It's about time we looked at some of the concept art for Batman & Robin. I've always had a bit of the problem with the blue suit they used. I really missed the yellow oval and hated the raised eyebrows they added to the cowl. These designs - by Miles Teves - are all vastly superior. I particularly like the second one with reminds me of something DC might have used in an Elseworlds Batman story.
Last part of the Film Review Special is a few photos from the premiere and then a long interview with Alfred Gough about his long career.
Returning to the Film Review Special - we have an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger about playing Mr Freeze. The other topics covered are his heart surgery that happened almost straight after filming and his thoughts on movie merchandising (spoilers: he loves it, which is probably due to him having a percentage of Batman & Robin's merchandising profits as part of his contract).
Then we have an interview with Joel about making the film. Interesting to note that when a fifth film is mentioned at the end he says he would direct George and Chris and would look to bring back "one or two other characters." I presume he's referring to the idea of bringing back Jack Nicholson as the Joker. The only other character I can think is maybe Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman???
Film Review did a big Special magazine covering two of 1997's biggest Summer blockbusters - The Lost World and Batman & Robin (as well as a bunch of articles on the other Batman films).
First up we have an introduction to the film from Joel Schumacher and writer Akiva Goldsman who posits it as a film that is about "how individuals reckon with loss" which is an intriguing concept and it's a shame the film doesn't fulfil that objective.
Next up is a typically self deprecating interview with George Clooney who from the sounds of it - wasn't actively campaigning for the role of Batman but more fell into it.
This week we're back with one last issue of Starlog - this time an interview with Robert "Jeep" Swenson, who played Bane and sadly died in August 1997, two months after the film opened. Interesting little detail that originally the character didn't have any lines in the script, and they were added by Joel in the edit.
The second part of Starlog 240's coverage is an interview with director Joel Schumacher who tries to be diplomatic about the change of Batman star from Val Kilmer to George Clooney.
The end of the article has some interesting notes that Mark Protosevich had already been assigned the job of writing Batman 5 before Batman & Robin opened. I believe this script (which fans tend to refer to as Batman Triumphant) has never been leaked and may not have even been finished which is a shame because it would have been fascinating to see where Joel would have gone with another Batman film. Supposedly Man Bat and Scarecrow were going to be featured.
Back to Starlog magazine this week - an interview with production designer Barbara Ling along with a treasure trove of concept art - even a couple of early sleeker versions of the Batmobile (before toy manufacturer Kenner gave their input).
