12 Directors Who Admitted They Ruined Their Own Movies
6. Joel Schumacher Took The Blame For Batman And Robin
More than 20 years later, Batman and Robin is now mostly remembered as a cringe-fest of a movie. Even the 1960s Adam West scampy Batman is more bearable to watch. Director Joel Schumacher singlehandedly turned the caped crusader into a laughingstock with bat-ice-skates, bat credit card, and the awful bat nipples.
According to Schumacher, part of the problem was overconfidence. After finding success with previous films, the director was sure he would strike another home-run with the sequel to Batman Forever. He said in an interview:
"Maybe it was some hubris on my part. I had a batting average of 1,000, so I went from falling down a bit after Lost Boys, to a kind of a genius with The Client, a big blockbuster with Batman Forever, then had great reviews with A Time to Kill, so my batting average was good."
He also found difficulties after Val Kilmer refused to reprise his role in the movie because he had other commitments. Looking back, however, he owned up to his missteps and said that every decision behind everything we hate about the movie was his and no one ever forced him to make a decision he didn't want to make.