Jack Nicholson believes 1989 ‘Batman’ film would’ve made even more money if studio wasn’t ‘totally unprepared’

The 1989 film Batman, which has made over $400 million from the box office, video rentals, and sales of the film, also made millions in merchandise sales but could’ve made even more money if they were better prepared – so says Jack Nicholson, who famously played the Joker in the blockbuster film.

Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight, made in 2005 — part one of which (Road to Gotham) was uploaded to YouTube last year — features almost every big name that worked on the film, and Nicholson is by far the most charismatic. Some of the other actors point out how his addition to the film suddenly made people take the movie seriously. Nicholson himself praises Tim Burton and easily opens up about his time working on the movie.

It’s impossible not to feel as if Nicholson thoroughly enjoyed giving his time and being interviewed for the documentary, and often has humorous or noteworthy things to say.

However, one of his claims is rather surprising and, after some further digging in an attempt to back his claim, it might actually stun some fans of the film.

At one point, Nicholson — who is extremely humble throughout the doc — talks about whether the studio realized how successful the movie was going to be.

Jack says, “I knew how big it was going to be. I knew this. For instance, they (Warner Bros. studio) had a good feeling about it,” then later adds, “but they were totally unprepared for the level of the success of the movie.”

The documentary, which is presented rather well, actually doesn’t follow-up on Nicholson’s statement right away. Instead, later on, they cut back to Nicholson’s interview and that’s when we get to see the actor’s explanation.

“Every bit of Joker product and paraphernalia sold before the movie was released. They were out. They could’ve sold billions and billions more of these things.”

Nicholson adds that because of all the extreme hype, the level of which few expected, the successful merchandise sales can also be seen as something of a missed opportunity. “They had more customers than they had product for this particular movie.”

It seems like a minor thing to claim, but Nicholson may have a bigger point than you would think upon first hearing someone say that Batman — whose merchandising is now considered legendary — could have made a lot more money. Before I explain why, consider how popular the merchandise was.

As others note in the doc, the marketing was exceptional and the merchandise was everywhere. Producer Mark Canton said, “People were buying the Batman ties, the t-shirts, the hats, the cuff links, the underwear, everything.”

Director Tim Burton didn’t realize how big the hype was until, he explains, “I saw the Batman cereal. That’s when it hit me.”

However, according to the LA Times in 1991, the film had made $253 million at the box office up to that point but was still $35 million short of making a profit.

Here’s the eye-opening line from that article which refers to net-profits from merchandise sales: “According to the studio, Batman merchandise featuring the ubiquitous Batman logo (T-shirts, toys, posters, etc) only yielded $2.9 million.”

That directly contradicts other claims, some of which place the number as high as $500 million, albeit in gross sales. In 1992, The NY Times claimed about the original film, “A flood of licensed merchandise, from T-shirts to Batman cereal, generated an additional $500 million in retail sales.”

Unlike the NY Times, however, the LA Times provides a detailed breakdown of other contracts and profits from the film, suggesting their number about the merchandise is closer to being accurate. They also claim to have obtained the numbers directly from the studio, whereas the NY Times does not reference where their number came from.

If true — that the original Batman merchandise earned such a low net profit — then Nicholson emphasizing that the studio could have made significantly more money from it might surprisingly be an extremely valid point.

It’s worth adding that he does say in the documentary that — in regards to the Joker merchandise selling out so quickly without being able to produce more of it quickly enough — it cost him money or, as he light-heartedly concluded, “I don’t care,” with a Joker-esque grin, “but it also cost me some dough.”