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Joel Schumacher (b. August 29, 1939) is an American screenwriter, director, producer and costume designer born in New York City, New York to Swedish mother Marian and father Frank. Schumacher is known for his work on the Batman film franchise and the 2004 Phantom of the Opera film.
Schumacher was a student of Parsons The New School of Design and began his work in the fashion industry. His introduction to the entertainment industry came through fashion, working as a costume designer on such films as Sleeper The Last of Shiela and Play it As It Lays. He ventured into screen writing and directing with the 1974 TV movie The Virginia Hill Story. He also wrote the 1976 comedy Car Wash and the 1978 musical film The Wiz. His fitst big screen film was 1981's The Incredible Shrinking Woman starring Lily Tomlin. Other notable films include The Lost Boys (1987), Flatliners (1990), Falling Down (1993), The Client (1994) , and John Grisham's A Time to Kill (1996).
In 1995, Schumacher took on the Batman franchise, replacing Tim Burton as director of the franchise. His first film, Batman Forever was a big success but the second, Batman & Robin (1997) was a critical and box office failure and any plans for future films were scrapped until Batman Begins recharged the franchise seven years later.
Schumacher moved beyond the negative impact of Batman & Robin and directed Nicolas Cage in8MM and followed up with Flawless (1999), Phone Booth, (2002) Tigerland and Bad Company (2002). He finally fell on the good side of the critics again with Tigerland (2000) and the biopic Veronica Guerin (2003). Other notable works include Phantom of the Opera (2004), The Number 23 (2007), and Town Creek (2008).
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