Batman Begins
Evil fears the knight.
Batman Begins (2005)
Production
Budget
$150 000 000
Revenue
$371 853 783
Director
Scenario
Composer
Producer
Larry J. Franco
Actors
Christian Bale
Bruce Wayne / Batman
Michael Caine
Alfred
Liam Neeson
Ducard
Katie Holmes
Rachel Dawes
Gary Oldman
Jim Gordon
Cillian Murphy
Dr. Jonathan Crane
Tom Wilkinson
Carmine Falcone
Rutger Hauer
Earle
Short description
Batman Begins follows Bruce Wayne, the heir to a wealthy Gotham City family, who witnesses his parents' murder as a child and grows up haunted by the loss. Unable to find purpose at home, he travels the world and ends up training with a secret society of warriors led by Ra's al Ghul, learning the fighting skills and discipline he will later need. When he discovers that his former teacher intends to destroy Gotham, he turns against the group and returns home, where he finds the city in the grip of organized crime and corruption. With help from his butler Alfred, detective Jim Gordon and Wayne Enterprises ally Lucius Fox, he adopts a masked identity to strike fear into the criminal underworld. Christopher Nolan directed from a screenplay he wrote with David S. Goyer. It is the fifth of the fifteen films Nolan has directed in chronological order, arriving between Insomnia and The Prestige.
Christian Bale plays Bruce Wayne, alongside Michael Caine as Alfred, Liam Neeson as Ducard, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon and Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane. Made on a budget of 150 million dollars, the film took about 374 million dollars worldwide, a solid return. Audiences rate it highly, with 8.2 out of 10 on IMDb from around 1.7 million votes and 7.7 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 23,000 votes. Critics gave it 8.1 out of 10 across 284 reviews, putting professional and audience reactions closely in line.
What's left behind the scenes
- Screenwriter David S. Goyer was working on the Batman plot simultaneously with the third installment of Blade. Incidentally, David himself really wanted Jake Gyllenhaal to play Batman, but admitted during the making of the film that the choice of Christian Bale was also very successful.
- For the role of Alfred, Christopher Nolan tried to cast Anthony Hopkins, but was refused. Hopkins previously auditioned for the role of Mr. Freeze in "Batman & Robin" (1997).
- At the Monarch Theatre, the Waynes are watching the opera 'Mephistopheles,' which was staged in the 1800s by Arigo Boiko.
- Producers invited David Fincher, but he immediately declined, explaining that everything possible had already been filmed on this topic and he was simply not interested in working with second-rate material.
- Dwight Gooden, a pitcher for the NY Mets baseball team, played the role of a Gotham City police officer.
- The film's soundtrack contains several Easter eggs from the creators – all tracks are named after various Latin species of bats, and the first letters of the track titles from 4 to 9 spell out the word BATMAN.
- Under the influence of his own fear toxin, Jonathan Crane sees Batman as a bat resembling Man-Bat.
- Before Christian Bale was chosen for the role of “Batman,” many famous actors were considered for the part. Among the candidates were Guy Pearce, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, John Cusack, David Duchovny, and many others.
- In 2002, Clint Eastwood was seriously considered as a candidate, and shortly after, the idea of making 'Batman vs Superman' (2016) emerged, with Wolfgang Petersen being considered for the director's position at the time. Petersen preferred to film the historical epic 'Troy' (2004). However, in 2003, the position was ultimately filled by Christopher Nolan.
- Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer wanted Harvey Dent, the Gotham prosecutor, to appear in the film, but soon decided they wouldn't be able to fully develop the character. Harvey Dent was then postponed for "The Dark Knight" (2008).
- Rachel Dawes was a character created for "Batman Begins." This decision confused fans, as Christopher Nolan had a large selection of love interests for Bruce Wayne that could have been chosen from the comics. The creation of Rachel wasn't intended to be something outstanding, so the director could leave his mark on the world of Batman. This happened because of Two-Face. Nolan and David S. Goyer wanted to introduce Harvey Dent in the first film, but decided they wouldn't be able to fully develop the character. As a result, Rachel was created instead of him.
- During filming, Christian Bale’s trailer didn’t have the actor’s name on the door, but instead displayed a sign reading “Bruce Wayne.”
- The start of filming was almost disrupted by pigeons, who noisily gathered on the roof of the soundstage in London at the most inopportune moment.
- There were attempts to involve Darren Aronofsky in a film based on the comic book 'Batman: Year One.' The producers' decision not to invest financial resources in the project was never fully explained, but there is a belief that the filmmakers simply didn't like the script. It featured Alfred as a Black mechanic nicknamed 'Big Al,' the Batmobile stylized as a Lincoln, and Bruce Wayne himself as a homeless man.
- Christian Bale was the first non-American actor (of Welsh nationality) to play the main character in the Batman saga film adaptation.
- A large part of the set design, representing the atmosphere of Gotham City, was built in one of the abandoned hangars.
- The death of Bruce Wayne's parents is shown exactly as it is in the original comic book. In 1989, the screenwriters had to invent the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne at the hands of the main antagonist (the Joker) in order to escalate the relationship between the main characters. In this film, however, the Wayne couple falls victim to Joe Chill (Richard Brake).
- A cameo by Larry J. Franco, who was a producer on the film "Batman Returns," can be spotted in the movie.
- As with the actors, many worthy figures could have taken the director’s chair. Despite the failure of the fourth film in the series, Joel Schumacher was not averse to taking that position. However, after some thought, the renowned director decided not to risk his reputation any further.
- Lana and Lilly Wachowski could have taken on the fifth installment of Bruce Wayne's adventures, but they preferred to work on sequels to "The Matrix".
- Kurt Russell and Dennis Quaid were equally capable of playing the role of James Gordon.
- As for the film's title, it also underwent incredible changes. Initially, it was simply "Batman 5", then "Batman: Intimidation", followed by "Batman: The Game of Fright", and finally, it received its official title – "Batman Begins".
- 10 years before this film's release, Christian Bale auditioned for the role of Robin in "Batman Forever" (1995).
- A false title for the film during production was The Intimidation Game.
- Heath Ledger was considered for the role of Batman in the early stages of the film's development. He later played the Joker in "The Dark Knight" (2008).
- Batman first appeared in the 27th issue of "Detective Comics" in May 1939.
- Katie Holmes managed to beat out such established competitors as Natalie Portman, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Amy Adams in the competition for the role of Rachel Dawes.
- The Chicago police experienced quite a few anxious moments during filming, as the vehicle attracted the attention of numerous onlookers, resulting in traffic jams wherever the film crew appeared.
- Viggo Mortensen auditioned for the role of the main villain, Ra's al Ghul.
- Only 8 actors were invited to audition for the role of Batman: Christian Bale, Joshua Jackson, Eion Bailey, Hugh Dancy, Billy Crudup, Cillian Murphy, Henry Cavill, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The role went to Bale, but Chris Nolan was so impressed with Cillian Murphy's performance that he invited him to play the role of Jonathan Crane, also known as Scarecrow. Incidentally, Christopher Eccleston desperately wanted this role.
- Laurence Fishburne could have played Lucius Fox.
- Many actors were considered for the role of Batman, including Christian Bale, and they all auditioned in Val Kilmer's costume from the film "Batman Forever" (1995).
- In early script drafts, Rachel was supposed to be a distant relative of the Grayson family (Dick Grayson being the first Robin). But Nolan removed this plot point so that fans wouldn't expect Robin to appear in subsequent films.
- Christian Bale stated that he would refuse to play Batman if Robin were introduced in any of the three films with his participation.
- Bob Hoskins and James Gandolfini were considered for the role of Carmine Falcone.
- Filming of the movie began on May 22, 2004, in the Senate (a building owned by the University of London). The front of the structure was styled to resemble the Gotham City courthouse.
- On the set, two people were assigned to help Christian Bale put on his bulky Batman suit.
- This time, the main character’s vehicle – the Batmobile – was not based on existing car models. It was created practically from scratch. According to the creators, this masterpiece of engineering can accelerate to 90 km/h in just 6 seconds.
- During urban filming on the streets of Chicago, one car crashed into the Batmobile. The driver was heavily drunk and could only shrug his shoulders: “It seemed to me that the Dark Knight descended from the heavens in his vehicle, or maybe it was aliens altogether.”
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
