UPDATE: Screening Of The Schumacher Cut Of ‘Batman Forever’ Is Now Canceled Following A Cease And Desist Order By Warner Bros.
Holy rusted metal, Batman! The Dark Knight is certainly forever, but so too might be the struggle to see the uncut version of the 1995 Joel Schumacher film starring Val Kilmer as the vigilante. The screening of the director’s cut we previously reported is no longer happening.
News of the event being held by Santa Monica-based store Cinefile Video was a little too public, causing Warner Bros. to catch wind of it and pull the plug. They sent Cinefile one of their dreaded cease-and-desist letters, and you know what follows. “Our planned screening of Batman Forever has been cancelled,” said an email to the store‘s members (via AV Club).
“This follows a legal request from Warner Bros. regarding the rights to the version of the film we intended to show. While this was a free, members-only event meant to celebrate a unique piece of film history, we respect the rights of studios and creators, and have chosen to withdraw the event accordingly,” the message continued.
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Cinefile did not respond to AV Club when they reached out for a comment, at least not right away. With or without word from them, it’s pretty clear that their screening was unauthorized, which Warner doesn’t like too much (at least when it’s inconvenient for them).
This development is leaving everyone with the impression that Warner has no desire or patience for repeating history and releasing the extended cut of another one of its superhero blockbusters sitting in the vault. The Donner Cut of Superman II was a big deal for them, but they were more amenable to that than Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
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They still released two versions of it on (the soon-to-be HBO again) Max, but Snyder and his army of online support (artificial or not) largely forced the studio’s hands. The chaos they found themselves in while trying to right the ship after Snyder’s departure didn’t help matters either.
Vocal minorities are lobbying for equal treatment of not just Batman Forever’s Schumacher Cut, but for the director’s cut of Suicide Squad (The Ayer Cut) and even the full uncut version of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Precious few would care if the latter were buried and never seen again. However, in either case, hopes for a restoration of the originally intended vision are in vain.
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