Toward the end of the 1980s, The studio Warner Bros. began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with the 1989 film Batman, directed by Tim Burton with Batman played by Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton reprised their roles for the 1992 film Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Batman. Schumacher also directed the 1997 film Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both the critics and the fans, and after a long hiatus in which multiple possible Batman scripts were developed, Warner Bros. rebooted the film franchise in 2005 with Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale. Nolan also directed the 2008 sequel The Dark Knight with Bale reprising his role. A third installment is in pre-production and will be released in Summer 2012.
Batman has also appeared in multiple animated films, both as a starring character and as an ensemble character. While most animated films were released direct-to-video, the 1993 animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was released theatrically.
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