all the god awful porn parodies they made in the late 80’s? Right off the bat I can remember the porn “classic” Batteries Included. There were dozens more.
Darrah, maybe this quote will help your understanding:
“Braun has produced adult films for over 20 years, but the Vivid deal marks the first time he has had an association that provides him with full creative control. “I can’t imagine a better company for me to partner with in a distribution deal. I have so much respect for Steven Hirsch and what he has accomplished at Vivid, and I’m absolutely thrilled about this deal,” says Braun.”
The key here is “full creative control” and keep in mind that this is Vivid distributing Axel’s movies, not producing them.
I’m curious if DC Comics will lift a finger to give the project so much publicity to send sales through the roof by suing. It’s my understanding that they are usually very quick with those nasty cease & desist letters so I guess we’ll see what comes of it later this year.
Johnnie, Caesar Romero was almost 60 when he played the TV series character The Joker and Frank Gorshin must’ve been close to 35 or so when playing the Riddler; hardly out of line for Randy and Evan’s ages.
“I’m curious if DC Comics will lift a finger to give the project so much publicity to send sales through the roof by suing. It’s my understanding that they are usually very quick with those nasty cease & desist letters so I guess we’ll see what comes of it later this year.”
Houstondon, isn’t this case kinda serious? Can’t DC Comics have the court file an injunction on the parody’s distribution?
A parody “is the use of SOME elements of a prior author’s composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author’s works.” 510 U.S. 569 (1994)
What makes this work different from all the other sitcums is that the Batman character itself is copyrighted so in order to be protected under fair use Vivid cannot use his name. It least, I think. I’m not a lawyer….
Vivid’s rich as hell. They probably have some credible defense…
Houston Don says:
‘I’m curious if DC Comics will lift a finger to give the project so much publicity to send sales through the roof by suing.’
If Vivid is developing Batman XXX: A Porn Parody without DC Comics’ knowledge and legal permission, and DC Comics finds out about this illegal adoptation and takes action, it won’t send sales through the roof; it’ll put an end to it altogether and Vivid will be lucky if they don’t end up paying a significant fine.
As Origen pointed out in his commentary, by legal definition, *parody* is a work that uses *some* elements of a prior author’s composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author’s works. In that aspect, since Vivid is attempting to use Batman character himself, his logo, his allies/enemies and all other original elements of Batman universe, it’s no longer a parody. It’s a clear violation of a copyright protected trade mark; unless Vivid has legal permission to make a porn parody based on a multi billion dollar househould friendly product, and for reasons more than obvious I doubt if they have such permission.
We’ll find out soon.
It seems to be based on the TV series version of Batman and Warner Brothers/DC does not own that. 20th Century Fox does.
Osyrus,
Regardless of the porn parody being based on the TV series, cartoons or movies, it all goes back to the same original rights holder; DC. As even if it was 20th Century Fox who currently control the campy 1960s TV series, it is most likely they just control the distribution of said TV series (they have the final say on how it would be put on DVD, or turned into a 3D TV version, syndicated across the world, et cetera). At the end of the day, they still pay a license fee, among other profit sharing revenues, to DC for the use of their characters.
If anything, an illegal use of both the TV series specific and the ‘Batman Universe’ in general would get you in legal hot water with WB, DC and 20 Century Fox.
Batman TV series was produced by 20th Century Fox from 1966 through 1968 with legal permission from DC Comics and before DC Comics was taken over by Warner Bros in 1976. However, the character trade mark belongs to DC Comics and DC’s current parent company Warner Bros; and that’s why the series was never released on Home Video and DVD. DC/Warner Bros demand a significant licensing fee that Fox refuses to pay, hence the release of the series on Home Video and DVD has not occurred to date. It’s a clear indication of the fact that DC Comics is the sole owner of Batman trade mark and all affiliate characters and names (Robin, The Joker, Cat Woman, Gotham City, etc.) If anybody and/or any company, porn or otherwise, tend to obtain the legal permission to produce anything (graphic novel, video game, action figure, parody, etc.) based on Batman character and/or Batman universe, they must go through DC Comics.
It’s interesting how in porn, an industry ravaged by the violation of copyright, Vivid which tends to represent itself as the industry’s public image ignores the very basic laws of copyright just to make a pathetic profit. I hope they have some kind of permission or at least explaination; otherwise they’ll be in deep trouble.
I think Seth dickens should have got the joker part!! i thought they got rid of these old guys!! they are too old Grow up randy and go hollywood! and u too Evan go mainstream. We are all burned out on seeing the same old guys over and over again. But out there in LA you can’t tell those old gay directors anything they are probably sucking Spears cock and Evan’s too!! Faggedty LA.I heard that this was shot by Wizzard Entertainment for Vivid?? whats with that company?? wizzard entertainment is shooting content for Porn companies in LA like Will Ryder is doing for huslter??
Hmm, the legality of all this is intriguing. My bet is that nothing will come of it..and I’m almost always wrong.
Guys, every single decent parody made in the last three years has made extensive use of characters, settings, logos, barely-disguised songs, et al. To date, how many have been sued?
Is there anyone out there that thinks Bill Cosby lacks the funds to sue? How about Paramount and the folks that own Star Trek? The Brady Bunch? Gilligan’s Island?
I agree that they keep pushing the envelope and this might be the ball buster but taking the “Vivid is wrong for copying” angle seems extreme. The only thing I truly wonder about is if Braun goes too far to make the production a virtual copy of the show, just adding sex as he did with Star Trek. That killed his Star Trek parody for me since it had little intentional humor to it. Whatever comes of it, I doubt any of the aforementioned copyright owners lacked knowledge of the shows, the fanboy websites already are discussing this one (and to think Warner does not monitor such sites is unlikely; they do at DVD Talk as one example).
I expect last minute changes as a result but we’ll see…
Leave Will Ryder out of this one lol.
Houston Don says:
‘Every single decent parody made in the last three years has made extensive use of characters, settings, logos, barely-disguised songs, et al.’
Again, this goes back to the legal definition of parody:
‘A *parody* is a work that uses *some* elements of a prior author’s composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author’s works.’
Judging from the trailer, that’s not the case with Batman XXX: A Porn Parody. This is an attempt to remaking a TV series featuring copyright protected characters with additional sex scenes; similar to what Digital Sin tended to do with their X-Files parody, and they were forced to make changes in the title, character names, story line, etc. after 20 Century Fox, the legal owner of The X-Files brand threatened to sue. I believe the same will happen to this parody, and eventually Vivid will be forced to make changes.
Other porn parodies are at least decent and smart enough to use some elements of an original work and add new material, and by choosing titles such as Not (insert the original movie and/or TV title here) XXX, they barely get away with it. But attempting to remake a copyright protected work with the entire cast of original characters, costumes, etc. is simply outrageous and stupid, and can have severe consequences.
We’ll see how things will turn out.
Since Disney recently shelled out some $4 billion for Marvel, including the Batman franchise and all associated IP, methinks they’ll go to lengths to protect their investment. You don’t fuck with The Mouse.
‘Scuse. Batman crusades for Warners—still a formidable entity. Disney has Spiderman. Now there’s a great parody: Batman tries to outfuck Spidey!
I expect that next week, DC Comics/Warner will apply for, and be granted, a temporary restraining order against Vivid et al. Vivid et al. will not (cannot?) battle DC Comics/Warner, so they (Vivid) will rename the movie “Not Batman XXX” and feature characters named “Ratman,” “the Jizzler,” and “the Laugher” (or something like that).
Oooohhhhh! Thanks. 😀 But the end says it’s from Vivid though. Great casting Randy and Evan!
They better not rename it Not Batman XXX because if they do I am going to play our Not the Bradys XXX theme song outside their offices from 9 to 5 and put the volume all the way up to 11.
First of all I highly doubt that Axel made the graphics. He is so full of shit, I would not believe anything he says. Second, I am 100% sure DC will shut this down, I can not wait for Axel to lose all that money, are we really to believe costumes cost over $20,000? Axel is a liar and he will soon feel the wrath of DC Comics.
I think that what needs to be done! I have these huge stereo Monitors and we need to sit them up outside the offices with full blast volume and blast the Theme to Not the Bradys XXX theme. That will show them!
Will, shouldnt Jeff be telling us to leave Will out of this one. I’m tired of the whole Porn Parody idea. Porn cannot be this creatively bankrupt, though the Trannyfucker is directing a lot more these days. Saw Freddie Lincoln’s name mentioned in the Erica Boyer obit, now if he directed this movie, I would watch.
I was excited until I saw Nick Manning in the lead. No thank you.
Larry Horse, you are actually pretty funny.
Man, I gotta admit that Spears does look a helluva lot like Cesar Romero, and Stone also looks a lot like the great Frank Gorshin, in these photos. Damn. But there’s no substitutes for the originals (for those too young to remember, go to YouTube and get schooled).
If Manning hams it up like he did in Star Trek #1, it will likely suck donkey balls. Too bad this isn’t being done by Ryder or Myers…
I just looked at the trailer. I bet the hikers at Bronson Canyon must’ve been starled to see the batmobile driving out of there.
Nick Manning is a funny guy. I like when he says “Suck my dick, bitch” to Brooke in “Sacred Sin”. What’s funny is they just got married and that was their honeymoon moment.
Nick is hot!
Im disappointed, no Harvey Dent.