Joel Schumacher, who is responsible for, among other things, "Little Bites", "Time to Kill", "On the Way Down" and two films from the Super Heroes series passed away after battling cancer

• Joel Schumacher

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Film director Joel Schumacher, who directed the blockbuster "Batman Forever," passed away today (Monday) and is 80 years old.

Schumacher, a Jewish-American of Swedish descent, died in his New York apartment after battling cancer, his executives said.

Schumacher began his film career as a costume designer in the 1970s and later wrote screenplays for "The Magician" starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson and television adaptation of the "Phantom of the Opera" musical. He began directing in the 1980s, including "Little Bites" and "Silence Line" and culminated when he took over the Batman Film Corporation after the two successful films directed by Tim Burton.

1995's "Batman Forever" starring Val Kilmer as the bat man was successful with $ 336 million at the box office, but the "Batman and Robin" pledge with George Clooney failed to restore success and slaughtered criticism. He also directed two adaptations for John Grisham's books, "The Customer" with Susan Sarandon and "Time to Kill" with Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock and the movie "On the Down" starring Michael Douglas.

In the 2000s, he gradually began to reduce his work and the last time he sat in the director's chair was in two episodes of Netflix's "House of Cards" in 2013.