Hence why after being essentially exiled from the industry following Superman Returns’ muted reception, the man who helped co-run Columbia Pictures into major losses during the early ‘90s remains a controversial figure. And in his latest profile piece with THR, that skepticism apparently spread all the way to Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder while making 2013’s Man of Steel. While Jon Peters received an executive producer credit on Man of Steel, as well as a hefty paycheck along the liens of $10 and $15 million, it all came with one caveat: please, go away. Indeed, according to Peters himself, he was banned directly by The Dark Knight director from the Man of Steel set. Peters’ history with superhero movies is legendary. Kevin Smith has made a small cottage industry retelling his infamous run-ins with Peters on the doomed ‘90s production, Superman Lives. Suggesting that Peters couldn’t read, wanted Sean Penn to play Superman, and refused to allow the flying superhero to actually fly, Peters didn’t necessarily leave a strong impression with the uber-fan. Then again, Peters doesn’t seem to mind what buttons he pushes, as he did just that for the generally left-leaning industry that reads THR. In the fascinatingly bizarre article, he both brags about voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. election and how he sees himself in the billionaire president-elect. “I am the Trump of Hollywood,” he boasts. Again, though, need we mention that during his short stint of running Columbia Pictures with Peter Guber, he helped drive the studio into $3 billion of debt? Part of that, according to THR, is due to the studio then billing expenses to Heidi Fleiss’ call girl service. So just keep that in mind, America. But looking back at those heady days, Peters also now claims to have had a tumultuous affair with Kim Basinger during the production of Batman in 1988, which apparently made Michael Keaton jealous. “Kim had a husband who was abusive,” Peters claims. “And one day I grabbed him, and she connected with me because I protected her, and we became friends and ended up having a big affair. Michael Keaton had the eye for Kim Basinger. I remember he got mad at me when she and I hooked up. He felt rejected ‘cause he was the star. He’s Batman. Yeah. I was a hairdresser who could talk to women. We lived together on the set. She helped me write the third act.” That last bit about Peters writing the third act might be news to Sam Hamm, Tim Burton, and others who produced the original Dark Knight epic. Then again, if it’s not, maybe Snyder could’ve used Peters’ eye on his own extensive third act problems in Batman v Superman (which Peters received a substantially smaller paycheck on). You can ready why he got less on that film in the full profile here.
