The Phantom (film)

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The Phantom
original movie poster
Directed by	Simon Wincer
Produced by	Alan Ladd, Jr Robert Evans
Written by	Jeffrey Boam
Starring	Billy Zane Kristy Swanson Catherine Zeta-Jones Treat Williams James Remar
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 7, 1996
Running time	100 min.
Country	Australia, United States
Language	English
Budget	$42,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Phantom is a 1996 action/adventure movie starring Billy Zane, and directed by Simon Wincer. It was based on Lee Falk's comic strip The Phantom, about a seemingly immortal crimefighter and his fight against all forms of evil. The film is loosely based on the first two Phantom stories, "The Singh Brotherhood" and "The Sky Band", and features Treat Williams, Kristy Swanson, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

1 Plot summary
2 Production
3 Trivia
4 Taglines
5 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The legend of the Phantom starts when a young boy, the last survivor of a pirate attack, is washed ashore on a mysterious island called Bengalla. He swears to devote his life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms. When he grows to be a man, he adopts the identity of The Phantom, a masked avenger. The role of the Phantom is passed on from father to son through centuries, causing people to believe it is the same, seemingly immortal man, giving him nicknames such as "The Ghost Who Walks" and "The Man Who Never Dies".

The film tells us the story of Kit Walker, the 21st Phantom (Zane), and his attempt to prevent rich madman Xander Drax (Treat Williams) from obtaining a weapon of doom, the Skulls of Touganda, that will give him the secret to ultimate power and world domination.

In the process of tracking down the skulls, The Phantom also meets his former girlfriend Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson), who proves to be an invaluable help for him. The search for the skulls becomes even more complicated for the Phantom when he discovers that one of Drax's henchmen, Quill (James Remar), is the killer of his father.

[edit] Production

The film is loosely based on Lee Falk's first two Phantom stories, The Singh Brotherhood and The Sky Band. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa plays Kabai Sengh, leader of the Sengh Brotherhood (the name of the brotherhood was changed from Singh to Sengh in the movie), and Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Sala, leader of the Sky Band, a group of female criminal air-pirates.

Joe Dante was originally attached to direct, and he developed a draft of the script together with Jeffrey Boam. However, when Paramount pushed the film back a year, Dante left for other commitments, with Simon Wincer replacing him as a director. Dante ended up as one of the executive producers.

Billy Zane feverishly pumped iron for over a year to play the Phantom. A Batman-like costume with fake muscles was made for him, but by the time filming started, Zane was so beefed up that he did not need it. Zane won the part after competition from cult-icon Bruce Campbell and Kevin Smith (best known for playing Ares in Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys). It is interesting to note that Bruce Campbell too acted in "Hercules" and "Xena" as Autolycus. Director Simon Wincer then cast Billy Zane, who had recently won praise for his work as a psychopath in Dead Calm.

The film was shot in Australia, Thailand and Los Angeles, and had a budget of over 40 million dollars.

Many scenes developing the romance between the Phantom/Kit Walker and Diana Palmer were cut in order to make the film more fast paced. Many of the scenes took place in the Deep Woods of Bengalla. An action scene featuring the Phantom wrestling a lion and one with him fighting a snake were also cut.

The movie suffered the same fate as two other period-piece comic book/pulp adaptations, The Shadow and The Rocketeer, and did not fare very well at the box office in the US. Despite of the film's failure, a new movie about the character is in the works, called The Ghost Who Walks. However, it aims to distance itself from the 1996 film, and provide an updated take on the character.

A novelization of the film was written by Rob MacGregor, author of many Indiana Jones novels.

Billy Zane as The Phantom

[edit] Trivia

The Palmer's butler is named Falkmoore. This name is derived from Lee Falk, The creator of The Phantom, and Ray Moore, The Phantom's first artist.

To coincide with the premiere of the film, the Phantom was used as a part of the Got Milk? campaign.

Hugh Hefner, creator of Playboy magazine, a fan of the Phantom comic strip, allowed the filmmakers to use his Playboy Mansion as the home of the wealthy Palmer family.