Batman Forever Screenwriter Still Hoping for Schumacher Version to Come Out

Akiva Goldsman has not given up hope that the “Schumacher Cut” of Batman Forever could still see the light of day. During the producers’ panel on production at San Diego Comic-Con (via Gizmodo), Goldsman spoke about the director’s cut of Joel Schumacher’s film, revealing that at one point, Warner Bros. considered bringing the Schumacher version to life – and he hopes that with the new DC Studios, it could still happen.

“Yes, it exists. There’s a preview called Preview One. Most of the stuff that’s out there is pieced together,” Goldsman said. “There’s not much that people haven’t seen that you couldn’t put together. I talked to Warner (Bros). This was an administration ago. My fantasy was to try to resurrect (Batman Forever) as a kind of celebration with Joel after his death.”

Goldsman went on to explain that the director’s cut was darker than the one that eventually made it to theaters and leaned more heavily on psychological aspects, and that to get it ready for release it would take “about a million dollars” to restore.

“There are visual effects that need to be completed,” he said. “There’s also music that needs to be reworked or rewritten. It cost about a million dollars. They were about to do it, and then Warner got sold again. It’s a whole different DC. Once the new DC world moves forward, I’m going to bat my eyelashes with everybody again and see if we can answer that question.”

What is Schumacher’s haircut? Batman Forever?

The Schumacher Cup Batman Forever is a version of the somewhat legendary director of Batman Forever The film is said to be very different from what was released in theaters, with a darker tone and a runtime that is 50 minutes longer than the film version. The film is said to feature several elements cut from the film version, including a scene in which Bruce Wayne, played by Val Kilmer, comes face to face with a giant humanoid bat.

The first film following Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, Batman Forever The film starred Val Kilmer as Batman, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face/Harvey Dent, Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian, and Chris O’Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin. Released in 1995, the film was a box office success, but did not exactly impress critics at the time.