Joel Schumacher Films: Hits and Duds

Director, Joel Schumacher, directed some really great films during his lengthy career, but he also had some major duds, both critically and financially speaking. Yet many of Schumacher's films that were not well-received were still box office successes. The 70 year old director currently has four titles in development so he'll definitely be adding to one side or the other of that ledger in the near future, like this June when "Twelve" starring Chace Crawford, hits theaters. In the meantime, let's remember that numbers don't lie and take a look at the films Joel Schumacher directed and how they fared at the box office.

The Hits

"St. Elmo's Fire" (1985) was Schumacher's first hit movie, centering around a group of young people fresh out of college all so obnoxious, they became known as "The Brat Pack." The film starred Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore and Ally Sheedy. The second was "The Lost Boys," starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland and Corey Feldman. These two films each grossed over $30M. Obviously, the budgets were considerably less since they established Schumacher as a successful director while at the same time annoying him by the endless references to the "Brat Pack" and connecting his name with "youth" films.

Schumacher then directed Ted Danson and Isabella Rossellini in a 1989 film called "Cousins." It was actually an American remake of " Cousin, Cousine," a 1975 French movie. Ted Danson had just starred in another remake from France, "Three Men and A Baby," which was a huge success. "Three Men" is, so far, still the highest grossing remake of a French film ever. Schumacher did not direct that one and while "Cousins" did not do nearly so well, it was not a box-office flop. With an approximate budget of $13M, it grossed a little over $22M. The performances of Danson, Rossellini and Lloyd Bridges were well-received (although personally I liked the French version better).

A string of box office successes followed with "Flatliners" (1990), starring Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts playing medical students who flirt with death by stopping their hearts. With a $26 million budget, it brought in almost $61.5M.

Michael Douglas starred in 1993's "Falling Down," which was filmed during the L.A. riots of 1992. Douglas's character, D-Fens, goes off the deep end as he becomes too disenchanted with society to cope. Grossing $40.9M in the USA, it made almost $15M more than its cost.

Schumacher then directed John Grisham's "The Client" (1994) which took in $92.1M, over double its budget. "Batman Forever" (1995) followed with Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey and a $100M budget, the highest Schumacher had to work with up until this time. It pulled in $184M at the box office.

John Grisham personally wanted Joel Schumacher to direct "A Time to Kill" starring Samuel L. Jackson as a father who avenges his young daughter's brutal rape. His faith was justified when the film grossed over $145M worldwide. Its budget was a mere $40M.

Total and Critical Flops

The year 1997 began a string of USA box office flops as long as Schumacher's prior successes, but not all of them really lost money. It all began with a 'holy big budget.' Schumacher worked on "Batman & Robin" with a budget of $125M. Then Warner Bros. spent another $15M to promote it. The film's gross in the USA was only $107 million, but it brought in $130.9M world-wide, totaling $237M so the studio considered it a success. Critically, it was a flop for which Schumacher has since apologized.

"Flawless" (1999), "Gossip" (2000) and "Bad Company" (2002) all lost money. During the same period, a couple of Colin Farrell films, "Tigerland" (2000) and "Phone Booth" (2002) were financially healthy. "Veronica Guerin" (2003) was a total loser, but "The Phantom of the Opera" (2004) made double overseas the $51M it made in the USA, so sales eventually exceeded its budget of $60M nicely.

"The Number 23" (2007), starring Jim Carrey, didn't exceed its $32M budget in the USA by much, but when you take world-wide figures into account, it made decent money.

With all that information under your belt, will you be going to see Schumacher's "Twelve," due out June 18? Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub (Collider.com) warns you: "I hated Schumacher's Twelve when I saw it at Sundance ... it's one of those films you won't believe is as bad as everyone tells you until you see it for yourself. Also, with the cast - it also stars Emma Roberts, 50 Cent, Ellen Barkin and Rory Culkin - you'll probably end up seeing it. But trust me, it's a hot mess of a movie ..."

Judging by the critical reception of most of Schumacher movies since 1997, there seems to be a huge disconnect between his style and what American audiences like. I wouldn't be the least surprised if a lot of people in the USA ended up sorry they didn't listen to Frosty.

Sources:
IMDB: Joel Schumacher
Box Office Mojo