George Clooney apologises for ‘Batman & Robin’: ‘I thought I’d destroyed the franchise’

Clooney starred as the caped crusader in Joel Schumacher's 'disastrous' 1997 Batman film

George Clooney has apologised once again for Batman & Robin, admitting he thought he had “destroyed” the Batman franchise with the poorly-received 1997 film.

Clooney starred as the caped crusader in the much-maligned movie from director Joel Schumacher, which co-starred Chris O’Donnell as Robin, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Though Batman And Robin grossed a respectable $238 million (£154 million) at cinemas globally, this total was considerably less than distributors Warner Bros. had anticipated and the reaction to the film from critics and Batman fans alike was overwhelmingly negative.

Clooney brought up Batman & Robin during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show on Friday (May 22), branding the film a “disaster” before admitting: “I always apologise for Batman & Robin. Let me just say that I’d actually thought I’d actually destroyed the franchise until somebody else brought it back years later and changed it.”

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“I thought at the time [Batman & Robin] was going to be a very good career move,” Clooney continued. “It wasn’t.”

Director Christopher Nolan would go on to reboot the Batman franchise eight years after Batman & Robin with 2005’s critically acclaimed Batman Begins starring Christian Bale. A pair of well-received sequels, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, followed in 2008 and 2012, each grossing over $1 billion at cinemas globally.

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