Tim Burton recently got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Michael Keaton helped to present it with a speech that noted his impact on Hollywood’s success with superhero movies.
He said the comic book adaptation today made huge profits thanks to the groundwork the director laid with his ‘Batman’ films in 1989 and 1992.
“He hands me a script and goes, ‘Tell me what you think,’” the actor recalled. “This is after ‘Beetlejuice’. After that performance. After that type of movie. He says to the studio, ‘I want that guy.’ I’ll never understand why anyone cared. The uproar… you would’ve thought we were being invaded. It was unbelievable. The press was going crazy. But he stood by me. The guts it took to stand by that decision will always be appreciated by me.”
“What that [movie] spawned… there are a lot of people making a lot of money out there with their superhero movies because of his choice and his vision of what those movies could be, because he changed everything,” he added.
Michael Keaton praises Tim Burton: "There are a lot of people making a lot of money out there with their superhero movies because of his choice and his vision of what those movies could be, because he changed everything." https://t.co/wxrWvt5aTS pic.twitter.com/F32Vp0xmHS
— Variety (@Variety) September 3, 2024
Burton’s decision to cast Keaton as Bruce Wayne sparked backlash among comic book fans in the 1980s. Around 50,000 letters protesting the choice were sent to Warner Bros.
“The fact that Tim said ‘That guy, I want that guy…’ The fact that people cared one way or another so much is still baffling. But that was a ballsy move on his part,” the actor said of the reactions in a GQ interview earlier this year.
Keaton and Burton also collaborated on 1988’s ‘Beetlejuice’ and Disney’s live-action ‘Dumbo.’ The two reunited again for the sequel to the original comedy horror film set for release on September 6.
