Batman Begins Turns 20: 11 Behind-The-Scenes Facts You Probably Never Knew
It's been 20 years since we were introduced to Christopher Nolan's dark and gritty Batman trilogy.
Leading star Christian Bale brought a whole new approach to the iconic superhero in 2005's Batman Begins, which went on to be a huge critical and commercial success, kicking off an Oscar-winning franchise that would make its way into plenty of cinephiles' top 10 lists.
Also starring Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes and Gary Oldman, Batman Begins brought a rough edge to the Dark Knight's origin story as he vowed to clean up crime in Gotham City.
As fans will no doubt be returning to the movie to mark the anniversary, here are 11 behind-the-scenes secrets you might not have known about how the film was made…
It's hard to imagine anyone else capturing the fierce intensity of Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's trilogy quite like Christian Bale, but there were a few other big names up for the role.
Those included Jake Gyllenhaal (sister of Maggie, who would later take over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes), Eion Bailey, Heath Ledger (who, of course, went on to play The Joker in The Dark Knight) and Cillian Murphy, who eventually landed the role of Scarecrow instead.
Before the role went to Cillian, director Christopher Nolan was drawn to another big name who he would go on to work with in Oppenheimer: Robert Downey Jr.
'I 100% knew you weren't the guy. In my head, that was already cast,' the director admitted to the Iron Man actor in a joint interview with The New York Times in 2024.
However, despite being a 'huge admirer' of the Marvel star's work, Nolan also confessed to being 'a little afraid' of him, claiming: 'I had heard all kinds of stories about how you were crazy. It was only a few years after the last of those stories that had come out about you.'
From 1996 to the early 2000s, Robert had been arrested several times for drug-related issues, and went on to spend 15 months in prison before turning his life around.
Christian has long been known for his drastic physical transformations in preparation for movie roles, most famously losing around 28kg in preparation for his role in The Machinist.
But within just five months of wrapping on that film, he had to bulk up again for Batman Begins, eventually reaching 220 pounds (around 99kg).
'I had to put on a great deal of weight, which was necessary for the character,' he told the BBC.
'[Batman] has no superpowers so you have to believe he's capable of this. I kind of knew I could do it. I think Chris was probably worrying far more than me. I was talking to him one time on the telephone whilst we were doing The Machinist and he'd say, 'How're you looking these days?'
He continued: 'It was, frankly, pathetic, I was down to 121 pounds and I couldn't do a single push up – this is maybe not the guy you want to cast as Batman. But we had enough time. It was an arduous journey to get there, but I managed to get into appropriate shape by the time we started filming.'
When you look at the rock solid exterior of the Batman suit, can you really blame Christian Bale for having a little trouble with acting in it?
'It's true that it's hot and sweaty wearing it, it gives you a headache, but I'm not going to complain about it because I got to play Batman!' he shared in a BBC interview.
Still, he told Vulture when the trilogy concluded that he would miss wearing the suit, despite all its problems.
'For all the discomfort and the heat and the sweat and the headaches and everything from it, when you sit back and watch the movie at the end of the day, you go: 'Well, that's fuckin' cool',' he conceded. 'I will miss that, I liked the good bit of rubber.'
While it's true that Christian Bale performed many of his own stunts in the movie, including those intense fight sequences, he drew the line at getting behind the wheel of the formidable Batmobile.
Instead, a stunt driver George Cottle took charge in those scenes, and apparently went through four Batmobiles during the filming of Batman Begins, according to The Guardian.
Meanwhile, the Batpod (the epic motorcycle-like escape vehicle that emerges from the Batmobile itself) was also secretly being designed during Batman Begins to be used in sequel The Dark Knight.
Most movie productions will utilise a second unit, which shoots sequences simultaneously that don't necessarily require the main actors, like establishing shots, cutaways or action sequences.
But Christopher Nolan decided against that, and instead was reportedly present for the whole 129 days of shooting.
'He said to the studio, 'Why would I want to direct an action film where I hire another director to direct the action?'' director of photography Wally Pfister recalled in an interview with Empire. 'It seemed insane, but it made all the sense in the world to me!'
While the fictional Gotham City is set in the US, some pretty important scenes were also shot in England and Iceland.
An especially lavish location in the UK served as the setting for Wayne Manor: a 19th century country house in Buckinghamshire called Mentmore Towers.
However as of last year, it was identified as being an at risk property by Historic England after falling into disrepair.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by M&R (@thewayoffernweh)
You might remember the scene where Christian Bale and Liam Neeson have a sword fight on a frozen lake. Well, there were a few hairy moments during that shoot in Iceland.
'I was teaching him how to fight with these little swords, and we were literally fighting at the base of this huge glacier that had a pond of ice at the front, and we had ice wranglers,' explained Liam on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
'Christian and I would be on doing our dialogue and fighting and stuff, and suddenly the ice wranglers would shout 'Stop, everybody off the ice', and we'd all come off very quick, and this glacier would move maybe two inches. And the noise that came up through the earth, and seeing this ice buckle and then settle again, was very, very frightening.'
It shouldn't come as much surprise to hear that Ridley Scott's 1982 classic Blade Runner was a huge point of reference for Christopher Nolan.
In an interview with Forbes looking back on Batman Begins, the director shared: 'From a pragmatic point of view, Blade Runner is actually one of the most successful films of all time in terms of constructing that reality using sets.
'On Batman Begins, unlike The Dark Knight, we found ourselves having to build the streets of Gotham in large part. So, I immediately gravitated toward the visual treatment that Ridley Scott had come up with, in terms of how you shoot these massive sets to make them feel real and not like impressive sets.
'And immediately we started looking at the rain, the handheld cameras, the longer lenses.'
Ahead of the film's release, production company Warner Bros. had been referring to the film with the working title Intimidation Game to keep excited fans off the scent, but they apparently never intended to use it.
In a 2005 interview with The Independent, Michael Caine, who plays butler Alfred in the franchise, shared: '[Christopher Nolan] gave me half an hour to read it, because he wouldn't let the script out of his sight.
'It was called The Intimidation Game then, and he was very secretive about it. I mean, he wouldn't leave the house until I'd finished reading, and then he took the script away.'
On first glance, those fancy names on James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmers' soundtrack may look like Latin phrases, but there's actually one key detail tying them all together.
Each track on the intense classical score is actually named after a different type of bat, ranging from Barbastella, Artibeus, Tadarida. The more you know…
This Is How Dakota Johnson Really Feels About Madame Web A Year Later
Jodie Comer Names 1 Thing She Wants To Never Do Again After Starring In Ryan Reynolds Blockbuster
Miley Cyrus Lost This Major Film Role To Selena Gomez After Penis Cake Controversy
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
9 minutes ago
- Fox News
Bill Belichick-Jordon Hudson drama revealed in new emails
Emails obtained by WRAL show Bill Belichick addressing the controversy over his romantic and professional relationship with Jordon Hudson. The relationship between the legendary coach and the 24-year-old model has drawn national scrutiny after a controversial "CBS Sunday Morning" interview. Hudson declared, "We're not talking about that" when Belichick was asked about how the couple met. Belichick claimed in one email that CBS "secretly" had a camera focused on Hudson despite the model requesting to sit off camera. "Secretly, CBS had a camera focused on Jordon where Lead producer Gabe instructed her to sit," Belichick reportedly wrote. Belichick elaborated on why the question of how they met was not answered. "I met Jordon randomly on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021. That is no secret. Jordon was not dodging the specific question regarding how we met, but rather was preventing the interview from continuing to probe into personal matters," the email said. Belichick also addressed why Hudson was present at the interview to begin with. He believed the interview would be focused on his book, "The Art of Winning: Lessons from a Life in Football." "Jordon was present at the CBS interview because David Kass, the Simon & Schuster publicist, was not there," Belichick wrote, referring to the publisher of his book. "I included Jordon in the book acknowledgments because she was a creative contributor to the book, including having the idea for formatting the 4 special pages in the book." In another email, Belichick addressed reports that he requested to have Hudson copied on every email sent to him. "Jordon and I have both a personal & professional relationship," Belchick wrote in the email. "This is not a secret. Jordon assists me with my personal media, which is why I asked UNC to forward media requests (E.G. CBS 60 Minutes) to her. Jordon has zero involvement in the UNC football program, beyond the degree that my personal media intersects with it." Belichick released a statement saying he was "surprised" about getting the questions about his relationship and that when Hudson had stepped in, she was doing her job. He went on to accuse CBS of creating a "false narrative" with so-called "selectively edited clips." CBS responded, disagreeing with Belichick's version of events. In a separate interview with ESPN, Belichick insisted Hudson is not involved with UNC football. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Seth Rogen Explains Why His ‘Gigli' Audition Tape Would 'End My Career' If It Leaked
More than 20 years after the movie that launched Bennifer, Seth Rogen recently recalled his audition for 2003's Gigli. The 3x Golden Globe nominee explained that he was 'an aspiring young actor' when he auditioned for the role of mentally challenged hostage Brian, who was ultimately portrayed by Justin Bartha in the Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy crime flick. More from Deadline Seth Rogen Scrapped 'The Studio' Episode After Celeb Cameo Fell Through Seth Rogen's Joke About Donald Trump At Breakthrough Prize Cut Out Of Awards Show Following Livestream 'The Studio's Seth Rogen And Co-Creator Evan Goldberg On The "Miracle" Of Casting Scorsese And What Ron Howard Said About His Role 'It has been a long time,' he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live of the last time he auditioned. 'And thank god it was mostly physical VHS tapes and stuff like that that was being used when I was auditioning for things, because the things I auditioned for, in retrospect, if they were out there in the world, they would end my career very, very fast, I believe.' Rogen recalled Gigli as an example. 'I auditioned for this boy with a cognitive disability. And I don't think the script was written in what, by today's standards, would be the most sensitive portrayal of a boy with a cognitive disability,' he noted. Explaining that he was eager to work with the film's 'great director' Martin Brest, Rogen said, 'I wanted to leave an impression.' 'I don't think I wore a helmet in to the audition itself, but it was at play,' he said with a laugh. 'And I'm tempted to do an impression of what I did, but I can't even do it. I can't. That's how bad it was. It's so bad. I dare not even portray what I did in this audition. Because I went for it. I saw myself at the Oscars.' Rogen added, 'Truthfully, if that tape was out [in] the world today, this would be the last interview you ever saw me do. Other than, like, my apology tour. Please, if you have it, burn it. Please sell it to me. I will buy it.' The Studio star definitely dodged a bullet, as the movie barely surpassed $7 million globally, currently holding a 6% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Best of Deadline A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg The 25 Highest-Grossing Animated Films Of All Time At The Global Box Office
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's Daughter Speaks Out About Dad's Alleged Affairs in Rare Interview
Lucie Arnaz shed new light on the moment she learned of her parents Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's divorce in a new interview Ball's friends previously mentioned Arnaz's infidelity in a 1991 PEOPLE cover story Desi died in 1986, while Ball died in 1989Lucie Arnaz got candid about her parents Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's early Hollywood marriage in rare comments made in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, which aired Sunday, June 15. Lucie, 73, said, "People say he had affairs. He never had an affair. He didn't even know these dames' names. They were hookers." CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca chimed in, asking, "They were transactional?" Lucie responded, "Yeah. He loved my mother, he loved his family. It was a very unique, weird problem to have. And I think that's the reason she stayed with him so long, is that she understood it. I don't think I could do what she did." She continued, "But somehow, at the time, with what they had, with what they needed from each other, they stuck it out as long as they could." Lucille and Desi ended their marriage and subsequently their hit television show, I Love Lucy, in 1960. Lucie was 8 years old at the time, and her younger brother Desi Jr. was 7. Lucie then recounted the moment she and her brother learned of their parents' separation. "We were at their house in Palm Springs, and they said that, 'We love each other, but being husband and wife part is broken, and we can't live together anymore.' " The actress recalled her younger brother's reaction to the news. "I remember that my brother said, 'But if it's broken, can't you just fix it? Can't you put stuff on it and fix it?' " "And they said, 'I don't think so.' The truth of it is, Mo, they were happier after they got divorced. The screaming and the arguing and all that stuff stopped," Lucie admitted. She then revealed that as a child, she felt the need to protect her famous father's image. "I was very protective of my dad, believe it or not. I felt really sorry for my dad. I felt like he was the one that got ousted." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In a 1991 PEOPLE cover story on the late couple, the late Ball's friend Lillian Briggs Winograd recalled spending time with Ball when Arnaz died in 1986 at 69. She appeared to echo Lucie's recent comments, and that in spite of Arnaz's infidelity, Ball still felt love for him years after their divorce. "At the end, we drove down to Del Mar, where she went to see Desi a few days before he died [of lung cancer on Dec. 2, 1986]. She was very, very shook-up. She left that place and broke down and said, 'That was the one love…' " Ball died three years later in 1989. She was 77. Bob Weiskopf, a longtime writer for the couple, told PEOPLE in 1991, "Basically, Desi's attitude was, 'What the hell's the matter? I love her. When I go out with women, they're usually hookers. Those don't count.' " Read the original article on People
