I grew up watching Tim Burton's first two Batman movies. Obsessed, I was continuously rewatching them. My fandom stopped once "Batman Forever" happened, but even more so "Batman & Robin," the latter of which was met with a resounding "WTF?" by audiences worldwide. I mean, it's one thing changing Tim Burton for Joel Schumacher as the director, but replacing Michael Keaton with Val Kilmer, and then George Clooney, as Batman was the final straw for me. I wouldn't be a fan again until Christopher Nolan took over in 2005 with his great trilogy of films. Schumacher's films left a very bitter taste in my mouth.
Schumacher spoke to Vice, in what seemed to be a very therapeutic interview for the director, about the catastrophe that was "Batman & Robin." In fact, he actually apologized for the movie. It certainly did damage his career, he was once a much sought after filmmaker that had a streak of box-office hits (St. Elmo's Fire, A Time to Kill, The Client, Falling Down, The Lost Boys). I do appreciate what he did in 2002 with "Phone Booth," but, other than that Collin Farrel starring flick, the last 20 years have been grim for Schumacher.
The whole Vice interview is fascinating stuff, click on the link below, but the quote that will stir up talk is when, at some point, he says this:
"And then after Batman & Robin, I was scum. It was like I had murdered a baby ... Look, I apologize, I want to apologize to every fan that was disappointed because I think I owe them that."
Now, we come to the film's star George Clooney, who hasn't been shy in his lack of support for "Batman and Robin:"
“With hindsight, it’s easy to look back and go ‘Whoa, that was really shit and I was really bad in it.’ In a weird way, I was. Batman is still the biggest break I ever had and it completely changed my career, even if it was weak and I was weak in it. It was a difficult film to be good in. I don’t know what I could have done differently.”
Now he's telling THR that it was actually a positive wakeup call for him:
It’s really easy to pick: Batman & Robin. That’s not a joke. Up until that moment, I was an actor only concerned with finding work. After the failure of that film creatively, I understood that I needed to take control of the films I made, not just the role. My next three films were Out of Sight, Three Kings and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
[THR]