Batman Forever Writer On “The Schumacher Cut” We Will Never See As The Film Turns 30
For the last ten years – give or take – rumblings of an extended directors cut of 1995’s Batman Forever have been on the lips of fans across the globe and during the pandemic, as Zack Snyder got to finish his Justice League film, word came down that there was indeed a longer cut of the film and that is did exist.
Since then, secret screenings (one by Kevin Smith) have happened across the pond, and it was even set to be screened last month to celebrate its 30th anniversary, but the people who were going to screen it got served cease and desist notices.
But the version DOES indeed exist and, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter recently, one of the film’s writers, Akiva Goldsman, who also wrote 1997’s ill-fated Batman & Robin, spoke again about trying to get the film out there for fans, but it seems the momentum has gone and it may never see the light of day.
“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,” said Goldsman.
Indeed, some of the footage has made it into the public domain, with some deleted scenes now part of any Batman Forever physical media release, first seen on the 2005 Collector’s Editions that were issued. In it, giant bats and red diaries were used to explore Bruce Wayne’s psyche and mould the “Schumacher Cut”. Goldsman added:
“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.”
Released in 1995, Batman Forever starred Val Kilmer as The Dark Knight as well as Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnell, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Debi Mazar and Drew Barrymore and helped revitalise the series with a huge $336milion worldwide gross. Batman & Robin followed two years later but disappointed at the box office and was savaged by critics, with 2005’s Batman Begins rebooting the franchise. The rest is history.
Whether we ever see the “The Schumacher Cut” of Batman Forever remains to be seen, and with fans now gunning more for The Batman Part II from Matt Reeves, and a The Brave & The Bold film still in development, perhaps they have moved on. But we bet people would watch the alternate version if it appeared on Netflix, Prime Video or HBO Max one day.
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