Joel Schumacher, director of The Lost Boys and Batman films, dies at 80

Director Joel Schumacher died Monday at the age of 80, EW has confirmed. The New York-born filmmaker whose credits included The Lost Boys, Falling Down, and two Batman films, passed away quietly from cancer following a year-long battle with the disease.

Schumacher broke into Hollywood as a costume designer, in which capacity he worked on Woody Allen's 1973 film Sleeper. He wrote the screenplays for 1976's Car Wash and 1978's The Wiz before making his directorial debut with 1981's Lily Tomlin-starring satire The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Schumacher showcased the so-called "Brat Pack" group of actors with 1985's St. Elmore's Fire and then enjoyed further success with 1987's The Lost Boys and 1990's Flatliners, on which the director used his stylish skills to bring this medical drama to vibrant life.

"I asked the great Jan de Bont to film it," Schumacher told EW last year, recalling the making of the latter film. "He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Okay, Jan, we're going to do this, but this is the most non-cinematic script ever written. For about five times, it's just one actor lying on a table and four other people looking down on them.' He said, 'So, we have to shoot this like an action movie!' And it is. I mean, it is a total director-cinematographer-production designer-costume designer conceit."

In the '90s, Schumacher became one of Hollywood's most high profile directors with 1993's Falling Down, 1995's Batman Forever, 1996's A Time to Kill, 1997's Batman & Robin, and 1999's 8MM. His more recent credits included 2000's Tigerland — which featured an early starring performance from Colin Farrell — 2002's Phone Booth, and 2007's The Number 23.

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