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
Val Kilmer attended Berkeley Hall School, a Christian Science school in Los Angeles, until ninth grade. He attended Chatsworth High School with Kevin Spacey and Mare Winningham, and also attended the Hollywood Professional School. He became the youngest person at the time to be accepted into the Juilliard School's Drama Division, where he was a member of Group 10. In 1981, while at Juilliard, Kilmer co-authored and starred in the play "How It All Began," which was performed at the Public Theater at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Kilmer turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film "The Outsiders," as