Batman Forever Keaton chose not to reprise his role, William Baldwin and Ethan Hawke were considered as a replacement before Kilmer joined the cast. The film was released on June 16, 1995, receiving mixed reviews, but was a financial success. "Batman Forever" grossed over $336 million worldwide and became the sixth-highest-grossing film worldwide of 1995. The film was followed by "Batman & Robin" in 1997, with Schumacher returning as the director and George Clooney replacing Kilmer as Batman. In Gotham City, the crime fighter Batman defuses a hostage situation caused by a criminal known as Two-Face, the alter ego of the former
George Clooney million worldwide (he appeared, but did not star, in "Gravity", which has a $723 million worldwide box office). The film inspired two sequels starring Clooney, "Ocean's Twelve" in 2004 and "Ocean's Thirteen" in 2007. In 2001, Clooney and Soderbergh co-founded Section Eight Productions, for which Grant Heslov was president of television. Clooney made his directorial debut in the 2002 film "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", based on the autobiography of TV producer Chuck Barris. Though the film did not do well at the box office, critics stated that Clooney's directing showed promise. In 2005, Clooney starred in "Syriana", which was