Batman & Robin (1997), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and Chris O’Donnell, nearly put the DC Comics Batman franchise into the ground for good. Joel Schumacher had just rolled off of the extremely successful Batman Forever (1995), but somehow managed to put together what’s arguably the worst Batman movie ever made. On IMDb, Batman & Robin is rated by users at 3.6 out of 10, by far the lowest of all the live action films by Tim Burton, Schumacher, Christopher Nolan, and even the Batman (1966) movie based on the campy TV series.
So what went wrong?
In The Making of Batman & Robin (1997) video I spotted at GeekTyrant, the cast and crew, including Schumacher, posit why. And, believe it or not, one of the reasons Schumacher and others highlight were the toys. (You can still find Batman & Robin action figures from Kenner on eBay.) Apparently, merchandising was one of the driving factors in making this movie so close on the heels of Forever, and there was pressure by the studio and toy companies to make the film “toyetic” – although I wonder how nipples and codpieces on the Batsuits fit into that request.
Of course, there were many other factors that contributed to how the movie turned out, as Schumacher and the others admit. This look at the movie production from the people in front of and behind the cameras is really fascinating. Enjoy!