It’s hard to believe, but Joel Schumacher‘s “Batman Forever” came out 28 years ago. And while it’s often overlooked today for Tim Burton‘s two films, Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight” trilogy, or even Matt Reeves‘ “The Batman,” Schumacher’s film was an event upon release. Four live-action Bruce Waynes later, it’s easy to forget how big “Batman Forever” was at the time of its release. There’s Jim Carrey in his comedic prime, Seal‘s “Kiss From A Rose,” and the film’s inescapable marketing. Yup, in June 1995, “Batman Forever” was everywhere. But according to one of its writers, Akiva Goldsman, it was almost a very different film.
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In The Playlist’s upcoming interview with Goldsman, the screenwriter/director spoke about how he came to work on “Batman Forever,” and how much the film changed from development to production. So what was the biggest change Goldsman witnessed? Well, Robin Williams was going to play Edward Nygma/The Riddler before Carrey landed the role. “When I came in [to ‘Batman Forever’], no one had been cast yet, and it was still going to be Michael [Keaton],” said Goldsman. “I think I was arm’s length from it. I wasn’t a producer yet…I didn’t understand quite how it worked. I didn’t have the same access I do now that I’m old. I think that Val [Kilmer] wasn’t cast or just was, and Robin Williams was still attached.”
Schumacher wanted Goldsman to meet with Williams to brainstorm about the villain, and the results were incredible. “I remember sort of this extraordinary day where Joel [Schumacher] sent me to San Francisco, and I spent the day in Robin’s kitchen and him just talking about the Riddler,” Goldsman continued. “And he was like, genius is not the right word. It was as if he like he had opened up his head and the universe would just talk into it. It was so beautiful and so kind. And I remember when I got home, he had left a message on my answering machine…my then-girlfriend, kept playing it over and over again.” Williams was coming off of “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Being Human” at the time, arguably about to enter his prime with “Jumanji,” “The Bird Cage,” and “Good Will Hunting” in the coming years. So it’s not hard to imagine Williams having some brilliant ideas about how to play The Riddler.
But why didn’t Williams stay on as Nygma? “Ultimately, he and Joel didn’t see eye to eye,” explained Goldsman. “Jim [Carrey] came on. Jim was amazing. Tommy Lee [Jones] had worked with Joel & I in “The Client.” And off we went. And it was fun and funny and extraordinary.” Goldsman had ideas for other Batman movies at the time, but superhero films didn’t have the same cultural cache back then that they do now. “And, probably even then, I was very much sort of like, ‘You know, they should just make “The Dark Knight Returns” with Clint Eastwood. He’s on the lot!’ But, as comic book fans, we were behind – Hollywood had not caught up at all.”
Nonetheless, Goldsman remains proud of “Batman Forever,” and think it’s slept on today a solid Batman film. And he also thinks Schumacher did a solid job replacing Burton and his vision of the Caped Crusader. “And so, even though Tim [Burton]’s “Batman” and “Batman Returns,” “I think they were truer to the source or at least a version of the source – It just scared everybody,” explained Goldsman. “And so they went to Joel because Joel sort of thought of Batman as the [60’s] show. It was kind of colorful and sort of big and sort of hyper-real. And I think [Batman] Forever kind of ended up walking a tightrope well enough.”
But the question remains: will Warner Bros. ever release Schumacher’s director’s cut of “Batman Forever”? That’s for another story down the line, but Goldsman stands by Schumacher’s vision of The Dark Knight.
