Billion Dollar Batman

by Bruce Scivally

  A cynic might say that all of those toys demonstrated why the studio pushed for three heroes and three villains instead of the usual two. When executive producer Michael Uslan was asked if Warner Bros. insisted on the abundance of characters and costume changes not for artistic reasons but for commercial ones, he prefaced his answer by saying that he was not speaking specifically about Batman or Warner Bros., but said that generally, “the movie studios became in transition from movie studios to international conglomerates. More and more studios over the years had been getting into other businesses and diversifying, whether it’s theme parks, or owning parts of a toy company or a T-shirt company or whatever it might be. And, at various points in time over the years, some studios have gotten a little bit wrapped up in merchandising, more than other things. And in those moments when that happens, I believe the tail begins to wag the dog, and that when movies are being driven by merchandising and they want to see as many heroes and as many villains put into a movie, with the insistence that each one have two costume changes and two vehicles, the danger quickly arises that they are making two hour infomercials for toys rather than great films.”210

  In his Daily Varietyreview, Todd McCarthy noted that, as with the earlier films, the bad guys overshadowed the heroes. “The villains, Arnold Schwarzenegger and especially Uma Thurman in this instance, remain the highlights here, as the rest of the gargantuan production lacks the dash and excitement that would have given the franchise a boost in its eighth year,” wrote McCarthy. “Unfortunately, the operative word is bland, as the newcomers don’t add much to the formula, leaving it to their nemeses to enliven the proceedings...211 Physically, Clooney is unquestionably the most ideal Batman to date, but none of the series’ screenwriters has ever gotten a handle on how to make the character as interesting as those around him.”212

  In The New York Times, Janet Maslin was effusive about Uma Thurman’s performance, writing, “As played by Uma Thurman, Poison Ivy is perfect, flaunting great looks, a mocking attitude and madly flamboyant disguises. Like Mae West, she mixes true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen...Poison Ivy captures the essence of Batman & Robin, a wild, campy costume party of a movie and the first Batman to suggest that somewhere in Gotham City there might be a Studio 54...Aiming for comic book fans with a taste for heavy sarcasm and double-entendres, the lavish Batman & Robin cares only about delivering nonstop glitter...There’s not much more to Batman, now played affably but blandly by George Clooney and given only second billing, than a heroic jaw line, understanding gaze and anatomically correct rubber suit. The mixed-up, melancholy Batman of Tim Burton’s first two films looks like the brooding Prince of Denmark next to this.”213

  Overall, reviewers in major markets were not kind to the film. In Variety’s Crix’ Picks compilation of notices from major cities, Batman & Robin received only 3 positive reviews, and 40 that were negative or mixed. By contrast, the controversial Batman Returns had received 30 positive reviews, and 37 negative or mixed.214

  Despite the chilly critical reception, in its opening weekend, Batman & Robin amassed the seventh-highest three-day opening ever, earning a respectable $43.6 million on 2,934 screens for a per-screen average of $14,860.215 However, that was less than Batman Forever, which had debuted with $52.8 million two years earlier.216 But the big surprise of the weekend was Sony’s comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding, starring Julia Roberts. Sony had gambled on counter-programming by releasing the film the same weekend as Batman & Robin, which was expected to be a box-office juggernaut. Apparently, women who wanted to see an entertainment that wasn’t all chase scenes and explosions flocked to the Sony film, giving it the biggest opening ever for a romantic comedy, with a $21.5 million debut.217 In Daily Variety, Andrew Hindes quoted Warner Bros. distribution president Barry Reardon as saying that the low grosses were because “My Best Friend’s Weddingtook some nice business from us.”218 Reardon predicted that Batman & Robin would eventually earn $150 million domestically and $200 million overseas. It would need to, if rumors that the actual production budget was between $150 million and $200 million, nearly twice what Warner Bros. initially reported, were correct.219

  In its second weekend, Batman & Robin faced competition from Paramount’s action film Face/Off and Disney’s animated Hercules. Face/Off won the weekend with a gross of $22.7 million, while Hercules took in $21.5 million. Box-office receipts for Batman & Robin, meanwhile, plummeted a whopping 64%—the film took in only $15.4 million, putting it in third place.220

  Warner Bros. blamed part of Batman & Robin’s domestic box-office troubles in the U.S. on a source whose power to influence public opinion had grown substantially since the release of Batman Forever—the internet. More specifically, they were irked about 25-year-old Harry Knowles, proprietor of the web’s Ain’t It Cool News. Knowles’ tell-it-like-it-is blog was deemed so powerful that Hollywood studios began passing around photos of Knowles to gatekeepers at sneak previews to keep him out. But Knowles was only one of many whose opinions were beginning to influence the all-important “buzz” studios relied on to make their films into hits. Chris Pula, Warner Bros. marketing chief, told Weekly Variety’s Rex Weiner, “Buzz is no longer two people at a cocktail party. Now anybody with a computer is a newspaper... What’s disturbing is that many times the legitimate press quotes the internet without checking sources. One guy on the internet could start enough of a stir that causes a reactionary shift in the whole marketing program.”221

  In the U.K., Batman & Robin had the second highest premiere weekend in history, behind Independence Day. With a weekend gross of $8.2 million from 593 prints playing on 720 screens, the widest release ever in Britain, the film took in 69% of the total weekend box-office. It also opened strong in Australia with $2.9 million in box-office, about 14% less than Batman Forever’s opening weekend, and made $2.3 million in Germany, with a 31% market share, 32% below the premiere of the original Batman eight years earlier.222 Its overall international box-office receipts, including Puerto Rico and Austria, were $15.2 million. Warner execs held their breath to see how it would play in its second weekend, fearing the same precipitous drop as had happened domestically. But when the figures for the second weekend came in, the film was still going strong. Its revenues dipped 49% in the U.K. and Spain, 32% in Australia, and 26% in Germany in the second week.223

  To boost its overseas performance, a new advertising campaign was devised for Japan, where Arnold Schwarzenegger made promotional appearances when the film opened on August 2.224 Schwarzenegger visited three cities in Japan, and appeared at photo ops with a Japanese baseball star and prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. The previous two Batman installments had not done well in the Japanese marketplace, but when Batman & Robin opened, it brought in $1.2 million in its first two days on 133 screens, 24% better than the premiere of Batman Forever, largely due to Schwarzenegger’s popularity in the Asian country. After the first week of August, the film raised $93 million internationally, and seemed on its way to be the 11th film of 1997 to earn more than $100 million overseas.225

  Before the film ended its run, Jeep Swenson, the hulking 6-foot, 400-pound ex-wrestler who played Bane, was dead of heart failure, attributed to years of steroid abuse. The 40-year-old former wrestler died August 18, 1997 at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Actor James Caan and wrestler Hulk Hogan gave eulogies at his funeral at Forest Lawn.226 Later, interviewed by Andy Lines of The London Mirror, Swenson’s widow, Erin, said, “He was so proud and happy when he landed his biggest-ever role in Batman & Robin.” She added that her husband, who had a 65-inch chest, began using steroids in his early 20s and could not stop. He injected them, drank them, ate them and even rubbed them into his drug-ravaged body. But when he went into the hospital and knew he was dying, he looked up at her from his hospital bed and sobbed, “Oh my God! What have I done to myself?” Erin Swenson said, “He really wanted to be a small man again...to be free of the weight and the muscle. He couldn’t take a shower properly, put on a s
hirt, or easily walk up stairs...He hated steroids and what they had done to him.” Ultimately, she said, “His lungs failed, his liver failed, his kidneys failed and then his heart failed and he was dead.”227

  After completing Batman & Robin, Joel Schumacher planned to do three lower-budgeted films, including 8 Millimeter, a thriller scripted by Andrew Kevin Walker, before returning for Batman 5. The director told Daily Variety’s Michael Fleming, “I never planned to be the summer blockbuster guy. I began small, and all of these things just started happening and before you knew it, I’m up to my neck in John Grisham and Batman films. I’m grateful for all of it, but felt, especially on Batman & Robin, that the box office had become more important than the movie. I wanted to return to filmmaking, not blockbuster-making...When you do one of those movies, there’s no gray area. Either it’s a hit or a flop. But you can be disappointed in the box office of a film like L.A. Confidential and still regard it as a superb movie. I was looking for something unique and risky. I had been a fan of Andy Kevin Walker’s writing since Seven, and this was so original and dark. I feel I’m doing this for my sanity.”228

  Speaking of Batman 5, Schumacher said, “I’d like to do one more, but I think we need to wait.” The director was obviously unhappy with the box-office performance of Batman & Robin. “I felt I disappointed a lot of older fans by being too conscious of the family aspect,” said Schumacher. “I’d gotten tens of thousands of letters from parents asking for a film their children could go to. Now, I owe the hardcore fans the Batman movie they would love me to give them.”229

  Schumacher indicated to Fleming that he’d like to scrap the idea of making a by-the-numbers film with Scarecrow and Harley Quinn as the villains. “Bob (Daly) and Terry (Semel) would like me to make another, and I have an idea of a way to go that would be far less expensive,” said Schumacher. “But this is my own idea, and they may kick me onto Barham Boulevard after they hear it.”230

  In February, just weeks before the Academy Awards telecast, Batman & Robin earned 11 Golden Raspberry “Razzie” Award nominations, more than any other film of 1997. Besides Worst Picture, it picked up two nods for Worst Supporting Actor (Chris O’Donnell and Arnold Schwarzenegger), two for Worst Supporting Actress (Alicia Silverstone and Uma Thurman), one for Worst Screen Couple (George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell), one in the new category of Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property, and nominations for Worst Director, Worst Song, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Remake or Sequel—and this in the same year that gave us Speed 2: Cruise Control and Warner Bros.’ The Postman.231

  On July 1, 1998, Judith I. Brennan of The Los Angeles Times reported that Joel Schumacher was in talks to do Batman 5 for Warner Bros., though it was unlikely filming would begin that year. Brennan reported that Kurt Russell was being approached to play the Caped Crusader. Warner Bros. and Russell refused to comment, but Schumacher said, “I can tell you I have no plans to do a Batman right now.”. “But I have received so many calls in the past few days about this, it’s amazing...This whole Batman issue is insane. It doesn’t stop.” Commenting on Batman & Robin, Schumacher said, “You know, I’m still very proud of what we did with that one, even though I took a big hit from the critics. But parents had asked me to make a Batman that little kids could enjoy, that wasn’t as dark as the others and I felt like we did. You can’t win.”232

  Two years after the release of Batman & Robin, in October 1999, Keanu Reeves was quoted in the British magazine TV Times as saying that he had signed on to appear in Batman 5. Warner Bros., however, denied that the movie was in production.233

  On April 2-4, 1999, Comics 99, a UK comic book festival, was held in Bristol, England. In February, prior to the show, the organizers asked 200 members of the Comic Creators Guild and readers of magazines produced by the companies Comics International and SFX magazines to name their top ten worst comic book movies. Topping the list was Batman & Robin, followed by Howard the Duck (1985), Spawn (1997), Judge Dredd (1995), Superman IV(1985), Dick Tracy (1990), Prince Valiant (1998), The Fat Slags (1993), The Punisher (1994) and The Fantastic Four (1993).234

  The two films Chris O’Donnell made prior to Batman & Robin—The Chamber and In Love and War—were also box office disappointments. In an interview with USA Today’s Stephen Schaefer, the actor said that three flops in a row “rattles you a bit.” “It’s a tough business,” said O’Donnell. “As much as you don’t want to pay attention to reviews, you hear about them. Everyone sees the box office results. It’s followed as closely as the standings of Major League Baseball. There are not too many jobs in this world where you’re critiqued so publicly. You’ve got to have a tough skin.”

  O’Donnell said he thought Batman & Robin was released “too early. There had been one (Batman movie) every three years, and this was after two. People weren’t ready.” He also added, “It just didn’t work as well as the previous one.” When asked if he would reprise his role of Robin, the then-29-year-old O’Donnell said, “It’s very unlikely...I’m probably too old. If I were Warner Bros., I’d have a new cast and new look and reinvent it.”235

  As the star of Batman & Robin, George Clooney publicly took responsibility for the film, saying, “I may have buried that franchise. I look at it as a bit of a black eye. I’ll take another look at it to see what I could have done. It’s a disappointing movie in a lot of ways.”236 Joel Schumacher shared the blame with him. “I’d had such a string of successes,” said the director. “You kind of think, like, wow, I’m hitting these balls out of the park every time. And I felt I was making quality films, and so I think I didn’t have passion to do Batman & Robin. I think I was paid a lot of money, and we were supporting the Warner Brothers stores, and so I felt like my job was very corporate for the first time in my life. I think it still made a fortune and stuff sold and all of that, and I blame no one else but myself—a Joel Schumacher film. The buck stops right here.” But, the director added, “There was a desire at Warner Brothers to make it more for kids. It is a satire. It is in many ways. But I think the joke’s on me.”237

  _____________________________

  1 Moore, Daniel, “A Sure Thing at the Box Office,” Daily Variety, March 5, 1997, p. 68

  2 Singer, Michael, Batman & Robin: The Making of the Movie, © 1997 Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, TN, p. 14

  3 Ibid., p. 17

  4 Ibid., p. 15

  5 Shapiro, Marc, “Knight Moves: Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman Gets Into a ‘Batman & Robin’ Frame of Mind,” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 35

  6 Fleming, Michael, “’Batman’ Sequel Sets ‘96 Shoot,” Daily Variety, Aug. 21, 1995, p. 12

  7 Shapiro, Marc, “Knight Moves: Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman Gets Into a ‘Batman & Robin’ Frame of Mind,” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 33

  8 —, “The Write Kind of Director,” Daily Variety, March 5, 1997, p. 42

  9 Ibid.

  10 Shapiro, Marc, “Knight Moves: Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman Gets Into a ‘Batman & Robin’ Frame of Mind,” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 32-33

  11 Fleming, Michael, “’Batman’ Sequel Sets ‘96 Shoot,” Daily Variety, Aug. 21, 1995, p. 1

  12 Singer, Michael, Batman & Robin: The Making of the Movie, © 1997 Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, TN, p. 11

  13 Shapiro, Marc, “Knight Moves: Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman Gets Into a ‘Batman & Robin’ Frame of Mind,” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 33

  14 Singer, Michael, Batman & Robin: The Making of the Movie, © 1997 Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, TN, p. 15

  15 Ibid., p. 15-16

  16 Shapiro, Marc, “Batman & Robin: Is This the End of the Dynamic Duo? Of Course Not!” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 30

  17 Singer, Michael, Batman & Robin: The Making of the Movie, © 1997 Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, TN, p. 17

  18 Ibid.

  19 Goldsman, Akiva, “Batman & Robin Screenplay,”
© Warner Bros. 1986

  20Shapiro, Marc, “Knight Moves: Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman Gets Into a ‘Batman & Robin’ Frame of Mind,” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 34

  21 Shapiro, Marc, “Batman & Robin: Is This the End of the Dynamic Duo? Of Course Not!” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 29

  22 Shapiro, Marc, “Knight Moves: Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman Gets Into a ‘Batman & Robin’ Frame of Mind,” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 34

  23 Fleming, Michael, “’Batman’ Sequel Sets ‘96 Shoot,” Daily Variety, Aug. 21, 1995, p. 12

  24 Fleming, Michael, “In Earnest, Roberts Eyes Hemingway Romance Next,” Weekly Variety, Oct. 16, 1995, p. 4

  25 Shapiro, Marc, “Knight Moves: Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman Gets Into a ‘Batman & Robin’ Frame of Mind,” Starlog Presents Batman & Other Comic Heroes, 1997, p. 34-35

  26 Singer, Michael, Batman & Robin: The Making of the Movie, © 1997 Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, TN, p. 18

  27 Ibid., p. 46

  28 Ibid., p. 19

  29 Fleming, Michael and Anita M. Busch, “Clooney May Bat For Kilmer: Caped Vacillator Might Follow Keaton Out of ‘Batman’ Series,” Daily Variety, Feb. 14, 1996, p. 34

  30 —, “Kilmer Inks With Par for ‘Saint,’” Daily Variety, Nov. 16, 1995, p. 33

  31 Hochman, Steve, “Entering the Sainthood: Val Kilmer Takes Off the Mask of Batman and Reveals Seven Characters, Plus That of Simon Templar Himself, in the Movie ‘The Saint.’ It Was a Choice Between Security or Fun,” The Los Angeles Times Calendar, Apr. 3, 1997, p. 6:1

  32 Hochman, Steve, “Entering the Sainthood: Val Kilmer Takes Off the Mask of Batman and Reveals Seven Characters, Plus That of Simon Templar Himself, in the Movie ‘The Saint.’ It Was a Choice Between Security or Fun,” The Los Angeles Times Calendar, Apr. 3, 1997, p. 6:1