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The Phantom (1996 film)

1996 superhero film by Simon Wincer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Phantom (1996 film)
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The Phantom is a 1996 superhero adventure film directed by Simon Wincer and written by Jeffrey Boam. It is based on the comic strip of the same name created by Lee Falk. The film stars Billy Zane as Kit Walker, the 21st descendant of a line of masked vigilantes known as the Phantom, who battles a criminal organization seeking to harness the power of mystical skulls. The cast also includes Treat Williams, Kristy Swanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar, and Patrick McGoohan.

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The film was released theatrically in the United States on June 7, 1996, by Paramount Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office, grossing approximately $23.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $45 million.

Despite its commercial failure, The Phantom later found success on home media and developed a cult following due to its nostalgic tone, period setting, and stylized homage to classic adventure serials.[4]

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Plot

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In the early 16th century, a young boy helplessly witnesses his father killed by Kabai Sengh, the vicious pirate leader of the Sengh Brotherhood, who attacked their ship. The boy jumps overboard and is washed ashore on Bengalla, an Asian island where local tribesmen find him and take him to their village. There he is given the Skull Ring, swears to devote his life to resisting vice and enforcing virtue, and as an adult, adopts the identity of "The Phantom", a masked avenger. The role of the Phantom is passed on from father to son through 400 years, leading people to believe in a single, immortal figure.

In 1938, Kit Walker, the 21st Phantom, finds Quill leading a group of grave robbers in the jungle. They are searching a burial place for one of the Skulls of Touganda, which grants its owner a tremendously destructive power. Kit saves the native boy they kidnapped to be their guide and captures Quill's men, leaving them for the Jungle Patrol to pick up. Revealed to be a Sengh Brotherhood member and the man who killed Kit's father – whose ghost frequently appears to give Kit advice – Quill flees with the Skull and returns to the United States.

In New York City, Kit's college girlfriend, Diana Palmer, is a frequent traveler whose uncle, Dave, is the famous owner of the World Tribune newspaper. The paper has been investigating power-hungry businessman Xander Drax, a shady character with a reputation for dealing with criminals. Palmer has uncovered Drax's connection to a mysterious spider web symbol, which he traces back to the Bengalla Jungle. He sends Diana to investigate but makes the mistake of telling New York's treacherous police commissioner Farley, who is allied with Drax, of Diana's trip. Drax's female air pirates led by femme fatale, Sala, hijack the plane; Diana is abducted and taken to their waterfront base in Bengalla. Having been informed of Diana's abduction by the Jungle Patrol's captain, Phillip Horton, Kit rescues her and escapes from Quill and his men to his headquarters, the Skull Cave.

In New York, Kit meets with David Palmer at the World Tribune and once again meets with Diana, who has mixed feelings about him since his sudden disappearance several years before. Diana's would-be suitor Jimmy Wells mentions he had seen one of the skulls in the Museum of World History, so Kit and Diana hurry there. Drax and his men capture them, steal the second Skull and unite it with the first, revealing the location of the third Skull on an uncharted island in the Andaman Sea, known as the Devil's Vortex. Kit escapes and, as the Phantom, evades the police outside the museum. Meanwhile, after Sala reveals that Diana is Kit's girlfriend, she flies Drax, Quill, and Diana to the Devil's Vortex, not knowing that Kit has hitched a ride on one of the plane's landing pontoons.

On the island, Drax meets with the pirate Kabai Sengh, direct descendant of the Brotherhood's original leader, who possesses the third Skull. Sengh warns Drax of the Fourth Skull's existence, which controls the power of the other three. Kit appears and battles both men, with Kabai Sengh killed by sharks, and Diana and Sala cooperate to defeat the other villains. Drax unites the three Skulls and turns their power against Kit; Quill is accidentally hit and disintegrated in the process. Kit uses the Fourth Skull – his own magic ring – to turn the Skulls' power back against them, destroying them and Drax in a powerful explosion. As the energy causes a volcanic eruption, Kit narrowly escapes with Diana and Sala.

Returning to Bengalla, Diana reveals to Kit that she has figured out his secret and double identity. Kit removes his mask, telling her that he can only disclose all of his secrets to one person, the woman he intends to marry, but she leaves again for New York. Kit's father laments his son's failure to pursue Diana but states that she will return to the Phantom's jungle, and Kit, one day.

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Cast

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Production

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Development

Early attempts to adapt The Phantom for the screen date back to director Sergio Leone, who expressed interest in the property and began writing a script and scouting locations. Leone also intended to follow it with a film adaptation of Mandrake the Magician, another comic strip by Lee Falk, though that project was never finalized.[5]

In the early 1990s, Joe Dante was attached to direct a version for Paramount Pictures, co-writing a draft with Jeffrey Boam. Their script featured a tongue-in-cheek tone and included a climactic battle with a winged demon. However, the film was delayed by a year due to budget concerns and creative disagreements, prompting Dante to leave the project. Although he remained credited as an executive producer, he later criticized the final version for abandoning its comedic intent and for cutting several humorous moments after a rough test screening.[6]

Director Simon Wincer, a fan of the comic since childhood, was ultimately hired to helm the project. Initially planned to shoot in Hawaii, the production was instead relocated to New York City, Thailand, and Australia to keep the budget under control—ultimately reducing costs by $12 million.[7]

Casting

Billy Zane was cast in the lead role after gaining attention for his performance in Dead Calm (1989).[8] A fan of The Phantom comic strip, Zane reportedly beat out Bruce Campbell and New Zealand actor Kevin Smith for the role. After being cast, Zane spent over 18 months physically preparing for the role, building muscle to match the character Kit Walker/Phantom’s iconic physique.[9] He also studied the Phantom’s visual mannerisms from the comic strip and incorporated them into his performance.[10]

The film’s costume effects, including the Phantom’s distinctive suit, were created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.[7]

Filming

Principal photography began on October 3, 1995, in Los Angeles, with early scenes filmed at Greystone Park. For exterior shots of the Palmer estate, the production used Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion.[7][11] The Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park was used to represent the Central Park Zoo in New York City.[7]

To recreate 1938 New York City, the production employed Hollywood backlot streets with over 50 vintage cars and 400 extras in period costumes. In late October, the crew moved to Thailand for seven weeks, with the country standing in for Bengalla.[12] Major action sequences, including the Phantom’s rope bridge rescue, were shot there. A warehouse in Krabi was converted into a soundstage for interior sets such as the Skull Cave and Chronicle Chamber.[11]

In December, filming continued in Australia at the Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast, Queensland.[7][11] Eight sound stages were used, including Stage 5 for the Singh Pirates’ cave—then the largest interior set ever built in the country. Additional sets, such as Xander Drax (Treat Williams)’s New York office and a New York museum, were built on other stages and at locations like Brisbane City Hall and the Manor Apartment Hotel.

The final day of shooting returned the crew to Los Angeles to film a scene involving the Phantom wrestling a lion, though this sequence was ultimately cut. Filming concluded on February 13, 1996.[13]

Several scenes were deleted from the final cut, including additional romantic moments between Kit and Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson), a snake fight, and a shot of the Phantom and his horse rearing against the sunset. The latter appeared in the 1996 A&E documentary The Phantom: Comic Strip Crusader.[14]

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Relation to the original stories

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The Phantom incorporates several elements from Lee Falk’s early comic strip adventures, particularly the first two serialized stories: The Singh Brotherhood (1936) and The Sky Band (1936–1937). Characters adapted from these narratives include Kabai Sengh (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), the leader of the Sengh Brotherhood who was renamed for the film from Singh in order to avoid cultural insensitivity; Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the commander of an all-female air pirate gang known as the Sky Band; and Jimmy Wells (Jon Tenney), a wealthy playboy acquaintance of Diana Palmer.

While Falk’s original stories were grounded in more realistic pulp-style crime and adventure, the film takes a more fantastical approach. It introduces the mystical Skulls of Touganda as central artifacts, a supernatural element not found in the early comic strips.

The storyline also draws from Falk's story The Belt, which centers on the Phantom avenging his father’s death.[15] However, several modifications were made for the film: the murderer’s name was changed from Rama to Quill (James Remar), and the 20th Phantom (portrayed by Patrick McGoohan) is depicted as significantly older than in the original material, in addition to appearing as a ghost or figment of the current Phantom's imagination, which is not a typical part of the comic strip.

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Soundtrack

The original score for The Phantom was composed by David Newman, who had previously collaborated with director Simon Wincer on Operation Dumbo Drop. It was performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra under Newman's direction. Milan Records released the soundtrack album on June 4, 1996. An expanded edition featuring additional cues and previously unreleased material was issued by La-La Land Records on July 3, 2012.[16]

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Release

To promote the film’s release, The Phantom was featured in the popular "Got Milk?" advertising campaign, drawing on the character’s milk-drinking habits as depicted in the original comic strip. Two action figures of the Phantom were produced by toy company Street Player, and promotional replica Phantom rings were distributed as part of marketing tie-ins.[17]

In addition, collectible Phantom trading cards were released in several countries, including the United States, Australia, Finland, and Sweden. Theatrical concessions such as popcorn tubs and soda cups also featured the film’s poster artwork, extending the film's visibility across cinema chains during its run.

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Reception

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Box office

The Phantom underperformed at the U.S. box office, opening in sixth place during its debut weekend on June 7, 1996.[18] The film was released during a wave of 1990s period-piece comic book adaptations such as The Rocketeer (1991) and The Shadow (1994), all of which struggled to find mainstream commercial success. While it did not meet theatrical expectations, the film later developed a cult following and sold well on VHS and DVD.[4]

Critical response

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 44% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's consensus reads: “The script gives Billy Zane little to work with, and thus he plays the Phantom as a friendly but completely one-dimensional hero.”[19] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews.”[20] CinemaScore audiences gave the film a grade of B+ on an A+ to F scale.[21]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising its visual style and calling it "one of the best-looking movies in a long time." He complimented its production design and straightforward sense of adventure.[22]

Other critics highlighted the film’s nostalgic tone and faithfulness to its pulp origins. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as a "modest, unassuming film" that is “gently self-mocking” and appreciated its use of practical stunts over digital effects.[23] Godfrey Cheshire of Variety called it a "fast-moving yarn" with a light, old-fashioned tone, and supported its decision to avoid reworking the Phantom's racially problematic origin by simply omitting it.[24] In Empire, Kim Newman wrote that the film had “a pleasant feel” and praised Zane's charming performance, giving it three out of five stars.[25]

However, some reviewers were less favorable. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C, calling the character "hopelessly outdated" and the plot "hand-me-down cheeseball mysticism."[26] Time Out's Trevor Johnston described the film as "tamely second-hand" and lacking originality.[27]

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Accolades

At the 1996 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, The Phantom was nominated for the Founders Award – What Were They Thinking and Why? —alongside The Stupids in their 1996 ballot.

Sequel and reboot plans

Billy Zane originally signed a contract to appear in two sequels to The Phantom, but the disappointing box office performance of the 1996 film led to the cancellation of any follow-ups.[28]

In 2008, reports surfaced that Paramount Pictures was exploring a potential sequel with Zane, Kristy Swanson, and Catherine Zeta-Jones returning to their original roles.[4] However, the studio ultimately opted to pursue a reboot instead. Titled The Phantom: Legacy, the new project was to be produced by Bruce Sherlock—who also served as executive producer on the original film—and written by Tim Boyle.[29] Actor Sam Worthington was reportedly considered for the lead role.[30]

By 2014, development on The Phantom: Legacy had stalled, and the project was shelved. A new reboot was then reported to be in development, with producer Mark Gordon attached, although no further announcements have been made since.[30]

Novelization

A novelization of The Phantom was authored by Rob MacGregor, known for his work on the Indiana Jones novel series. This adaptation expands upon the film's narrative by delving deeper into character backstories and exploring the origins of the Phantom legacy. It also includes scenes that were omitted from the final cut of the movie.[31]

Home media

The Phantom was released on Blu-ray on February 9, 2010, by Lionsgate[32] and re-released by Paramount on September 15, 2020.

See also

References

External links

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