Keaton - Got out because the script "sucked"

[huedell]

People ages 5 to 12 LOVED B&R - my kids included. It had lots of heroes lots of bad guys lots of color lots of action. - The didn't care about plot and dialogue.

Which is IMHO is a good indicator not to make it into a movie... that seems like a recipe for a Saturday morning cartoon.

Am I in the minority of people that walked out of Batman'89 feeling a little deflated? It had such a buildup and I felt like the end result was just really indulgent Burtonism. It really showed through when the comics tried to Burtonize things after the movie and you saw just how little the film really had to do with the comic.

I think there is some wisdom in this assessment.

One of the reasons I think Returns is so much better than the hollow Forever is that it smacks of what was only hinted at in the original '89 movie (as far as Burton/Keaton's stylistic take on the franchise)...

That said: Burton's Batman had a creepiness and a warped view on the franchise that, although I latched onto it, never really felt right to begin with, other than the stoic (borderline callous) heroicness of Batman himself... I had grown up from desiring to see a West rehash on the big screen (apparently, just like most other people).

[Spyweb007]

Val Kilmer got some of the most "heroic" Batman moments though, from crashing through the skylight and taking out a half dozen goons to jumping off the roof to pursue Two Face. I liked the Keaton Batman movies a lot at the time, but re-watching them now I was surprised at how slow the first one is and the lack of action as well.

[hedrap]

Hot off Tombstone, Kurt Russel turned down Batman 3. Jon Peters asked about Val, Kurt said he was a good choice. Val asked Kurt if he should take it, Kurt said yeah. Afterwards, Kurt apologized and said he was told Schumacher was working in the vein of Falling Down and Flatliners.

Take that with Keaton, and you can see what happened. Keaton wanted a lot of changes, Peters was sold the audience wanted '66, but nobody wanted to sign on for that camp. So Peters started bs'ing actors until one bit.

In the early scripts, you can see a Flatliners surreal visual element which was dropped. I'm guessing Carey had a lot to do with the tonal change. That guy had nuclear heat and gets all the credit for Forever's box office.

[Earth 2 Chris]

The deleted scene of Bruce confronting his fears in the Batcave with the giant bat would have made the tone of the film change quite a bit. The bat was seen in Seal's music video and some trailers, I believe. In many ways it's similar to the "Bat monster" we see in BvS....but to me makes more sense.

Wasn't Russell's name thrown around for Batman 5, after B&R, back when Schumacher was still attached and promised to "go dark"?

Chris

[hedrap]

^Yeah, Kurt's been a WB pick since before Burton/Keaton. He was up for Bat5 with Goldblum as Scarecrow, but Schumacher was still director so he said no and that killed it.

Aronofsky wanted him for Gordon in his Batman Year One. They approached him again for Justice League, but he opted for Guardians2 or Fast/Furious...I think he wanted to do a Dark Knight Returns ala Eastwood and Unforgiven, but the Affleck stuff might have killed the timing.