It was 21 years ago today that Batman Forever opened in theaters, and batnipples made their debut on the big screen.
Director Joel Schumacher is well aware of how controversial adding nipples to the batsuit was, but he was initially surprised by the backlash. Here”s what he told Variety a couple years ago:
You introduced nipples to the Batsuit. Were you surprised they became so controversial?
Yes, I was like, “Are you kidding me?” I think that will be on my gravestone. It”s how I”ll be remembered.
Val Kilmer, replacing Michael Keaton, played the Caped Crusader in this third installment of Tim Burton”s Batman series.
Though not as maligned as the follow-up, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever didn”t win over critics like Christopher Nolan”s Dark Knight later would – but that didn”t stop it from being a behemoth at the box office. Batman Forever was the second highest grossing film of 1995, behind only Toy Story. It broke Jurassic Park“s record for highest opening weekend gross of all time.
Other notable June 16 happenings in pop culture history:
• 1950: Vincente Minnelli”s Father of the Bride was released. The original starred Elizabeth Taylor as the bride-to-be and Spencer Tracy as the lawyer dad. The remake starring Steve Martin hit theaters in 1991.
• 1960: Psycho premiered in New York City at the DeMille Theater.
• 1978: The musical movie Grease shoo-bop she wadda wadda-ed into theaters.
• 1985: Falco”s “Rock Me Amadeus” was released as a single in Germany. It was released in the U.S. the following March and made Falco the first German-speaking artist to get a No. 1 single on the U.S. charts.
• 1986: The Smiths” third studio album, The Queen Is Dead, was released. Among the songs on the record is “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” which was later memorably featured in (500) Days of Summer.
• 1989: Ghostbusters II opened in theaters.
• 1990: Rosette song “It Must Have Been Love,” from the Pretty Woman soundtrack, hit No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart.
• 1999: Phil Collins was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• 2010: Hot in Cleveland, TV Land”s first original scripted series, premiered.