Alright, everyone! Chill! Today, the Hamptons International Film Festival bestowed
Joel Schumacher with their
Golden Starfish Lifetime Achievement in Directing Award. Some of his highlights include:
St. Elmo’s Fire, The Lost Boys, Falling Down, The Client, A Time to Kill, 8MM and two episodes of Netflix's
House of Cards. Even with a fairly impressive filmography Joel Schumacher tends to field questions pertaining to his two Caped Crusader films,
Batman Forever (1995) and
Batman & Robin (1997). A writer from
Variety took this opportunity to chat with Joel about those two films, and this is what he had to say on the matter.
Variety: Your “Batman” movies aren’t as dark as Christopher Nolan’s.
Joel Schumacher: I was never able to go into the darkness. Because of “Batman Returns,” families had objected that it was too adult, which is no criticism of Tim Burton’s. When they offered it to me, I went to Tim and said, “This is your franchise and they want me to do it. I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.” He said, “Take it, please! I can’t do another one.” Even though “Batman Forever” is really sexy, it was a movie the whole family could see.
Variety: You introduced nipples to the Batsuit. Were you surprised they became so controversial?
Joel Schumacher:Yes, I was like, “Are you kidding me?” I think that will be on my gravestone. It’s how I’ll be remembered.
Variety: But “Batman Forever” was a box office hit.
Joel Schumacher: It was the biggest movie of the year and the cheapest “Batman” ever made. It cost under $100 million, with Val [Kilmer], Nicole [Kidman], even Jim [Carrey] was still coming up. “Batman Forever” was total passion. My bosses let me change Batman. Jim was inspired as the Riddler. Tom Lee Jones played Harvey Two Face. Drew Barrymore is in it. Debi Mazar plays a bad girl. It has a great cast and everyone did a great job. It was fun to create a “Batman” movie.
Variety: Then came “Batman & Robin.” Was it your idea to cast George Clooney as Batman?
Joel Schumacher:No, Val left at eleventh hour to do “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” It changed everything. George made a noble effort. I was the problem with “Batman & Robin.” I never did a sequel to any of my movies, and sequels are only made for one reason: to make more money and sell more toys. I did my job. But I never got my ass in the seat right.
Variety: Why?
Joel Schumacher:They immediately wanted a sequel, but I said yes. There’s nobody else to blame but me. I could have said, “No, I’m not going to do it.” I just hope whenever I see a list of the worst movies ever made, we’re not on it. I didn’t do a good job. George did. Chris [O’Donnell] did. Uma [Thurman] is brilliant in it. Arnold is Arnold.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW
Chills and thrills: will Gotham City be put on ice? George Clooney is Batman as the dark knight battles his greatest threat yet: cold-hearted Mr. Freeze (Schwarzenegger) and venomous Poison Ivy (Thurman). Batman has more than Gotham City to protect: the youthful eagerness of crimefighting comrades Robin (O'Donnell) and Batgirl (Silversone) puts them frequently in harm's way.
Batman & Robin (1997) was directed by Joel Schumacher, from a script written by Akiva Goldsman. The film starred: Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze, George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin, Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson/Batgirl, Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth, Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon, Elle Macpherson as Julie Madison, Vivica A. Fox as Ms. B. Haven, and Vendela Kirsebom as Nora Fries.