On a Wing and a Prayer

When Schumacher arrived for the big meeting, Daly and Semel said, more or less, "We'd like to offer you the corporation's biggest asset." There can't be more than a handful of directors who've ever heard those words.

"I thought they were kidding,'" said Schumacher. "So I said, 'You're going to offer me Mel Gibson, and I'm going to rent him out as a gynecologist in Beverly Hills and make a fortune.''' When the laughter subsided. Schumacher said yes, he'd like the assignment, but he'd only take it if Tim Burton (director of the first and second Batman), who didn't want to do another one, wanted Joel to do it.

Why such allegiance to Burton?

"Tim is a friend of mine. He hung out on the set of The Lost Boys, and afterwards, when he directed Beetlejuice, he hired some of my production people. I went to see him and he said he'd really like me to do it. So I started to get excited thinking about how much fun it would be to make a comic book movie. As a former costume designer and set decorator, I was looking forward to flexing those muscles again and creating this world of Gotham City.''

Then the Michael Keaton problem arose. The industry scuttlebutt had Keaton asking for untold millions to do the third installment, and the studio balked. What exactly happened with the actor who'd played Batman in the original and the sequel?

"Do you want the studio version?" asks Schumacher.

"I'd rather have your version," I say.

"Well. I must be elegant about this." says Schumacher.

"Oh, c'mon Joel. Let your hair down."

"We must remain elegant." Schumacher obviously has some strong feelings about the Keaton situation, but he will only smile impishly and say. "The studio and I wanted to go one way, and Michael wanted to go his way, and we wished him well, and we continue to wish him well." Yeah, sure.

Though Schumacher wouldn't say so, he gave me the impression that he was not all that unhappy with Keaton's departure. And certainly, he sounds enthusiastic about landing Val Kilmer instead --though what choice does he have, since he asked for Kilmer? Although Schumacher's pointed insistence on remaining "elegant" about the kissing-off of Keaton tips me that there'll be no use in bringing up the stories I've heard that Kilmer and his director aren't always, strictly speaking, on speaking terms, I cannot help but ask whether it's true that Kilmer's had considerable trouble adjusting to life in the Batsuit--that at one point, he had to have an emergency massage to alleviate the physical pain it inflicted on him.

"Oh, sure. It's like wearing a suit of armor. It's heavy rubber, you can't breathe in it, but he looks fabulous," replies Schumacher. "Have you seen him? And, you know, watching Val running around in his black cape got me thinking about The Phantom of the Opera. I was supposed to direct [the film version], and Andrew Lloyd Webber and I prepped it all. but then [because of Webber's divorce and the resulting settlement] it fell apart. So. now when I see the dark wet streets, and smoke coming up and Val in the cape, I can hear the opening notes to The Phantom of the Opera--da da da da da da da da da--and I think, I got to make Phantom after all And maybe this is a better Phantom for me, because I'm a pop culture sponge, and you can't get more pop culture spongy than doing a comic book."

"Speaking of Phantom and Lloyd Webber, I say, "There's been some hot gossip that Tom Cruise may do the film version of the composer's stage hit Sunset Boulevard, opposite Glenn Close, and that Lloyd Webber thinks you're the perfect director for the job."

"This is the first I've heard about it." he says, "but I'm sure my name has come up often with Andrew's projects. We've remained friends, and it is our intention to do something together."

"Did you see the musical?" I ask. "Would you be interested in the film version?"

"Yes, I was at opening night in L.A. but, since Billy Wilder's almost my favorite director," he says, picking his words carefully, "it's tough to see the show as a movie. I'd have to see it again."

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