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Batman Forever’s extended director’s cut would be an easy success for Warner Bros

By Christopher Bohorquez

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: A Riddler costume from the 1995 Batman Forever film worn by Jim Carrey and designed by Rob Ringwood and Mary Vogt is on display at the DC Comics Exhibition: Dawn Of Super Heroes at the O2 Arena on February 22, 2018 in London, England. The exhibition, which opens on February 23rd, features 45 original costumes, models and props used in DC Comics productions including the Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman films. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: A Riddler costume from the 1995 Batman Forever film worn by Jim Carrey and designed by Rob Ringwood and Mary Vogt is on display at the DC Comics Exhibition: Dawn Of Super Heroes at the O2 Arena on February 22, 2018 in London, England. The exhibition, which opens on February 23rd, features 45 original costumes, models and props used in DC Comics productions including the Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman films. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) /
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Batman Forever has seen a good amount of reappraisal over the last couple of years, with many claiming it’s one of the best films in the Bat-quadrilogy.

Joel Schumacher’s first Batman film starring Val Kilmer released in 1995 to financial success. This film was brighter and campier than Tim Burton’s previous two films, Batman and Batman Returns, but not as excessive as Batman and Robin.

The extravagant production design in both of Schumacher’s Batman films made them some of the most visually distinctive films of the time.

While fans of this film already enjoy the theatrical version, apparently Schumacher put together a 170-minute cut that’s much more serious. Scenes in the longer cut include Two-Face’s escape from Arkham Asylum, extended Riddler scenes, and sequences exploring Bruce’s psychological issues (which features a scene of him facing off with a giant bat). There are many good reasons to release this cut, but when it comes down to it, it would be an easy success for WarnerMedia.

Unlike Justice League, which was a disaster and is still getting a director’s cut, Batman Forever has already been very profitable for Warner Bros. The film made $336 million worldwide on a $100 million budget and ended up being the highest-grossing film in the US that year. It has undoubtedly made even more since then via merchandise, home media sales, TV rights, etc.

So the studio’s investment into the extended edition probably wouldn’t be that much, as the film has already seen its success. Marc Bernadin on Fatman Beyond said that finishing this extended cut would require way fewer resources than Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

On July 27, fans got #ReleasetheSchumacherCut to trend on Twitter, with over 13.3k tweets demanding the extended cut. That type of fervor demonstrates that the fan interest is most definitely there.

HBO Max’s library is impressive, but it could definitely could use more exclusive content to entice consumers. The Snyder Cut is definitely a start, but more never before seen extended cuts of films like Batman Forever would definitely make HBO Max stand out. There’s also the fact that AT&T is in heavy debt and invested a lot into this streaming service, so the more exclusive content the better.

DC is embracing their multiverse with multiple Batmans in play, so why not advertise this cut as a must-see Elseworlds event? It would be an amazing way to get fans to visit that version of Batman one last time to honor Schumacher’s legacy.

Whether people like it or not, CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths and the impending release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League has opened up the floodgates of possibilities when it comes to DC media. A neat and tidy cinematic universe like the MCU has been thrown out the window in favor of an infinite multiverse. Schumacher’s Batman films can be considered just another universe.

Fans have been given hope of news surrounding Batman Forever since Val Kilmer himself will be a part of the DC Fandome. It will take time and resources to restore old footage from a film shot in the ’90s, but all of the above reasons would make it an easy success for WB/DC.

Next. All 11 Batman actors ranked from worst to best. dark

Would you like to see the Schumacher cut of Batman Forever released? Let us know in the comments below!

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