The Schumacher Cut Of ‘Batman Forever’ Screens In Los Angeles At The End Of May In Time For The Film’s 30th Anniversary
Batman Forever turns 30 this year, and a theater in Los Angeles has something very special planned. On May 29th, they will be screening the vaunted and fabled Schumacher Cut of the film.
An exclusive screening with limited seats sponsored by CineFile Video is happening next Thursday. There will be two showings, one at 8:30 pm and another at 11:30 pm, for an audience of 25 people each. An RSVP window opens this Friday, the 23rd, so if you happen to live in the area, there is still time to get tickets.
The inside word, as reported by World of Reel, is that CineFile is showing the same version that director Kevin Smith screened privately in 2023 at New Jersey’s Smodcastle Cinema. It clocked in at two hours and 38 minutes, giving more time for characters to breathe and for deeper psychological exploration. It also got a positive reaction from those who saw it.
The biggest differences between the Schumacher Cut and the theatrical cut released in 1995 are extended action scenes, a post-mortem of Two-Face breaking out of Arkham to set things up, and a subplot of Bruce suffering amnesia after being grazed by Two-Face’s bullet. This was meant to pay off in Bruce confronting the Man-Bat in his visions, embracing his destiny, and choosing to be both Bruce Wayne and Batman.
The Schumacher Cut and its supporters have been fighting for a release since at least 2005, but their push was reinvigorated by The Snyder Cut fervor that led to the completion of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is available on Max in two versions.
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The former is in a similar state to what Snyder’s vision was around 2020. It needs a post-production polish that could cost an extra five to $10 million. There is no telling if Warner Bros. Discovery would be so generous, particularly after the headaches Snyder put them through.
As Joel Schumacher initially envisioned, Batman Forever is not guaranteed a wide release just because of a social media campaign or because a few dozen people enjoy it at one screening after another. The groundswell of support has to get bigger.
That’s unfortunate for every fan, as we all can agree that letting everyone see the late director’s vision come to fruition, and judge for themselves if it’s better, would be a fitting tribute to Schumacher and Val Kilmer.
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