Cast announcement for ''Batman Forever''

Holy casting coups! Super-hot Jim Carrey — and not Robin Williams — will play the Riddler in the next Batman sequel, Batman Forever, scheduled for release in 1995.

While both the studio and Carrey are declining comment, a source says it took just 30 minutes of negotiation to cast Carrey, who’ll earn $5 million and the chance to show his face to an international audience. But why did Williams forfeit the role? The comedian had no comment, but an insider says, “He believed the character was too intellectual and not as comedic as the Riddler played by Frank Gorshin on the TV series.” Williams was reportedly also concerned that his Riddler would be overshadowed by the film’s other Bat-foe, Harvey (Two-Face) Dent, especially after Tommy Lee Jones was cast in the role.

In addition to Carrey, Batman Forever will likely costar Robin Wright (The Princess Bride) as a criminologist and millionaire Bruce Wayne’s love interest. Sources say Wright has the edge over other contenders Jeanne Tripplehorn (The Firm) and Linda Hamilton (Terminator 2). Meanwhile, Chris O’Donnell remains the studio’s top choice for the part of Robin, though Leonardo DiCaprio (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?) may still be in the running. And Michael Keaton has not yet signed on the dotted line, but he’s already talking about his next turn as the caped crusader. “In the second one I had less input,” Keaton said last March. “But we haven’t even scratched the surface on what we can do with [Batman].”