Joel Schumacher: 1939 - 2020

Director Joel Schumacher has passed away at 80. 

Mostly known for directing two of the most maligned Batman films, Schumacher was born in New York City in 1939. He studied design and fashion, but knew that his true love was filmmaking and relocated to Los Angeles where he worked on costumes for Woody Allen’s SLEEPER (1973), and INTERIORS (1978). He dabbled in screenwriting; penning the scripts for the low-budget CAR WASH (1976), and THE WIZ (1978). 

His directorial debut came in 1981 with THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN, which starred Lily Tomlin. His third film in 1985, ST. ELMO’S FIRE, would be his first true hit. Starring the Brat Packers of Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, and Ally Sheedy, the film was a smart take on the post-graduate life…and made the theme song a hit and a symbol of the 1980’s. His follow-up was a hit as well; the horror/comedy THE LOST BOYS with Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Kiefer Sutherland…which told the story of a small town overrun by vampires. In 1993 he delivered his best film, FALLING DOWN with Michael Douglas. 

Schumacher would replace Tim Burton as the director of the Batman franchise when he directed BATMAN FOREVER in 1995, which received negative reviews but was a big earner at the box office. He directed the sequel, BATMAN & ROBIN in 1997, which did not perform well at the gate, or with critics and fans; today it is frequently considered to be one of the worst films ever made and caused Warner Bros. to put the Caped Crusader on hiatus from the big screen for nearly a decade. 

Despite being hated by many fans, he would rebound with the crime drama A TIME TO KILL (1996). In 2004 he would direct an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famed musical THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which despite mixed reviews, would be a box office hit and earn three Oscar nominations. 

His other notable films include an adaptation of the John Grisham novel THE CLIENT (1994), FLATLINERS (1990), 8MM (1999), TIGERLAND (2000), PHONE BOOTH (2002), VERONICA GUERIN (2003), and THE NUMBER 23 (2007). 

In his later years, he would direct two episodes of TV’s HOUSE OF CARDS. He would receive a special award from the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography in 2010, and the Distinguished Collaborator Award at the Costume Designers Guild Awards in 2011. 

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It is unfair that when the name of Joel Schumacher is mentioned, that the first thing that comes up are his two Batman films. Yes, they are terrible and nearly killed the superhero genre in cinema forever, but his accomplishments should outweigh that. Many of us grew up watching THE LOST BOYS and ST. ELMO’S FIRE; two films that captured youth and are immediately recalled when talking about the best of the 1980’s. His adaptation of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA was a big-screen spectacle event film, and he proved his talent for ramping up tension with PHONE BOOTH. He was a diverse filmmaker whose early work defined a generation, and names like that don’t come around too often.