---
name: "Joel Schumacher"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joel-schumacher"
fi1m_id: "joel-schumacher"
imdb_id: "nm0001708"
tmdb_id: 5572
wikidata_id: "Q295207"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "29 August 1939"
died: "22 June 2020"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 54
average_as: "director"
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-05T19:49:00.528670+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Joel Schumacher

## Identity

Joel Schumacher

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joel-schumacher
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joel-schumacher
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001708
- **TMDB ID:** 5572
- **Wikidata ID:** Q295207
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Schumacher, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q295207, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001708/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5572

Director. Born 29 August 1939 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 22 June 2020.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 29 August 1939, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 22 June 2020
- **Active:** 1973–2004
- **Also known as:** Joel T. Schumacher , Джоель Шумахер
- **Frequently works with:** [Akiva Goldsman](https://film.one/person/akiva-goldsman.md), [Chris O'Donnell](https://film.one/person/chris-odonnell.md), [Peter Macgregor-Scott](https://film.one/person/peter-macgregor-scott.md), [Tommy Lee Jones](https://film.one/person/tommy-lee-jones.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 54, as director, over 7 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 55 (6), 2000s 49 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 54 to 51 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 5 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 5, Crime 4, Thriller 4, Action 2, Romance 2, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 15 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,122m across 7 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Schumacher, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q295207, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001708/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5572

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Batman Forever*](https://film.one/film/batman-forever.md) (56), [*Batman & Robin*](https://film.one/film/batman-and-robin.md) (35)
- **Pluto TV:** [*The Phantom of the Opera*](https://film.one/film/the-phantom-of-the-opera.md) (49)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Joel Schumacher

> Joel Schumacher was an uneven but capable entertainer, fond of bold colours and conspicuous staging. We rate him most when he gives actors room to unsettle us, as he does in *Falling Down*.

In *Falling Down* (1993), Michael Douglas makes a man's everyday grievances sound familiar, and Schumacher allows that familiarity to become uncomfortable. His D-Fens treats frustration as permission to hurt people. We laughed uneasily, because Schumacher lets us recognise the irritation before making us confront the violence it is used to excuse. This is a good thriller, and its director deserves credit for keeping our response to Douglas unsettled.

That attention to performance matters in a career so associated with bright surfaces. Schumacher came to directing from fashion and film costume design, and bold colours and graphic staging remained a habit. *St. Elmo's Fire* (1985) and *The Lost Boys* (1987) established his association with youth culture, with the latter giving vampires a fashionable appeal for a teenage audience. The brighter Batman of *Batman Forever* (1995) was followed by *Batman & Robin* (1997), whose camp excess is a useful warning about how far that appetite could take him.

In *Falling Down*, the more revealing decision is to give Robert Duvall's policeman nearing retirement, Prendergast, enough weight to make us reconsider D-Fens. Duvall offers another way of living with disappointment, and Schumacher lets that quieter performance matter. The police story steadies the film without simply stopping it for a breather. He does not insist that Douglas provide everything worth watching.

The weakness comes when Ebbe Roe Smith's script tries to explain the society around these men. Its succession of grievances is less convincing than the performances, and Schumacher does not solve that problem by keeping us gripped. We can follow D-Fens's anger without accepting the film's account of what has caused it.

There is also *The Client* (1994), his John Grisham adaptation, followed later by the confined tension of *Phone Booth* (2002). The Batman films should not be the only way into this career. Start with *Falling Down*, provided a gripping evening need not be a comfortable one.

## Biography

Joel Schumacher was an American film director, screenwriter, producer and costume designer. Born in New York City, he studied at the Parsons School of Design and worked as a fashion designer before entering the film industry as a costume and production designer.

He made his directorial debut with *The Incredible Shrinking Woman* (1981) and rose to prominence with *St. Elmo's Fire* (1985) and *The Lost Boys* (1987). His other notable films as director include *Falling Down* (1993), *Batman Forever* (1995), *A Time to Kill* (1996), *Batman & Robin* (1997), *Phone Booth* (2003) and *The Phantom of the Opera* (2004). He also directed episodes of the series *House of Cards* (2013). Schumacher died in New York City in 2020.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, variety.com, apnews.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

- *The Phantom of the Opera* (2004), Fi1m 49, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-phantom-of-the-opera.md)
- *Batman & Robin* (1997), Fi1m 35, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/batman-and-robin.md)
- *A Time to Kill* (1996), Fi1m 55, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/a-time-to-kill.md)
- *Batman Forever* (1995), Fi1m 56, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/batman-forever.md)
- *The Client* (1994), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-client.md)
- *Falling Down* (1993), Fi1m 71, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/falling-down.md)
- *Dying Young* (1991), Fi1m 40, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/dying-young.md)

## Complete filmography (46)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Binge* (2020), In Memory Of
- *Do Not Disturb: Hotel Horrors* (2015), series, Executive Producer
- *House of Cards* (2013), series, Director
- *Trespass* (2011), Director
- *Man in the Mirror* (2011), Director
- *Twelve* (2010), Director
- *Blood Creek* (2009), Director
- *The Number 23* (2007), Director
- *Holy the Sabbath* (2006), as Narrator
- *The Phantom of the Opera* (2004), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 49, [page](https://film.one/film/the-phantom-of-the-opera.md)
- *Veronica Guerin* (2003), Director
- *Phone Booth* (2003), Director
- *Bad Company* (2002), Director
- *Welcome to Hollywood* (2000), as Joel Schumacher
- *Tigerland* (2000), Director
- *Gossip* (2000), Executive Producer
- *Flawless* (1999), Director, Producer, Screenplay
- *8MM* (1999), Producer, Director
- *Batman & Robin* (1997), Director — Fi1m 35, [page](https://film.one/film/batman-and-robin.md)
- *A Time to Kill* (1996), Director — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/a-time-to-kill.md)
- *The Babysitter* (1995), Executive Producer
- *Batman Forever* (1995), Director — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/batman-forever.md)
- *The Client* (1994), Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/the-client.md)
- *Falling Down* (1993), Director — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/falling-down.md)
- *2000 Malibu Road* (1992), series, Director
- *Dying Young* (1991), Director — Fi1m 40, [page](https://film.one/film/dying-young.md)
- *Flatliners* (1990), Director
- *Cousins* (1989), Director
- *The Lost Boys* (1987), Director
- *Slow Burn* (1986), Executive Producer
- *St. Elmo's Fire* (1985), Director, Screenplay
- *Code Name: Foxfire* (1985), series, Creator
- *D.C. Cab* (1983), Director, Writer
- *The Incredible Shrinking Woman* (1981), Director
- *Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill* (1979), Director, Teleplay
- *The Wiz* (1978), Screenplay
- *Interiors* (1978), Costume Design
- *Car Wash* (1976), Writer
- *Sparkle* (1976), Screenplay, Story
- *The Prisoner of Second Avenue* (1975), Costume Design
- *Virginia Hill* (1974), Director, Writer
- *Killer Bees* (1974), Production Design
- *Sleeper* (1973), Costume Design
- *Blume in Love* (1973), Costume Design
- *The Last of Sheila* (1973), Costume Design
- *Play It as It Lays* (1972), Costume Design

## Gallery

- ![Joel Schumacher](https://film.one/media/person/83116/gallery-b50a2e939676.jpg) Joel Schumacher — Kasper2006 (talk), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Joel_Schumacher_at_Taormina_Film_Fest_2003_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Joel Schumacher](https://film.one/media/person/83116/gallery-20022d774244.jpg) Joel Schumacher — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Time Machine Award 2004: Time Machine Award (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joel-schumacher