Michael Keaton’s longtime collaborator Tim Burton almost gave up the idea of making Batman Returns with his Beetlejuice franchise star in the lead role of Batman. Thankfully, two DC characters have propelled the legendary director to helm the sequel to the 1989 Batman movie.
Two DC Characters Inspired Tim Burton To Make Batman Returns
As Tim Burton and Michael Keaton’s latest collaboration Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is nearing its theatrical release, the director is on a promotional tour of the highly anticipated horror comedy. In his recent chat with Variety about the movie, the director was asked about his Batman franchise and he candidly revealed that he was not fond of the idea of making a sequel, “I wasn’t really interested in doing a sequel,” Burton shared. However, he was very much inspired to make the movie for Penguin and Catwoman.
“I liked Penguin and Catwoman so I got reenergized by the whole thing. And that was when we started hearing the word franchise and where the studio started going, ‘What’s the black stuff coming out of the Penguin’s mouth?’ It was the first time the cold wind of that kind of thing came upon me,” the 66-year-old added.
Danny DeVito played the iconic DC character, Oswald Cobblepot also known as Penguin who has been one of the most influential kingpins in Gotham City. Michelle Pfeiffer played Selina Kyle aka Catwoman in Burton’s 1992 movie.
Tim Burton’s Original Batman Movie Was Experimental, Sort Of
Burton’s roping into the superhero movie has added new layers to the way of looking at the genre. The director candidly shared that he was not under much pressure from Warner Brothers while making the movie with an allocated budget of $35 million (per Box Office Mojo) rather it was more of an experimental film for him. “I was lucky because at that time, the word ‘franchise’ didn’t exist,” Burton explained to Variety. “So Batman felt slightly experimental at the time,” he added.
“It deviated from what the perception [of a superhero movie] might be. So you didn’t hear that kind of studio feedback, and being in England, it was even further removed. We really just got to focus on the film and not really think about those things that now they think about even before you do it.”
Still, Burton’s experimental tonality of the movie paid off as it became one of the astounding early superhero hits at DC earning over a staggering $401 million for Warner Bros.
Stream Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns on Max.
