Michael Keaton Turned Down £9 Million For Batman 3 Because 'It Sucked'

Michael Keaton has admitted that he turned down quite a hefty sum of money to play ‘Batman’ for a third movie.

Rather than adding $15 million (£9.4 million) to his bank account, Keaton decided that the script for Joel Schumacher’s film was beneath his talents.

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Keaton, who is currently hard at work promoting ‘Birdman’, made the declaration during a discussion with CBS Sunday Morning over the weekend.

When asked what it was about ‘Batman III’ which turned him off, he replied: “[It] sucked!… yeah, it was just awful.”

He also admitted that his performance in the upcoming drama was inspired by his time as the caped crusader.

Keaton was actually in line to reprise the role for Warner Bros., and he even turned up to get his costume fitted. But after Tim Burton, who had directed 1989’s ‘Batman’ and 1992’s ‘Batman Returns’, dropped out of the franchise he decided to leave too.

Once Schumacher was announced as the new director, and he sent over the new screenplay that he’d approved, Keaton soon found that he was dissatisfied by its lighter tone.

Keaton then decided to reject the chance to play Bruce Wayne. But when Warner Bros. returned with more money he stood by his cinematic principles and Val Kilmer was eventually hired to replace him for Schumacher’s ‘Batman Forever.’

‘Birdman’ will be released later this week in the United States, while it will hit multiplexes in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2015.

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