Just an update on this amusing #ReleaseTheSchumacherCut movement going on around 1995’s “Batman Forever.”
A select few actually got to watch the late Joel Schumacher's original cut of the Batman flick. Obviously, reactions have been very good, which was to be expected given the fanboy excitement surrounding this cut.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith has not only reviewed the alternate cut, but also screened it to select fans at a private screening. The screening took place on July 1st at Smodcastle Cinema in New Jersey.
The version shown, said to be around 2 hours 38 minutes, is being described as “slower-paced,” allowing the film to breathe in ways that expand the psychological complexities of its themes. This was a work print that would definitely still require touchups in the VFX department and an added score.
There are definitely fans out there of Schumacher’s “Batman Forever.” I remember not really being thrilled by it, but it might have been a purely biased reaction on my part given that I was a big fan of the Keaton/Burton films.
The film starred Val Kilmer as Batman while Chris O'Donnell played Robin, Jim Carrey was The Riddler, and Tommy Lee Jones was Two-Face. It was a neon-technicolor film deeply ingrained in the camp and spirit of the '60s TV show.
Contrast that with Burton’s 1989 and 1992 films, which went went into the darker depths of the character, no doubt paving the way for Nolan’s iteration of the Caped Crusader in his Dark Knight trilogy.
Schumacher died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 80. He was castigated for these Batman movies, especially the much mocked “Batman & Robin,” which definitely didn’t have the fanbase of ‘Forever.’
Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman told The Playlist, earlier this week, that the Schumacher Cut should be released:
I saw [The ‘Schumacher Cut’] recently, and it’s funny because there’s been a swell on the internet for it, and I stay out of it, mostly. Although, it’s got about 35% more psychological realism in it. You know, it’s really more about guilt and shame. But the preview audience didn’t want it — the world wasn’t ready. Joel’s first cut had all of it in, and the audience was like, ‘Yeah, we just like the part where the guy’s funny and he’s scary and the big thing…’ And so, it got cut down into what it is. And it was cool.
Goldsman went on to reiterate the need for it to be released to the public to honor Schumacher, “Because he died and he died quietly…You know, there wasn’t a lot of honoring him and it would be a nice way to honor him, I think. And I think he’d get a kick out of it.”
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.