During the filming of "Batman & Robin", Warner Bros. was impressed with the dailies, prompting them to immediately hire Joel Schumacher to reprise his directing duties for a third film. Writer Akiva Goldsman, who worked on "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin", turned down the chance to write the script. In late 1996, Warner Bros. and Schumacher hired Mark Protosevich to write the script for a fifth "Batman" film. A projected mid-1999 release date was announced. "Los Angeles Times" described their film as "continuing in the same vein with multiple villains and more silliness". Schumacher, however, later claimed that the film would have been darker and closer in tone to the first two films in the series. Titled "Batman Unchained" but often incorrectly referred to as "Batman Triumphant", Protosevich's script had the Scarecrow as the main villain and the Joker would return as a hallucination in Batman's mind caused by the Scarecrow's fear toxin. Harley Quinn appeared as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter trying to kill Batman to avenge her father's death. The film would have depicted the Scarecrow and Harley Quinn teaming up to drive Batman insane and have him committed to Arkham Asylum. After their defeat, the film would have ended with Bruce Wayne traveling to Bali and entering a cave, where he allows himself to be swarmed by bats to symbolize that he has conquered fear. Clooney, O'Donnell, and Silverstone were set to reprise the roles of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. Schumacher had also approached Nicolas Cage for the role of Scarecrow in "Batman & Robin" as a cameo appearance to set up an appearance in "Batman Unchained", before ultimately casting Coolio.