Batmancover Frank Miller Says His Batman Movie Would Be ?Much Smaller? The cinematic history of Batman has been a relatively short one compared to his extensive and varied seventy-seven year comic book history. The movies have only truly been in regular production for the past twenty-seven years (off and on), with the exception of the 1966 Batman movie, which was primarily created to promote the then-new television series. The darker version of Batman that fans have been treated to since the days of Tim Burton were largely thanks to the legendary comic book writing of Frank Miller.