Joel Schumacher may be promoting his new film Trespass, but the director had Batman on the brain during a recent interview.
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Schumacher directed both Batman Forever in 1995 and its sequel Batman & Robin in 1997. But, he isn’t so proud of the second go.
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“I broke a rule of mine, which is never to do a sequel of anything” the director, who said studios make sequels for only one reason, told IFC. “They wanted me to do sequels for St. Elmo’s Fire, Flatliners, Lost Boys, and some of the other films I’ve done, and I always knew that if you get lucky, walk away. But I was shooting A Time To Kill and the studio had been very generous to me, and much was expected of me by the toy manufacturers and the Warner Bros. stores.”
And, Schumacher said he proved himself right. “It’s not my favorite movie I’ve ever made, but I’m proud of my cast and I’m proud of all the artists who worked on it,” he admitted. “I take full responsibility for Batman & Robin.”
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One cast-member he’s particularly proud of? Val Kilmer. “For me, Val Kilmer was the best Batman,” he said. “I thought he looked great in the costume, and I thought he brought a depth to the role.”
Though, he also admitted he is jealous of another director in the long-running franchise.
“I think I’m the most envious of Chris Nolan because he got to do The Dark Knight — and that’s the one I begged to do as my second Batman film,” he said. “I wanted to do a whole other thing, because we had kind of re-invented franchise with Val as Batman and it was a very young, sexy, and much less expensive movie. We brought in Robin and I wanted to make The Dark Knight desperately, but the studio didn’t want that and it’s their money and they’re my bosses.”