BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)

BATMAN & ROBIN (1997) is the fourth and final installment of the four “Burton/Schumacher” summer blockbuster Batman films of the late 1980s and 1990s from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was preceded by BATMAN FOREVER in 1995.

It starred George Clooney as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze, Michael Gough as Alfred, Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon, Chris O’Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin, Uma Thurman as Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. It was directed by Joel Schumacher; screenplay and story by Akiva Goldsman; and, it was produced by Peter MacGregor-Scott. It was released on June 12, 1997.

BATMAN & ROBIN grossed $238.2 million worldwide and was the #12 film at the box office in 1997.

George Clooney as Batman in BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)

The plot– which is essentially a beat-by-beat copy of BATMAN FOREVER, albeit it much sillier — consists of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl saving Gotham City from the villainous team of Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy

After the success of their soft reboot of the Batman film series with BATMAN FOREVER, Warner Bros. quickly moved forward with a sequel.  Val Kilmer — who battled with director Joel Schumacher during the filming of FOREVER, was let out of his contract and replaced by then TV star George Clooney.

What was planned to be an updated take on the classic 1960s BATMAN TV series starring Adam West, BATMAN & ROBIN turned out to be a silly, campy, and ridiculously bad take on Batman that lacked the wit and charm of the 60s TV show.  It was a huge disappointment at the box office and for Warner Bros.

As a result, an already in development sequel — titled BATMAN UNCHAINED (and wrongly called BATMAN TRIUMPHANT for years) was canned, and the Batman film franchise would lay dormant for eight long years.