Why Tim Burton hated the title of a movie he had nothing to do with: “I have high problems”

Posted On October 11, 2025October 11, 2025

Most people who aren’t film fans don’t tend to notice when a certain director makes a certain movie, perhaps even incapable of naming more than a dozen famous filmmakers off the top of their heads.

That being said, these people also know who Tim Burton is as the guy who makes creepy goth films with the kooky main characters, usually played by either Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter in some unrecognisable garb. To some nerds, however, he is handily the guy who saved Batman. 

In 1989, Burton helmed the first attempt at a live-action Batman movie since the one starring Adam West over three decades previously. With Michael Keaton in the Batsuit, Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and Prince on soundtrack duties, the director’s mission to blend the more outlandish elements of the character with some of the darker comic book storylines was a major success both critically and commercially. He followed this up with a sequel, Batman Returns, in 1992, which was less successful, but remains a cult favourite among fans of the ‘Caped Crusader’. 

Unlike Christopher Nolan many years later, Burton failed to see out a trilogy. He was replaced by Joel Schumacher for the next film in the series, Batman Forever, but that didn’t stop him having an opinion on it. As described by Mark Salisbury in his book Burton on Burton, one thing in particular really bugged him.

“I always hated those titles like Batman Forever,” he said, “That sounds like a tattoo that somebody would get when they’re on drugs or something. Or something some kid would write in the yearbook. I have high problems with some of those titles.”

You can tell that he wanted to keep things simple when naming his movies. The first one was the name of the character, and the second one was simply informing the audience of his return: job done. Unfortunately, there isn’t an obvious naming convention for a third movie, so Schumacher and his team had to get creative. One of the great ironies about the one they went for is that the actor playing the title character, Val Kilmer, had both replaced the previous star and wouldn’t stick around for the sequel. That doesn’t exactly scream ‘Forever’, does it?

As it would transpire, titles would be the least of Warner Bros’ concerns with this series going forward. Forever made more money than Returns, but critics were highly sceptical of the decision to pivot to the character’s more family-friendly roots. This was 1995, smack bang in the middle of a pop culture revolution, and the goofy, slapstick nature of the old Batman simply wasn’t going to cut it. Things would only get worse with the next film in the franchise, the infamous Batman & Robin that’s been discussed to death, including on this very website, so you can do your own research.

Handing over the reins of a creative project to somebody else is never easy, especially if you also disagree with the direction in which they’re taking it. Burton might not have liked the title of Batman Forever, but at least he can take comfort in the fact that his movies have held up much better in the eyes of the fandom.

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