A Guber-Peters Company Production, distributed by Warner Bros.

Batmen don't have a long lifespan. Michael Keaton was Batman for three years. Christian Bale was Batman for seven. George Clooney, mercifully, was only Batman for about two hours. Fighting crime can take its toll on a man.

The production company of Tim Burton's Batman had a similar lifespan. Founded in 1983 by Peter Guber and Jon Peters, the production company was folded into Columbia Pictures in 1990. Peter Gruber went on to be the president of Columbia and Sony Pictures: very successful, and very boring.

But don't worry: we have some juicy gossip for you.

In 2009, Jon Peters proposed a tell-all expose of Hollywood, which Deadline dubbed a "vile betrayal of everyone and everything in Hollywood." (Ooh! Sounds good!) In it, Peters said Barbara Walters, a.k.a. Baba Wawa, once stripped to her bra-bra to try and seduce him.

But—sorry, guys—the book never actually came out. (Source)

One book that did come out is Hit and Run, by reporters Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters. Published in 2016, the book tells the tale of "the rise of Jon Peters, a former hairdresser, seventh-grade dropout, and juvenile delinquent, and his soulless soul mate, Peter Guber" who together ran Columbia Pictures "into the ground." (Source)

Someone make a movie of this deliciously scandalous story, please?

Oh, you say you're here for less Hollywood gossip and more about the production of Batman? Well, we have a little bit of both.

Tim Burton's Batman was intended to be a darker version of the character than the campy Adam West show of the 1960's. Fans, however, didn't think Michael Keaton—star of Mr. Mom—could do dark. Thousands of fans petitions Warner Bros. to recast the role. They protested comic conventions and booed Warner Bros. executives. (Source)

We wonder if, when Keaton proved them wrong, he was tempted to steal Joker's line "Wait 'til they get a load of me"?

Warner Bros. definitely got the last laugh. Not only did the film have subtle product placement in the form of Batman's boots, which were actually Nike Air Trainer sneakers, but they pushed over $750 million of Batman merchandise, a.k.a. Batmerch. (Source)

Oh yeah: and not only were people buying Batman-themed footie pajamas by the dozen, they were also shaving the Batman logo on their heads. That, folks, is the hallmark of a successful movie.