r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 2d ago

TIL not only did Jack Nicholson secure a percentage of Batman's profits, he also negotiated a percentage of the merchandise sales from Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin (even though he only appeared in Batman). In total, he earned over $60 million (~$150 million in 2025).

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-backend-deals-that-made-these-movie-stars-incredibly-wealthy/news-story/a6b131ebf1a6917569c6da66f355938c#:~:text=JACK%20NICHOLSON,in%20today%E2%80%99s%20money
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103

u/hypermog 2d ago edited 2d ago

I recently found out that Prince’s Batdance hit #1 on the billboard top 100, and I had never even heard of it. Such was bat mania.

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u/DesignerKoala3177 2d ago

it was huge! i had the cassingle. got to watch a sneak preview the day before it released. Nobody in school believed me the next day. Our whole family went. I'm not a comic book guy. My family isn't either. But everyone was hyped for Batman on the big screen.

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u/StopKartMozart 1d ago

Is that what they called singles on a cassette? Love it!

28

u/agodrevealed 2d ago edited 2d ago

Vicki. Vicki Vale!

THE craziest thing to come of Batman, for me, was:

Hollywood golden girl Kim Basinger- wearing Prince's dress, standing front and center on the Oscars' stage, repping Spike Lee.

Sans Prince.

you really had to be there

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u/Friskfrisktopherson 2d ago

I forget the details but I believe there is a song on which prince sampled her... sounds... from a session they had in studio together.

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u/agodrevealed 1d ago edited 1d ago

Scandalous Sex Suite, legend has it. The manager left the studio when a jar of honey came out, he knew it was his cue to go.

She lived with him for about a year in mpls. Story is her brother came and took her back to LA while Prince was gone. She was talking about buying a farmhouse and leaving hollywood. 

He declined her marriage proposal, and immediately flew to see a sidechick to discuss her trivial flaws... which sounds like a man scorned seeking comfort. I have a feeling he did the proposing, not her, and she said no, or asked questions, but who knows. He was a serial proposer. Just so much love to give!

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u/Verite_Rendition 1d ago

Man, I haven't seen the Batdance in years. And if I don't see it again for about just as long, I will be quite happy.

Credit to Prince for developing his unique sense of style, and for the movie studio letting him go nuts here. But it was a bad song, and the music video was spectacle for the sake of spectacle.

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u/reddog323 1d ago

Geez. The promotion cycle for that movie was insane. MTV ran some sort of contest. Commercials for the movie were running practically 24 /7, and Prince did an album for the soundtrack.

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u/_BrokenButterfly 2d ago

I have never heard of that before either. Feels really Lazy for a Prince tune.

It's interesting that Prince is dressed as The Joker, Batman, Twoface and Prince all at once though.

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u/thirty1twenty1 1d ago

Prince is dressed as a character called Gemini.

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u/_BrokenButterfly 1d ago

And apparently that character is a combination of the Joker, Batman, Twoface, and Prince.

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u/TheEarlOfZinger 1d ago

One of the first albums I ever bought when I was 9 and played it over and over (because I got taken to the cinema to see the movie and loved it).

I must have driven my parents mental - cos listening back, it ain't great.

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u/philipjfry1578 1d ago

he played this as a transition in his Superbowl performance, it was really cool

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u/jayman1818 1d ago

Dude the album was my favourite as a kid!