'Venom' director's Hollywood path began when he saw 'Batman' as a teenager

venom n.毒液
《毒液》导演的好莱坞之路始于青少年时期观看《蝙蝠侠》

Filmmaker Ruben Fleischer realizes a boyhood hope today, with the official opening of his first comic-book movie, "Venom, " Sony's 100 million dollars attempt to build out its Spider-Man cinematic universe. The film, which reaped an impressive 10 million dollars from Thursday-night screenings, is expected to gross more than $55 million in its domestic debut, potentially setting an October record.

build out 扩建;丰富     gross v.总收入为,总共赚的
potentially adv. 可能地，潜在地

It was in 1989, while at Georgetown Day, that Fleischer was moved by one of the year's biggest movies. "What really got me was Tim Burton's 'Batman, " says the "Gangster Squad" director. "I was in high school, and I remember seeing the posters with the Batman symbol all over town. I was intrigued."

intrigue v.使很感兴趣，迷住

"Venom" - about an alien symbiote that brings costly superpowers to its host, the down-on-his-luck journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) - would allow Fleischer to tap so many of his influences.

symbiote n.共生生物；共生体     host n.寄主，宿主
down-on-his-luck adj.运气不济的，不走运的     tap v.开发；开辟；

Fleischer says "Venom" nods to buddy comedies like "48 Hours" and "Midnight Run, " as Eddie wages an ongoing, amusing war of words with his parasite.

nod to sth. 向某物点头示意     buddy comedy 双主角喜剧
wage v.发动(战争);阻止，筹备     parasite n.靠他人为生者

Yet this dark body-takeover comedy within a superhero adventure pays direct homage to a film in a similar narrative vein: 1981's "An American Werewolf in London." "For me, that was the biggest influence in my movie, " says Fleischer.

vein n.特质;特征

And central to "Venom, " the director says, is how to mine the host-parasite relationship for black humor. "They forge a real friendship, and, ultimately, they decide to work together through that journey, " he says. "They go on and learn to like each other."

mine v.挖掘；利用     forge v.(尤指努力地)制造；建立

文章来源 华盛顿邮报/流利说英语