Batman Forever: a darker, 170 minute cut of the film was put together

Joel Schumacher had assembled a darker version of 1995’s Batman Forever, and more details of the alternate version have now emerged. For a good number of years, rumours had abounded that there was a very different cut of 1995’s Batman Forever than the bright and glossy one that made it into cinemas. That director Joel Schumacher, who we sadly lost a couple of weeks back, had put together a near-three hour version of the film. The story came back to prominence last week when writer Marc Bernardin – of Star Trek: Picard and Castle Rock fame – Tweeted the following…

I have it on VERY good authority that a 170-minute cut of Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever exists. Warner Bros. is unsure if there’s any hunger for what was described to me as a “much darker, more serious” version. So, should WB #ReleaseThe20000Cut?

— Thiccolas Cage (@marcbernardin) July 2, 2020

Now, Variety has gone one step further, and managed to confirm with Warner Bros that the story is pretty much correct. That a version of the film was constructed with far more emphasis on Val Kilmer’s Bruce Wayne deciding to become Val Kilmer’s Batman, “including a sequence of Wayne facing down a giant, human-sized bat”. Crikey. Further footage that we never got to see included Jim Carrey’s Riddler’s extended invasion of the Batcave, and an opening where Tommy Lee Jones’ Harvey Two-Face cannot sanction the buffoonery of Arkham Asylum and thus stages a breakout. The question marks now are whether the footage that Schumacher originally assembled still exists, and whether Warner Bros wants to try and get all this together. It told Variety that there “are no discussions” about putting a longer cut of the film out, and it’s likely to take a great deal of fan clamour to change its mind. Anyone up for ‘release the Schumacher cut’? Variety ———— Thank you for visiting! If you’d like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Become a Patron here. Sign up for our email newsletter here. Follow Film Stories on Twitter here, and on Facebook here. Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazines here.