Batman Forever Sparked A Battle Between Director Joel Schumacher And Val Kilmer
In a 2020 interview with the New York Times Magazine, actor Val Kilmer acknowledged his unfortunate reputation for being "difficult." Although possessed of movie star good looks, handily backed up by a great deal of talent and devotion to his craft, Kilmer often found himself butting heads with executives and studio honchos over his perceived ego. He admitted that had "alienated the head of every major studio," but only out of an attempt to empower actors and directors over studios, and, in his words, "attempt to breathe Suzukian life into a myriad of Hollywood moments." He further confessed as much in Ting Poo's and Leo Scott's 2021 biographical documentary "Val," when he admitted to behaving poorly. He then amended that more accurate adverbs might be "bizarrely" and "brazenly."
But for years, Kilmer couldn't shake his rep. Many stories of Kilmer's bad behavior notoriously came from the utter clusterf*** that was John Frankenheimer's 1996 film "The Island of Dr. Moreau." That film had an infamously difficult shoot, with star Marlon Brando making all manner of unreasonable demands, and Richard Stanley, the film's original director, being fired partway through shooting. Additionally, the film was a bomb at the box office, turning the entire production into an utter mockery. Kilmer eventually said that he no longer has any hard feelings about "Dr. Moreau."
These followed an extensive 1996 article in Entertainment Weekly about how the actor and Joel Schumacher, the director of "Batman Forever," clashed repeatedly on the set and during the film's publicity tour. In "Val," Kilmer said he was always uncomfortable making "Batman," partly because the costume prevented him from hearing properly. He loved the idea of playing Batman — what kid doesn't like Batman? — but his time on set was miserable.
The back-and-forth between Kilmer and Schumacher was venomous.
Kilmer's reputation prior to Batman
Dispatches from the "Moreau" and "Batman" sets, however, came after some other tales that leaked down to the public. In 1991, filmgoers may have heard scuttlebutt that Val Kilmer was a tyrannical method performer on the set of Oliver Stone's "The Doors," insisting on staying in character as Jim Morrison 24/7, and that people call him "Jim." If someone slipped and called him "Val," he would fly into a rage. Years later, Kilmer clarified with the Guardian that shooting "The Doors" was so quick, and that Oliver Stone was so tough (but fair), that the actor kind of had to stay in character by default. Kilmer is not a method actor.
Regardless, Joel Schumacher had heard the stories. Being pragmatic, Schumacher cast Kilmer anyway, knowing that bad reputations are very often inaccurate in Hollywood. Speaking to EW, Schumacher said that he "had heard horror stories about Val and was warned not to hire him. [...] But I have heard that about many talented people, hired them anyway, and had no problems whatsoever."
Eventually, however, Schumacher began telling stories of Kilmer's temperament, saying that he and the actor "had a physical pushing match. He was being irrational and ballistic with the first AD, the cameraman, the costume people. He was badly behaved, he was rude and inappropriate. I was forced to tell him that this would not be tolerated for one more second. Then we had two weeks where he did not speak to me, but it was bliss."
Kilmer did not return for the 1997 film "Batman & Robin," his role being filled by George Clooney. Of Kilmer, Schumacher said "He sort of quit, we sort of fired him. [...] It probably depends on who's telling the story."
Personality mismatch
Val Kilmer, meanwhile, maintains that his on-set behavior was sometimes gauche, but that he was not nearly as odd or abusive as his reputation would have you believe. He was very clear in the Guardian about how he was merely rolling with the intense production of "The Doors," and that he was not a wild method actor who demanded 100% character fealty from his co-stars.
The "Batman" kerfuffle, it seems, was genuine. Kilmer was frank about how he didn't enjoy working on a production of that size, and it was entirely likely that he and Joel Schumacher got along better after they stopped talking to one another. The production of "Batman Forever" was followed by a scheduling dispute with Kilmer and Warner Bros. According to EW, Kilmer had agreed to star in a film adaptation of "The Saint" for Paramount, which would wrap shooting only days before a fourth Batman feature film was to begin production. Kilmer was already under contract to play Batman a second time, and the time crunch was not acceptable for Warner Bros. Kilmer announced he was going to drop Batman, driving everyone up the wall.
And then there was the horrors of "The Island of Dr. Moreau," which were so numerous, they became the subject of a 2014 feature-length documentary called "Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau." In the EW article, Stanley posited that Kilmer conspired to get him fired, forcing the ousted director to sneak back on set in monster makeup (!). Later, however, when Stanley revealed himself at the "Moreau" wrap party, Kilmer apologized for everything.
Indeed, many directors report that Kilmer was nothing but kind and decent making their movies. It seems that sometimes, like with Schumacher, some personalities simply don't match.