Joel Schumacher, Batman Forever & Lost Boys Director, Dies at 80

June 22, 2020

ComingSoon.net is disheartened to bring the news (via The Hollywood Reporter) that Joel Schumacher, legendary director of the acclaimed vampire horror comedy The Lost Boys and Batman Forever, has passed away at the age of 80 after a year-long fight with cancer.

Schumacher’s near-50-year career began as a writer, having penned the script for 1976’s cult musical drama Sparkle and acclaimed comedy Car Wash, as well as the 1978 cult classic The Wiz starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson before making his directorial debut on the widely-panned sci-fi comedy The Incredible Shrinking Woman. He would begin to find some success behind the camera with 1985’s St. Elmo’s Fire before helming The Lost Boys, which helped launch him further into the spotlight.

After helming a number of polarized films including the cult favorite Flatliners, Schumacher would begin his hot streak with the well-received crime thriller Falling Down in 1993 and continuing with the 1994 adaptation of John Grisham’s The Client, 1995’s Batman Forever and 1996’s adaptation of A Time to Kill before it came to an end with 1997’s Batman & Robin. The next few years would see him struggle to recapture that streak with the poorly received 8MM, Flawless and Bad Company while delivering occasional critical successes such as Phone Booth, Tigerland and The Phantom of the Opera.

Many fans and collaborators took to Twitter to mourn Schumacher’s passing, some of which include:

RIP Joel Schumacher. Why is his (and Michael Douglas’) estimable Falling Down so underseen today?

— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) June 22, 2020

Me playing a sad sax solo for the memory of Joel Schumacher. RIP pic.twitter.com/5UQJSWgFzK

— Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) June 22, 2020

Batman, yeah, whatever. Joel Schumacher was the director of Phone Booth, a phenomenal movie, one of the most subtle & savage political allegories to come out of Hollywood since 9/11. JS’s director’s commentary on the DVD hints at aspects of the movie not usually talked about. RIP https://t.co/r7Q8DLuYjO

— Kevin Williamson (@williamsonkev) June 22, 2020