Tim Burton’s Batman Films to Return to Theaters for One Night Only

By Jim Vorel  |  August 1, 2025 | 10:33am
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Tim Burton’s Batman Films to Return to Theaters for One Night Only
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Prior to 1989, Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman movie (and to a lesser extent its sequels) were seen by Hollywood as the only successful, populist, wide audience-earning blockbuster example of a superhero feature film. It may be difficult for audiences to imagine this attitude now, steeped as we are in decades of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and countless superhero adaptations of every conceivable character, but in this era, “comic books” were widely perceived as kids’ trash, unfit for mass appeal and adult entertainment. Certainly, they weren’t the kind of thing that were worthy of big budgets. Superman was a unique exception, a marquee character with the perfect star in Christopher Reeve. So when Tim Burton attempted to do something similar for Batman in 1989, the success of a big-budget action movie featuring the Caped Crusader was by no means viewed as some kind of sure thing. But the success of Batman and its subsequent 1992 sequel Batman Returns ushered in the modern era of superhero entertainment, announcing the blockbuster profitability of the genre while paving the road for a more recognizably modern era that eventually kicked off with Spider-Man and 2000’s X-Men. And now, Burton’s duo of films will get a little extra shine with a one night only return to cinemas on Aug. 25, 2025.

Batman and Batman Returns, which star the likes of Michael Keaton (as Batman/Bruce Wayne), Jack Nicholson (The Joker), Michelle Pfeiffer (Catwoman) and Danny DeVito (The Penguin) will be screening exclusively at 160 AMC Theatres locations in the U.S. on that date, those that feature Dolby Cinemas. The promotion seems to be a bit of a stunt and PR campaign for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos–fitting, in the sense that Batman Returns actually made history in 1992 as the first film that was presented in Dolby Digital.

“I hadn’t watched these films since I made them, and seeing them again with this level of clarity, beauty, color, and sound felt really new and exciting,” said Burton in a statement. “Dolby Atmos and Vision brought it all to life in a fresh way.”

Theater advertisements aside, Burton’s Batman is often attributed with having revolutionized the idea of superhero entertainment through being thematically and visually “darker” than the likes of Superman, but in truth its most lasting contribution was the idea that these types of blockbusters could be much more heavily stylized. Burton’s version of Gotham City in his two films is grand, gothic and deeply unrealistic, highly expressionistic like something ripped out of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This ultra-heightened, comic booky weirdness was preserved to some extent (although made more cartoonishly kiddy) in the subsequent Batman films from director Joel Schumacher, and to a slight degree by Christopher Nolan in Batman Begins, before the films took on an increasingly realistic visual style and setting in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Going back to Burton’s over-the-top presentation of Gotham City does feel like a pretty refreshing change of pace at this point. Check out that style in the original 1989 Batman trailer below, and check to see if a theater near you is screening the Burton double bill on Aug. 25.

 
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