George Clooney "almost destroyed" the Batman franchise.
George Clooney
Clooney took on the coveted role of The Dark Knight in the 1997 blockbuster 'Batman & Robin' but says he came close to ruining the prestigious reputation of the DC Comic character, because his acting was so "bad".
Speaking about the film, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, and Chris O'Donnell as his affable sidekick Dick Grayson aka Robin, he said: "Most of you might not remember, but I almost destroyed the 'Batman' franchise. When I got the call, to star in what is widely regarded as one of the worst movies of all time, I told my friends, and I told them, 'I'm going to do Batman!'.
"In general, what I say is, 'It was a bad film, and I was [in a] very bad film,' but I usually don't say, 'Waste of money,' because I think it actually made some money despite how bad it was. Bad money and bad movies don't necessarily correlate."
Despite his bad experience, Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, and Ben Affleck have since donned the black cape in subsequent recent Batman movies and the franchise remains intact and in demand.
Regardless, the 'Hail, Caesar!' star likes to use his position in Hollywood to make movies that would struggle to be made otherwise.
Speaking at the Adobe Summit, he said: "Now, I try to do the ones that wouldn't get made unless I get involved."
Tagged in George Clooney