| Name | Joel Schumacher |
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| Imagesize | 200px |
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| Caption | Schumacher in Taormina during the Taormina Film Fest in 2003, for the Italian premiere of Phone Booth |
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| Birth date | August 29, 1939 |
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| Birth place | New York City, United States |
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| Birth name | Joel T. Schumacher |
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| Occupation | Director, screenwriter, producer |
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| Years active | 1972–present |
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Joel T. Schumacher (born August 29, 1939) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.
Early life
Schumacher was born in New York City, the son of Marian (née Kantor) and Francis Schumacher. His mother was a
Swedish Jew, and his father was a
Baptist from
Knoxville, Tennessee who died when Joel was four years old. Schumacher studied at
Parsons The New School for Design and The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. After first working in the fashion industry, he realized his true love was in filmmaking. He moved out to Los Angeles, where he began his media work as a costume designer in films such as
Sleeper and developed his skills with television work while earning an MFA from
UCLA. He wrote the screenplay for the 1976 low-budget hit movie
Car Wash and a number of other minor successes. He also wrote 1978's
The Wiz, an adaptation of the stage play of the same name. His film directorial debut was
The Incredible Shrinking Woman in 1981, which starred
Lily Tomlin, and he quickly made more successful films, including two "
brat pack" works.
Career
The Brat Pack
St. Elmo's Fire and
The Lost Boys, considered to be archetypal movies of the 1980s, were two of Schumacher's biggest hits. Their style impressed audiences and their financial success allowed studios to trust him with ever larger projects. He states in the director's commentary for
St. Elmo's Fire that he resents the "Brat Pack" label, as he feels it misrepresents the group. This is mentioned several times.
John Grisham
Schumacher has also directed two adaptations of the books of
John Grisham,
The Client (1994) and
A Time to Kill (1996), the latter as the personal choice of Grisham.
Batman
Schumacher would later replace
Tim Burton as the director of the
Batman film franchise. After Burton's second film in the franchise,
Batman Returns (1992), proved to be too
controversial for
Warner Bros. to market (due to critics and parental groups complaining that the film was too dark and violent for children), the studio wanted the next film to be more family-friendly and mainstream. Schumacher had a reputation with studios for making hit films with a relatively small budget. His work on
The Lost Boys (1987) and
Flatliners (1990) showed Warner Bros. that he was capable of creating his own visual style. In addition, his controversial hit
Falling Down (1993) showed that he could handle darker material.
He directed Batman Forever (1995), starring Val Kilmer as the Caped Crusader (replacing Michael Keaton, who was Batman in the first two films), which was a major commercial success despite receiving mixed reviews. He later directed Batman & Robin (1997), starring George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell as Robin, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Robert Swenson as Bane which was a critical disaster, and remains the least financially successful Batman film. The film prompted Warner Bros. to place the series of movies on hiatus, canceling the next Batman movie Batman Triumphant (after eight years, Batman Begins was released, in a comprehensive reboot of the franchise, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as Batman).
Batman & Robin had a detrimental effect on Schumacher's reputation, forcing him to take on less ambitious projects. On the DVD commentary, Schumacher has admitted that his movie disappointed fans of darker Batman adaptations, saying that the film was made intentionally marketable (or "toyetic") and kid-friendly. He claims to have been under heavy pressure from the studio to do so; however, he admits full responsibility and, at one point, apologizes to any fans who were disappointed. Schumacher, however, is a devoted Batman fan himself and actually would have personally preferred an adaptation of the comic .
Many fans have complained about the "artistic license" Schumacher took with the Batman franchise. The tone of the films became far more camp (akin to the 1960s live-action TV series starring Adam West) under Schumacher's direction and overt sexual elements began to rear their head. One of the more persistent complaints was Schumacher's stylistic approach in putting nipples on the Batsuit, which Schumacher would later claim was inspired by statues of the Greek gods. Others included shots focusing on Batman and Robin's buttocks while suiting up and a Gotham City filled with giant stone statues of nude men (one memorable fight with Mr. Freeze takes place across one). He dismissed these issues in the 2005 special edition DVD of Batman Forever, saying that these people should "get out more."
He served as the director for the music videos, "Kiss from a Rose", by Seal, and "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", by The Smashing Pumpkins (co-directed with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris). These songs appeared in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, respectively.
Since 1998, Schumacher has said he is interested in re-editing Batman Forever to make it closer to as it was originally conceived.
Post-Batman career
Following
Batman & Robin, Schumacher went on to direct lower budget films (stepping down from US$100 million budget films) like
8MM with
Nicolas Cage, and
Flawless with
Robert De Niro. Neither were big hits, and reviews were mostly negative. In 1999, Schumacher also directed the music video for "
Letting the Cables Sleep" by English rock band
Bush. In 2000, Schumacher directed the
Vietnam-era
boot camp drama
Tigerland, which introduced Hollywood to a young
Colin Farrell. Kirk Honeycutt of
The Hollywood Reporter praised the film as such: "
Tigerland lands squarely in the top tier of best movies about America's Vietnam experience."
Schumacher returned to big-budget Hollywood with Bad Company starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. The film was originally slated to be released in November 2001 but because of the September 11 attacks, it was pushed back to the summer of 2002 because of its theme about terrorist attacks in New York City. The film was panned by most critics and was a box office failure. In 2003, he released the controversial Phone Booth, which reteamed Schumacher with Farrell. The film was also delayed months further due to the Beltway sniper attacks. It received generally positive reviews, earning a 71 percent "Fresh" rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Schumacher directed a film version of the musical The Phantom of the Opera in 2004. The film earned mixed reviews, gaining harsh criticism from fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber's original stage musical for casting and directorial choices. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a moderate success. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes including Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy which it did not win.
The director has since filmed The Number 23, which was a critical flop but a financial success.
His next project was vampire thriller Blood Creek, which began shooting in March 2007.
In August 2008, Schumacher directed the music video for American rock band Scars on Broadway, for their upcoming single "World Long Gone".
In August 2010 production will begin on his next film, Trespass. The action-thriller will star Nicole Kidman.
Sexuality
Schumacher has been
openly gay through most of his career. In
Liz Smith's memoir,
Natural Blonde, she states that "He called himself 'A Sexual Outlaw'" and discusses their love affair and subsequent friendship.
Batman Forever, and to an even greater degree its 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, attracted attention for their many homo-erotic innuendos. As previously mentioned, Batman's and Robin's costumes were inspired by ancient Greek art and had significant nipples and codpieces, which were featured in many close-ups.
Filmography
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
D.C. Cab (a.k.a. Street Fleet) (1983)
St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Cousins (1989)
Flatliners (1990)
Dying Young (1991)
Falling Down (1993)
The Client (1994)
Batman Forever (1995)
A Time to Kill (1996)
Batman & Robin (1997)
8mm (1999)
Flawless (1999)
Tigerland (2000)
Bad Company (2002)
Phone Booth (2003)
Veronica Guerin (2003)
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
The Number 23 (2007)
Blood Creek (2009)
Twelve (2010)
Trespass (2011)
References
External links
Joel Schumacher interview
Category:1939 births
Category:American film directors
Category:American film producers
Category:American Jews
Category:American music video directors
Category:LGBT directors
Category:LGBT Jews
Category:LGBT people from the United States
Category:LGBT screenwriters
Category:Gay writers
Category:Living people
Category:Parsons School of Design alumni
Category:People from New York City
Category:Fashion Institute of Technology alumni
![Blood Creek Official Trailer [HD]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110401222111im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7mJNYSV-OXc/0.jpg "Blood Creek Official Trailer [HD]")
