Think back to the simpler time of 1997. Teletubbies had just hit the screens, there were no iPhones, and George Clooney was just a former soap actor trying to catch a break.
Clooney thought he'd hit the big time when he was cast as Batman in the Joel Schumacher movie Batman & Robin.
Unfortunately, the film was panned for everything from Clooney's wooden performance to the fact his suit had nipples.
But the dad-of-two has admitted that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and said the flop actually turned his career around.
When asked which of his films had the biggest impact on his work, he told The Hollywood Reporter: "It's really easy to pick: Batman & Robin. That's not a joke.
"Up until that moment, I was an actor only concerned with finding work. After the failure of that film creatively, I understood that I needed to take control of the films I made, not just the role. My next three films were Out of Sight, Three Kings and O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
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Due to its failure, the planned sequel to the film was dropped.
Batman Unchained was billed to be a much darker movie where the superhero would be up against The Scarecrow and Harley Quinn, who would be the daughter of The Joker.
Unfortunately it was another eight years before anyone dared to touch the franchise again, and Christopher Nolan released Batman Begins in 2005.
Nolan recently discussed his Dark Knight trilogy, suggesting that each film was defined by its villain.
He told Variety at the Cannes Film Festival. "Shifting genres and the nature of the antagonist felt the way to take the audience on a journey and tell them something different about Bruce Wayne."
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Catherine is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, and was the site's News Editor between 2018 and 2024. Prior to that, she worked at OK! Online, and has interviewed a slew of celebrities across her career in entertainment news, including Tom Hanks, Cheryl and Noel Fielding. Catherine also has specialist knowledge in all things drag, interviewing a huge portion of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars, and getting her own drag makeover for Channel 4's show Drag SOS. LinkedIn
