BATMAN (1989) is the first of the four “Burton/Schumacher” summer blockbuster Batman films of the late 1980s and 1990s from Warner Bros. Pictures.
It starred Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jack Nicholson as The Joker, Michael Gough as Alfred, Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale, Jack Palance as Boss Carl Grissom, Bill Dee Williams as Harvey Dent, Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon, and Robert Wuhl as Alexander Knox.
BATMAN was directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren and story by Sam Hamm. Jon Peters and Peter Guber served as produces, with exexutive producers Michael Uslan and Benjamin Melniker. It was released on June 23, 1989.
BATMAN is not an origin tale, but offers the audience a Batman (Michael Keaton) who has only been on the job for only a few weeks (which is strange because Keaton was pushing 40 when he got the role). He is eventually pitted against his arch-nemesis – The Joker (Jack Nicholson). Actually, this IS an origin film as The Joker’s transformation from mafia thug to the Clown Prince of Crime is prominently depicted in BATMAN.