https://collider.com/batman-george-clooney-val-kilmer/
When Michael Keaton quit portraying Batman, Val Kilmer and George Clooney became one-film-only replacements.
Kilmer and Clooney became the 'George Lazenbys' of the Batman franchise. I wish Kilmer had done more. Clooney kinda got a return in The Flash.
shareKilmer wasn't happy playing Batman, and the director was really unhappy having to deal with Val Kilmer every day, so I guess they agreed to part ways after the one Kilmer did.
Cloony was one and done in part because they stopped making Batman movies for a while. I don't think Cloony made a bad Batman, though. He looked the part at least.
The simplest explaining that I've heard is that Val Kilmer kind of quit and also kind of got fired. He quit in part because he was miserable filming in the Batsuit because it was so hot and difficult to move around. He also said in his book, that Warren Buffet's grandkids once visited the Batman Forever set and they completely ignored him despite him being in the Batsuit at time. But he may have gotten fired because like you said, he didn't see eye to eye with the director Joel Schumacher. Plus, Kilmer had booked The Saint without giving Warner Bros. and the Batman production staff a heads up. Val Kilmer even back then, had a reputation of being a testy, problematic actor to deal with.
shareI think you have that reversed. They stopped making Batman movies because Clooney was one and done. He was one and done because the movie bombed.
shareBecause Val Kilmer was difficult to work with I assume. Idiot killed his own career.
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