Iconic genre filmmaker Joe Dante is currently promoting his Scream Factory and Shout Factory TV takeover entitled “Joe Dante’s Film Inferno.” Taking place on September 3 on Screamfactorytv.com at 3pm ET, during the “Inferno,” the legendary director of ’80s classics like “Gremlins,” “Explorers,” and many more, will introduce and guide you through seven underrated classic feature films from the Shout Factory/Scream Factory catalog, including films like Roger Corman’s “Attack of the Crab Monsters,” William Castle’s “House on Haunted Hill,” and more.
In an episode of The Discourse, we have a great tour through so much of Dante’s classic filmmaking career, speaking to the filmmaker himself. For now, we wanted to highlight a tremendous cinematic “What if?” story that many people may have forgotten. In short, Dante was set to direct Warner Bros. “Batman” before Tim Burton, thanks to the success of “Gremlins,” but he ultimately walked away from the project, which had the studio thinking he was literally insane.
READ MORE: Joe Dante Says Baby Yoda, “Shamelessly… Out-And-Out Copied” ‘Gremlins’
“Batman was something they offered me after ‘Gremlins’ became a big hit,” Dante explained. “And I met Bob Kane and there was a script by Tom Mankiewicz (“Superman II,” “Live and Let Die”), which is not the one that was eventually made. And I think Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters”) was going to do it and didn’t for whatever reason. It was super James Bond-y, sort of.”
Dante also revealed an old story possibly forgotten in time. He wanted to cast Jon Lithgow as the Joker; however, he soon realized he was so into that idea that it overshadowed his enthusiasm for Batman himself, and he insisted he couldn’t make it.
“My problem was that I was excited to do it because of The Joker,” Dante shared. “And I had met Jon Lithgow when I was doing ‘The Twilight Zone‘ because he was in George Miller’s episode, which I directed some of. And I thought, ‘He’d be a great Joker!’ And I was all excited about doing this movie because of the Joker. And I woke up in the middle of the night one night, and I realized, ‘I can’t do this movie, I’m the wrong person.’ The guy who makes this movie can’t be doing it because of the Joker; he has to believe in Batman. And I don’t believe in Batman. I don’t believe he lives up in the house with that kid.”
Suffice it to say, Warner Bros. was absolutely stunned at his decision and that he was tossing away what they saw as a huge career opportunity. “So, I went to [Warner Bros.] and told them I didn’t think I could do it, and I think they almost had me committed,” he said.
It’s a terrific conversation, and you can listen to the entire thing below. More from this conversation soon.