Fans have rallied on social media for the release of the late Joel Schumacher’s original cut of Batman Forever. Released in the summer of 1995, Batman Forever marked a move into lighter territory for the Batman movie franchise after the backlash to the grimness of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns in 1992. With Batman Forever, Warner Bros. and Schumacher gave the series a noticeable makeover from where it began under Burton’s direction.

The movie recast Michael Keaton (who will return as his version of Batman in The Flash) with Val Kilmer, and brought in Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey as Two-Face and The Riddler, the latter injecting a great deal of humor into the film as the biggest comedic star in the world throughout the ’90s and into the early ‘2000s. The movie also introduced Dick Grayson as Robin, played by Chris O’Donnell, and returned its thematic focus to the guilt Bruce Wayne’s long held over the murder of his parents. Batman Forever became one of the biggest hits of 1995, but that wouldn’t be the end of its story.

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On the 26th anniversary of the film’s release, fans have trended the hashtag #ReleaseTheSchumacherCut on Twitter, receiving in excess of 17,000 tweets, according to the Twitter account RTSchumacherCut. Obviously, the hashtag itself is a play on the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut hashtag used in the push for Zack Snyder’s original version of Justice League. Those efforts eventually paid off, with the Snyder Cut’s release announced on May 20th, 2020 and the movie arriving on HBO Max and international streamers on March 18th of this year. When it comes to the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever, there is a fair amount of information known about it.

Schumacher’s original version is ostensibly about 50 minutes longer, and includes scenes such as Bruce Wayne coming face-to-face with a six-foot bat. While Batman Forever was always intended to be lighter in tone than Batman Returns had been, the transition between the two is also said to have been much less jarring in Schumacher’s original cut. More information has also come from screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. In an interview earlier this year at the Austin Film Festival, Goldsman commented on having recently seen Schumacher’s original version (referred to as “Preview Cut One,” per Goldsman), commenting that he felt the film “sort of still has a renaissance coming” and also stated “I’m really interested to see whether the original cut of Batman Forever comes out.”

While not an outright confirmation of the Schumacher Cut having any impending release on the cards, Goldsman’s comments and specific anticipation of a “renaissance” for Batman Forever might indicate some wheels may already be turning for it. Only time will tell if that’s the case, but Goldsman’s comments will surely be intriguing to Schumacher Cut advocates. With growing support for the Schumacher Cut’s release, and the supportive comments made by Goldsman, the ball is in Warner Bros. court on whether to proceed with it. While no official release plans have been announced for the Schumacher Cut of Batman Forever, when it comes to unseen director’s cuts in a post-Snyder Cut world, all bets are off.

Source: RTSchumacherCut

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Brad Curran
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Growing up, Brad developed an innate love of movies and storytelling, and was instantly enamored with the world of adventure while following the exploits of Indiana Jones, Japanese kaiju, and superheroes. Today, Brad channels his thoughts on all manner of movies, from comic book films, sci-fi thrillers, comedies, and everything in between through his writings on Screen Rant. Brad also offers philosophical musings on martial arts and the filmographies of everyone from Jackie Chan to Donnie Yen on Kung Fu Kingdom, where he’s also had the privilege of interviewing many of the world’s great stunt professionals, and hearing plenty of gripping stories on injuries incurred in their line of work and the intricacies of designing the acts of death defiance he first thrilled to as a youngster. When he’s not writing, Brad enjoys going on a ride with the latest action hit or Netflix original, though he’s also known to just pop in “The Room” from time to time. Follow Brad on Twitter @BradCurran.

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