It’s well known that Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman was brightened for home video releases as many cinema viewers found the original prints to be “too dark”. As someone who still remembers the experience of seeing the original none-more-black Batman in the theatre as a kid, I wondered if anybody here with the necessary skills and software would be interested in creating a restoration with darker levels to resemble the original theatrical version.

Now, as far as I’m aware, there are no reference 35mm prints available to the community. But some indication of how dark the movie was originally can be glimpsed from old trailer footage and 35mm stills on ebay. While it may be impossible to recreate the theatrical look 100% faithfully with the materials available, surely any effort to take down the black levels would bring the movie closer to its original look than what we have now.

I’m just throwing the idea out there in case there is any interest.