Joel Schumacher

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Joel Schumacher (2003)

Joel Schumacher (born August 29, 1939 in New York City ; † June 22, 2020 there ) was an American director , screenwriter and producer .

Life

Schumacher was born in New York in 1939 and studied at the Parson School of Design . Initially working in the fashion industry, he began his media work as a costume designer in Hollywood . At the beginning of his career he worked several times with Woody Allen . Schumacher later wrote scripts for films such as Car Wash - The Freaky Laundromat (1976) and The Wiz - The Magical Land (1978).

After first directing work in television productions, Schumacher made his film debut in 1981 with the science fiction comedy The Incredible Story of Mrs. K. with Lily Tomlin in the lead role. This was quickly followed by other successes, including the brat-pack films St. Elmo's Fire - The Passion Burns Deep (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987), which with their genre elements were very popular with audiences. Falling Down followed in 1993 - a completely normal day with Michael Douglas in the lead role. Schumacher also filmed two novels by John Grisham , The Client (1994) and The Jury (1996). Many of Schumacher's films were celebrity cinema with a sense of style and sometimes an unusually garish backdrop, which often had subversive elements or flamboyant wit that subverted mainstream cinema.

As his reputation grew, he got his first big budget when he took over the rights to Batman from Tim Burton . Batman Forever (1995) was a summer hit. The successor Batman & Robin (1997) achieved a worldwide box office result of 238 million dollars at a cost of 125 million, but fell massively by many critics and fans. At the Golden Raspberry 1998 , the film was nominated in a total of eleven categories, including Schumacher himself in the worst director category . The announced fifth film in the Batman series has been canceled and Schumacher returned to less ambitious projects. 8mm - Eight Millimeters (1999), Tigerland (2000) and Don't hang up! (2002) were successful at the box office.

In 2004 he created the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera with opulent equipment . His last film Trespass was panned by the critics and also flopped at the box office. In 2013 Schumacher shot two episodes of the political series House of Cards , these were his last directorial work.

Joel Schumacher was one of the first openly homosexual filmmakers. Although he did not see himself as a “gay filmmaker” (“I just don't believe it matters. This is how I feel. I've lived my life very openly.… So I'm not hiding anything.” - “Me I just don't think that's important. That's how I feel. I've lived my life very openly. ... So I don't hide anything. " ), he was nevertheless said to have had an influence of his sexual identity on his work. Schumacher died in New York City on June 22, 2020 at the age of 80 of complications from cancer .

Filmography (selection)

Costume design

script

Director

production

Awards (selection)

  • 2004: AARP Movies for Grownups Awards - Movies for Grownups Award, Best Director ( Don't hang up! )
  • 2010: Camerimage - Special Award to the Director

Web links

Commons : Joel Schumacher  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart Germany: Director Joel Schumacher is 80: The man who gave Batman sex. Retrieved February 18, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Obituary for director Joel Schumacher: Starkino mit Stilwillen. June 23, 2020, accessed June 23, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Christian Buß, DER SPIEGEL: Joel Schumacher: On the death of the "Flatliner" and "Falling Down" director - DER SPIEGEL - culture. Retrieved June 23, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c Second coming . In: theguardian.com of November 14, 2000.
  5. ↑ Jeff Sneider: Joel Schumacher Dies at 80, and We Need to Put Some Respect on His Name . In: collider.com from June 22, 2020.
  6. ↑ Will Brooker: Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon . Bloomsbury Publishing, 2001, ISBN 978-0-8264-1343-7 , page 295 ff.
  7. ↑ Ryan Lattanzio: Joel Schumacher Dies: 'St. Elmo's Fire, '' The Lost Boys, '' Batman Forever 'Director Was 80 . In: indiewire.com on June 22, 2020.
  8. ↑ Carmel Dagan: Joel Schumacher, Director of Batman Films and 'Lost Boys,' Dies at 80 . In: variety.com from June 22, 2020.
  9. ↑ Bill Newcott: Movies for Grownups Awards 2004 . In: AARP The Magazine, March / April 2004 issue.
  10. ↑ Plus Camerimage 2010 . In: camerimage.pl, accessed on June 22, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Schumacher, Joel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American director, screenwriter and producer
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 2020
Place of death New York City