How well do you know the movies of late director, Joel Schumacher? Are you familiar with his directing portfolio outside of say, the Batman movies, or The Lost Boys?
Well, today I’m throwing the spotlight on Schumacher’s movies, covering the big hits, the not-so-successful pictures, and everything in between. From The Incredible Shrinking Woman and Flatliners, to Batman & Robin, and Phone Booth, Schumacher delivered an eclectic mix of motion pictures, and then some!
And you can read all about them below. Here you will find a guide to his career, moving decade by decade, covering all his movies.
__
1970s and 1980s
Joel Schumacher kick-started his directing career during the 1970s with two television movies. The first was Virginia Hill, while the second was Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill.
Neither project set the world on fire, but they did provide Schumacher with some valuable directing experience. He then took this experience into the 1980s, as he moved away from television and began tackling big screen features, beginning with the comedy The Incredible Shrinking Woman.
From here, Schumacher directed Street Fleet, before taking on the coming-of-age-movie, St. Elmo’s Fire. The film featured Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, and Andie MacDowell.
St. Elmo’s Fire was a moderate financial success, but not necessarily a critical one. No matter, this didn’t stop Schumacher, and his next project, the comedy-horror, The Lost Boys was a big hit.
Released in 1987, The Lost Boys really struck a chord with audiences and gave Schumacher one of his best-loved movies. To this day, the film is regarded as a fan-favourite entry in his portfolio and is beloved by a whole generation of horror fanatics.
Joel Schumacher’s movies during the 1970s and 1980s included:
- Virginia Hill (1974)
- Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill (1979)
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981)
- Street Fleet (1983)
- St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
- The Lost Boys (1987)
- Cousins (1989)
__
The 1990s was a busy time for Schumacher, and a period where he had some of his biggest commercial successes. The director kicked off the decade with the Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts-starring psychological horror, Flatliners, before reteaming with Roberts for the romantic drama, Dying Young.
Schumacher then followed this up with the excellent Michael Douglas thriller, Falling Down, as well as the Susan Sarandon/Tommy Lee Jones legal thriller, The Client. The Client – an adaptation of a John Grisham novel – proved to be a huge financial hit for both Schumacher and Warner Bros., paving the way for the director and the studio to join forces once again for 1995’s Batman Forever.
With Batman Forever, Schumacher was given the task of reigniting interest in the Batman movies – a series that at the time was experiencing a bumpy ride, due to the lukewarm reception of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (1992). That movie had proved divisive amongst audiences, and while Warner Bros. was keen to press ahead with another entry, the studio wasn’t expecting big things.
Speaking in the ’00s docu-series, Shadows of The Bat: The Cinematic Saga of The Dark Knight – Part 5, Schumacher said: “There wasn’t an enormous expectation, on anyone’s part, because we had gone into it being told constantly that no one wanted another Batman movie.”
However, while expectations may not have been initially high for Batman Forever, once the marketing machine began on the picture it soon became clear the film was going to be a huge commercial hit – which of course, it was. In fact, Batman Forever was one of the big success stories of summer ’95.
Warner Bros. was so pleased with the response to the film, the studio asked Schumacher back for the sequel, 1997’s Batman & Robin. However, while this follow-up film, starring George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger, became one of the most anticipated movies of ’97, it did not experience the same critical or commercial success as its predecessor.
Critics weren’t fans, audiences were confused, and it made less money than expected. Rightly or wrongly, it turned into Schumacher’s most notorious movie.
Despite talk of another Batman film from the director, Batman & Robin ultimately marked the end of the Schumacher’s involvement with the Caped Crusader. He then moved forward with the Nicolas Cage-starring thriller, 8MM, before directing Robert De Niro in Flawless.
Joel Schumacher’s movies during the 1990s included:
- Flatliners (1990)
- Dying Young (1991)
- Falling Down (1993)
- The Client (1994)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- A Time to Kill (1996)
- Batman & Robin (1997)
- 8MM (1999)
- Flawless (1999)
__
2000s
Moving into the 2000s, and Schumacher continued his directing career with Tigerland, followed by Bad Company, Phone Booth, and Veronica Guerin. All of these films reached varying levels of success, and gave the director the opportunity to work with the likes of Colin Farrell (Tigerland, Phone Booth, and Veronica Guerin), Anthony Hopkins (Bad Company), and Cate Blanchett (Veronica Guerin).
However, it was 2004’s The Phantom of the Opera – a big screen adaptation of the world-famous Andrew Lloyd Webber musical – which gave Schumacher his most prolific movie of this decade. The film was a big budget, lavish affair, with Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, and Patrick Wilson leading the picture.
And then, rounding out the decade, Schumacher re-teamed with Batman Forever star, Jim Carrey for the psychological thriller, The Number 23, before working with Michael Fassbender and Henry Cavill for the horror film, Blood Creek.
Here are the Joel Schumacher directed movies of the 2000s:
- Tigerland (2000)
- Bad Company (2002)
- Phone Booth (2002)
- Veronica Guerin (2003)
- The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
- The Number 23 (2007)
- Blood Creek (2009)
__
2010s
The 2010s would prove to be the final directing decade for Joel Schumacher, and his movie output during this time was reduced. He started the d’ecade’10s with the Chace Crawford movie, Twelve, before reuniting with 8mm‘s Nicolas Cage, and Batman Forever‘s Nicole Kidman, for the mystery thriller, Trespass.
This would prove to be the director’s final film, although not Schumacher’s final directing job. In 2012 he directed the music video, The Killing Floor: Star Baby, before helming a couple of episodes of the television show, House of Cards in 2013.
From here he essentially retired. And then in 2020, Joel Schumacher passed away.
His movies during the 2010s included:
- Twelve (2010)
- Trespass (2011)
__
Outside of the above collection of movies, Schumacher wrote screenplays, was a costumer designer, and a producer, as well as a television and music video director (he directed Seal’s 1995 Kiss From A Rose music video).
During his lifetime, his most successful movie was Batman Forever. This was followed by Batman & Robin.
__
So, those are all of Joel Schumacher’s movies, but which are your favourites and which do you believe are the best? Do you have a soft-spot for Falling Down, or is Flatliners the only movie for you? Perhaps you adore Tigerland, or you think Dying Young is a hidden gem?
Whichever movies you think are the best, be sure to shout it loud. We won’t know if you don’t say.
__
__
Thank you for taking the time to read this post about the movies of director Joel Schumacher on It’s A Stampede! – I hope it has proved useful. For more useful posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
It's A Stampede! 
Leave a comment