Akiva Goldsman Talks Joel Schumacher's Extended Cut Of "Batman Forever"

Dan Lalonde
23 hours ago
2 min read

Akiva Goldsman Batman Forever Joel Schumacher

Do you ever wake up in a cold sweat dreaming you're watching an endless loop of Batman & Robin playing? Before Christopher Nolan created the best cinematic version of the caped crusader, Joel Schumacher tried his hand at it after taking over from Tim Burton's gothic version. He introduced bright neon colors and a more cheesy tone that resembled the 60s TV show with Adam West. Needless to say, his two films was one too many.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman discussed the future chances of seeing the Joel Schumacher cut of Batman Forever:

"After Joel died [in 2020], I reached out to Warners and said, “There’s a darker version of this movie.” We found it. It exists and it’s incomplete, but more complete than you would think. Today there would be giant sections where the VFX wasn’t done. In those days, so much of it was miniatures and practical effects — they were done. We were trying to dust it off, and then everybody stopped caring. But I lobby for it."

Goldsman further elaborated on what the deleted film scenes were.

"Bruce is having these recurring visions of a red book, which turns out to be his father’s diary. There’s an entry that says, “Martha and I want to stay home tonight. Bruce wants to see a movie, so we’re going to take him out.” So he holds himself responsible [for their deaths]. There’s a section in the movie where he actually is hit in the head. He doesn’t remember that he’s Batman, and he goes back into the cave. There’s this now rather famous Rick Baker bat that he faces."

Unfortunately, two years later in 1997, Batman & Robin came out and was a critical and box office disaster that George Clooney is still apologizing for. The reviews hit Goldsman hard.

"When movies don’t land, when they’re publicly excoriated, or when you feel you have let the object down, it hurts. “Wrap a baseball bat in a blanket and hit your head for two hours. This is preferable to the experience of watching Lost in Space, which can be laid at the feet of writer-producer Akiva Goldsman, who has replaced Joe Eszterhas as the definition of failing upwards in Hollywood.” That’s Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal."

So for those with Batman PTSD, please comment below with your thoughts.