Christian Bale's active dislike of his uncomfortable Batman outfit helped his performance as the Dark Knight as he was perpetually in a foul mood when wearing it.
Christian Bale revealed in interviews in 2009 that in his first ever scene with Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman (one involving Bale waking up in bed to find them waiting there), he fell asleep after getting ready for the scene. Bale described waking up to find Michael Caine poking him in the ribs, saying "Look at that! He's bloody fallen asleep".
While shooting on the streets of Chicago, a person accidentally crashed into the Batmobile. The driver was apparently drunk, and said he hit the car in a state of panic, believing the Dark Knight's vehicle to be an invading alien spacecraft.
Director Christopher Nolan is reputed to have been so fascinated with Cillian Murphy's bright blue eyes, that he kept trying to find reasons/ways to have Crane remove his glasses.
The language used by actor Ken Watanabe is neither Japanese nor Tibetan, or in fact any known language at all. It's just some gibberish he says he made up himself for the role.
When Christian Bale and Liam Neeson were fighting on the frozen lake they could hear the ice cracking beneath their feet. The next day, the lake was completely melted.
Although Christian Bale performed many of his own stunts, he wasn't allowed anywhere near the Batmobile.
Before the shooting began, Christopher Nolan invited the whole film crew to a private screening of Blade Runner (1982). After the film he said to the whole crew, "This is how we're going to make "Batman"."
Only days before the role of Batman was cast, eight actors were asked to audition for the part. The actors were Christian Bale, Joshua Jackson, Eion Bailey, Hugh Dancy, Billy Crudup, Cillian Murphy, Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal. While Bale won the part, Christopher Nolan liked Murphy's audition so much, he cast him as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow. Part of the audition process involved the actors wearing a Batman mask and an old mask used by Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995) was brought out of storage for this purpose.
"Batman Begins" inspired James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccolli to reboot the James Bond franchise and reinventing the character of British secret agent James Bond and making him much darker and more realistic.
In an interview with Moviefone, Christian Bale said that he became interested in playing Batman after a friend of his loaned him the graphic novel "Arkham Asylum" (by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean) in 2000. After he read it, he told his agent that if anyone was making another Batman movie, he wanted in.
Since Alfred's sense of duty and loyalty towards Bruce Wayne reminded him of the comradeship that exists in the military, Sir Michael Caine based his character's voice on that of a colonel he knew when he was in the army as an 18-year-old.
Christian Bale lost his voice three times during filming after altering his voice while playing Batman.
Christian Bale decided early on in the audition process that he didn't want to play Batman straight but to play him as a rage-filled monster, figuring that it might polarize Christopher Nolan. To his delight, Nolan was thrilled with his off-kilter interpretation.
During interviews with Christian Bale whilst promoting the movie, he continued using the American accent he'd adopted to play Bruce Wayne/Batman. He explained that he didn't want potential moviegoers to be confused about why Batman, an American institution, was being played by an Welshman. However, this may not be the whole truth, as Bale rarely gives an interview in his native Welsh accent. It is believed that this is because Bale is always using whichever accent is required for his next role, which reflects his commitment as a method actor.
The 2006 Forbes Fictional 15 ranks Bruce Wayne as the 7th richest fictional character with a net worth of approximately $6.8 billion.
Christian Bale's trailer didn't have his name on the door but said "Bruce Wayne" instead.
An unforeseen problem with the ninja training academy was that Liam Neeson towered over the rest of the men. This was swiftly solved by putting most of the ninjas on wooden blocks.
According to DC Comics, Batman stands 6'2" and weighs 210 lbs. Christian Bale stands 6'0-1/2" (according to his IMDb profile) and at the time of filming weighed 210 lbs.
Due to his part in The Machinist (2004), Christian Bale was vastly underweight (about 120 pounds on his 6 foot+ frame) when he was under consideration for the part. After being cast, he was told to become as "big as you could be" by Christopher Nolan. Bale underwent a 6 month dietary and exercise regimen and ending up weighing about 220 pounds (about 40 pounds above his normal weight). It was decided that Bale had become too large (friends of his on the film's crew dubbed him "Fatman") and he quickly shed about 20 pounds to have leaner, more muscular frame. Bale described the experience as an unbearable physical ordeal.
Contrary to the previous Batman films, in which the Batcave was realized as a combination of a live set and matte paintings (done either by hand or computer), no visual effects were used in this film to show the Batcave. The entire Batcave is instead a massive full-scale set.
Hans Zimmer named the tracks in the soundtrack after types of Bats. The first letters of tracks 4-9 in the soundtrack, spell "BATMAN". ("Barbastella", "Artibeus", "Tadarida", "Macrotus", "Antrozous" and "Nycteris")
Much of Batman's gear and apparel, including his cape and suit, is based on actual military technology.
At the time of this film's release, Forbes Magazine did a breakdown of how much it would actually cost to become Batman. The magazine estimated that total expenses in US dollars would be around $3.5 million.
First live action appearance by Scarecrow, a villain dating back to Batman's earliest comic stories. While considered for the 1960s TV series he was never used, and was to be the main villain in the fifth Burton/Schumaker film that was shelved.
David S. Goyer mentioned in an interview that his favorite pre-audition choice for Batman was Jake Gyllenhaal, but that he was won over by Christian Bale after seeing his test.
Marilyn Manson, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor and Jeremy Davies were considered for the role of Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow.
All the big name cast members were initially not told that the movie was a Batman movie as the script they were sent was titled "The Intimidation Game". Michael Caine commented that when he first saw the title, he assumed the script was some kind of gangster movie.
A pair of Batman pajama bottoms can be seen hanging from the line in the scene where Batman talks to the little boy in the Narrows.
The cape was made with a technique called electrostatic flocking, taught to the crew by the British Ministry of Defense and normally used to decrease the night-vision visibility of objects. Nylon parachute fabric was brushed with glue and covered with fine hair-like material. An electrostatic current was then passed under the material, creating a dark sheen while maintaining the billowing appearance.
The first day of filming that Christian Bale tried on the Batsuit, he stayed in it all day in an effort to get used to it.
In a 2012 interview, Christopher Nolan admitted that he invented the line "rub your chest, your arms will take care of themselves," spoken by Henri Ducard/R'as Al Ghul (Liam Neeson) after Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) falls into the frozen lake, and that it has no scientific basis, adding that he imagined "Boy Scouts everywhere freezing to death" because they took the advice literally thanks to Neeson's convincing delivery.
Heath Ledger was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman during the film's early development before being cast as The Joker in the sequel The Dark Knight (2008), a role that won him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Director Christopher Nolan decided that there would be no second unit, and so for the whole of the one hundred and twenty nine shooting days Nolan oversaw every shot of the film personally.
Christian Bale had read some of the graphic novels long before he played Batman. He said that in the year 2000 a friend lent him a copy of the graphic novel "Arkham Asylum," which he thoroughly enjoyed and made him wonder why that version of Batman hadn't been portrayed on screen. In preparing for the role Bale said he made a conscious effort to avoid watching the performances of previous Batman actors so he could approach the character from a fresh perspective.
Director Christopher Nolan originally didn't want to give Scarecrow a mask. Screenwriter David S. Goyer was able to talk him into it.
The house which served as the setting of "Wayne Manor" in the film was Mentmore Towers, the former Rothschild estate located in Buckinghamshire, England. The mansion served as the O'Connells' home in The Mummy Returns (2001), and has also been featured in such other films as Brazil (1985), Slipstream (1989), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Quills (2000), Ali G Indahouse (2002), and Johnny English (2003).
The title went through many changes. First, it was known as "Batman 5". It became "Batman: The Frightening" for a while. To prevent script leaks, they were titled "Intimidation Game" to throw off the public, before settling on "Batman Begins".
Ashton Kutcher was in heavy considerations for the role of Bruce Wayne and was reportedly the studio executives' choice for the same. Nolan however, was not enthusiastic about the idea of casting Kutcher in the role which prompted Warner Bros. studio heads to drop the idea. Kutcher's casting would have lead to a controversy similar to the one that sparked the 1989 Batman movie when Michael Keaton, a comic actor, was cast as Batman (see Batman (1989) trivia).
Ra's Al Ghul is Arabic for "The Demon's Head". This refers to his position at the height of the Brotherhood of the Demon, also called the League of Shadows. Al-Ghul translates to The Ghoul in Arabic but generally is summarised as Demon.
When the prisoners are all released from Arkham, briefly visible is Mr. Zsasz, a serial killer from the comics with tally marks scarred into his skin, representing each of his victims. Mr. Zsasz also appears in the courtroom in the beginning of the film where he is being transferred to Arkham Asylum by Dr. Crane.
This is the only Batman movie (both live action and animated) to celebrate Bruce Wayne's birthday. He turns 30 - you can see a big '30' in the background when Rachel comes by to give him his present.
The first and only Batman film in the Nolan Trilogy to utilize "flash fighting". Christopher Nolan has said that the idea was to convey Batman's strikingly fast fighting abilities and make him seem quick and a formidable opponent. It was not however, utilized in the sequels.
Christopher Nolan would generally shoot the fight scenes with the actors doing as much of the stunts as physically possible (in the case of Christian Bale and Liam Neeson, that was pretty much all of them). He would then shoot the same fight sequences with the stuntmen for coverage.
Christian Bale was the first actor to meet with Christopher Nolan about playing Batman.
First Batman movie in which Gotham City scenes were filmed on location in an actual city as opposed to on a set, or images via stock footage. While the on location scenes were filmed in Chicago, Gotham City of the comics is based on New York City, and in fact the name Gotham is a colloquial for New York.
The Batmobile, 9 feet wide and 16 feet long, has a top speed of 106 miles per hour and can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds. The engine is a 5.7 liter V8 Chevy. It runs on unleaded gas and can do about 7 miles per gallon. It has four 44-inch tires at the rear, made by Interco Tire Corp, while the front is covered in jagged plates of armor. It was designed and built by Chris Corbould and Andrew Smith at Shepperton Studios in England. This Batmobile was built from the ground up and is estimated to be worth half a million pounds. It was designed by mashing together several different off-the-shelf model kits; its construction was so exacting to the model that they even duplicated the blobs of excess glue.
A quote from Christian Bale that some of the crew had on the back of their t-shirts (the wardrobe department did it as a joke) said: "It's hot, dark and sweaty and it gives me a headache."
Filming was temporarily delayed on the London soundstage due to the sound of amorous pigeons in the rafters above.
On the set, the costumed Christian Bale constantly had two people trailing him to keep the Batsuit smudge-free.
The "daylight" coming through the windows of Wayne Manor was created by a single 100,000-watt floodlight which weighed nearly 400 pounds.
The movie references the comic, Batman Year One by Frank Miller with Detective Flass, the corrupt cop, being partnered with James Gordon. It further follows the storyline by showing Gordon refusing to turn in the corrupt cops.
Instances with just one or two bats in the shot (such as the single bat gone astray inside Wayne's mansion) uses real bats, but each scene with a flock of bats had to be done using CG bats, since it was decided too difficult to control that many bats at once.
The writers considered having Harvey Dent in the film but inserting him would have been too unwieldy.
In the previous Batman films, the Oscar winners played the villains. In this one, the Oscar winners are on the heroes' side: Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox and Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
A significant portion of the main cast consists of European actors performing American accents for their parts. Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman) is Welsh; Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon) is English; Cillian Murphy (Dr. Jonathan Crane) is Irish; Tom Wilkinson (Carmine Falcone) is English; Rutger Hauer (Earle) is Dutch; Linus Roache (Thomas Wayne) is English; and Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth) is British.
Unlike most characters on the movie, Rachel Dawes, played by Katie Holmes, doesn't exist in "Batman" or any other DC Comics' series. She was created by director Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer. The role was written expressly for Katie Holmes, with Claire Danes and Reese Witherspoon as backup considerations.
During filming of the scene where Batman is being towed by a train through the streets of Gotham, so much steam was used that it would "rain" on the cast and crew for several minutes after each take.
The first live action Batman film produced and released after the death of Batman creator Bob Kane in 1998. This is also the first film to not have Kane as project consultant.
The only film in Christopher Nolan's trilogy where Batman utilizes bats. Specifically, to overwhelm the SWAT Team to hinder their efforts in pursuing him.
In the movie, Bruce Wayne is shown arriving at a fancy hotel in a Lamborghini Murciélago. The word "murciélago" is Spanish for bat (although the car itself was named after a prized bull owned by Don Antonio Miura, who had nothing to do with bats).
Early work on the script and the production design was conducted in the back of Christopher Nolan's garage. During the writing process, Nolan and David S. Goyer sometimes took walks near the site of the original Batcave from Batman (1966).
Laurence Fishburne was considered for the role of Lucius Fox.
Anthony Hopkins was offered the role of Alfred but declined.
The first film directed and written by Christopher Nolan to be rated PG-13 in the United States.
Initially Christopher Nolan wanted to cast Gary Oldman as a villain and Chris Cooper as Gordon. Cooper, however, wanted to spend more time with his family so Nolan hit on the unusual idea of casting Oldman as a character who was not a baddie.
The Gotham Police cruisers' color scheme is based on that of the New York Police Department. Gotham is meant by Bob Kane to be a caricature of New York City.
Batman's journey to Tibet, and his ninja training, were both elements introduced into the comic book by writer James Owsley in Batman #431 (March, 1989). The series editor, Denny O'Neil, made the issue part of the Batman Writers Bible that he would hand out to each new writer on the series, thus confirming the story's place in canon.
First live action appearance by Lucius Fox, who was created in the comics in 1979. Fox was previously depicted in the various Batman animated series during the 1990's and early 2000's.
Christian Bale had to perform 16 separate fights in the course of the film.
This is the only film in the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy to not feature super-villains that previously appeared in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher series.
This is the first Batman movie in which the name of Bruce Wayne (Batman) is not changed for the Spanish version to Bruno Díaz. The name Bruno Díaz has been used for the Latin American audience since the early Batman Comics that come to South America back in the 50's
The license plates for the Gotham related cars were designed in the same style as the Illinois state license plates. This was done to stay consistent with other vehicle license plates while filming the car chases in Chicago.
Christian Bale's older sister, Louise Bale, portrayed Bruce Wayne's mother, Mrs. Wayne, in the 2003 short The Death of Batman (2003).
According to an interview with production designer Nathan Crowley, the waterfall guarding the entrance to the Batcave was originally meant to cover a solid rock wall, which Batman's enemies would slam into when attempting the jump in. The rock wall would have been opened with a button inside the Batmobile, but the sequence was cut before filming began.
Before Christopher Nolan took over, director Darren Aronofsky was attached to make a Batman movie based on the graphic novel "Batman: Year One" and have the author Frank Miller write the screenplay. By 2003 there was a first draft screenplay with story boards, which are properties of AOL Time Warner. Warner's decision for not producing the film is unknown, but based on the details that have since leaked out, it would probably have to do with the screenplay, which strayed a considerable amount from the source material, making Alfred an African-American mechanic named "Big Al," the Batmobile being a souped-up Lincoln Towncar, and Bruce Wayne being homeless, among other things. This is all detailed in David Hughes' book "Tales from Development Hell."
When Christopher Nolan asked Hans Zimmer to provide the score, Zimmer asked him if he could also bring on board James Newton Howard. The two composers had been meaning to work together for some time and this felt like the perfect project for two composers with its bi-polar lead character.
For the IMAX version, some of the theatres running older IMAX equipment, the credits for the movie wouldn't fit on the platters. IMAX and the theatres had to get special permission from Warner Brothers to show the movie without the credits.
The name of Arkham Asylum is inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. It was first incorporated into Batman's comic books in the mid-1970s.
A full city block of Gotham - much of it based on the slums of Kowloon in Hong Kong which were torn down in 1994 - was built in a converted aircraft hangar.
Amy Adams read for Rachel Dawes during Christian Bale's screen test. She would go on to play Lois Lane in Man of Steel (2013) eight years later.
Keanu Reeves was considered for the role of Batman and even expressed interest in the press when the project was in development.
While filming in Lower Wacker Drive, in Chicago, Illinois, the filmmakers were so concerned for the care of the Batmobile, that they told the stunt driver to take as much time as he needed to make any move. Therefore, when it came time to back the Batmobile up, they went so slow as to cause traffic jams that had to be reported on the news. Simply moving the Batmobile around Chicago took numerous police as well as caused traffic jams where ever they went.
David S. Goyer said that the graphic novels "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" by Jeph Loeb were a huge influence on his screenplay. When he was asked the question, "What about Frank Miller's "Year One"?", he replied, "Our story is not "Year One"." An early draft of David S. Goyer's script leaked onto the Internet in April 2004.
During production, DC Comics commissioned well known Batman artists to give their interpretation of the Dark Knight. The results were shown to Christopher Nolan and the cast to help give them a better idea of where the comic artists were coming from. Among the artists were James Jean, Jock, Tommy Lee Edwards and John Paul Leon.
Before Christian Bale, David Boreanaz was the original choice for the role of Bruce Wayne.
The only film in the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy to incorporate the word "Batman" on its title. Its sequels, The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), however, use "The Dark Knight", one of the most known Batman nicknames instead.
Lana Wachowski (formally Larry) and Andy Wachowski were approached to direct, and even wrote their own treatment based on Frank Miller's graphic novel "Batman: Year One", but turned down the offer and made The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003) instead.
There is no reference in Batman Begins to Ra's Al Ghul having any daughters; however, his daughter Talia is mentioned in the novelization by Ra's & Talia's creator Denny O'Neil.
A second stage Scarecrow look was created for the hallucination scenes but was never shown on film. The mask was more organic and tighter around the actor's face.
The script was written by David S. Goyer in the seven weeks before he was due to direct Blade: Trinity (2004), which he also wrote. Director Christopher Nolan took over the writing chores from there.
Crime boss Carmine "The Roman" Falcone was a prominent character in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's comic book Batman: Year One. His story was continued and resolved in Jeph Loeb's comic book epic The Long Halloween.
On a converted parking lot at Shepperton, the film crew built an entire village of trailers where chemists and costume artists made neoprene-and-foam-latex Batsuits. The place was dubbed "Cape Town."
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Rachel McAdams were considered for the part of Rachel Dawes.
The National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) which is based in Mill Hill, England is used for the outside shots and images of Arkham Asylum.
A possible influence (apart from 'The Dark Knight Returns' graphic novel) in the Tumbler's design is the F-117 Nighthawk, sharing similar features, specifically the use of odd angles around the body used for stealth (although the Tumbler might use them to disperse kinetic energy from bullets and explosives) and almost jet-black color.
Michael Caine took his screen name from The Caine Mutiny (1954), which featured José Ferrer, uncle of previous Batman George Clooney, and the first actor considered for the role of the Joker in the 1960s television series.
Stuntdriver George Cottle went through four Batmobiles during the making of the film.
With this film, Christopher Nolan would begin the practice of showing all of his movie's credits at the end of the movie including the movie's title. Although Nolan's Following (1998) followed a similar practice of showing credits in the end, it did show the title of the movie at the start.
Guy Pearce was considered for the role of Henri Ducard.
At the time this film came out, Katie Holmes had become quite publicly involved with Tom Cruise. Ten years before, Cruise's previous wife, Nicole Kidman, appeared in Batman Forever (1995).
In Brazil, dubber Márcio Seixas is the official voice of both Rutger Hauer and Michael Caine, and the regular voice of Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman. Plus, he provides the voice of the character Bruce Wayne/Batman in many cartoons. For this movie, he voiced only Caine.
Gary Oldman, who portrays Lt. James Gordon, is one of the few Gotham City Police Officers not on the take from mob boss Carmine Falcone. However, in "Romeo is Bleeding", Gary Oldman portrays a corrupt police officer who, not only accepts bribes from, but does bidding for a mafia Don, also named Falcone.
The UK censors, the BBFC, viewed the film at the request of the distributors during post-production. The sound mix was incomplete. Warners were keen to get a 12A rating (to match the US PG-13) and the BBFC advised them that in order to avoid a higher rating, "care should be taken with the final sound mix so as not to play up the sound of blows and to avoid more bone crunching sound effects" in a number of scenes. Because the BBFC examiners did not advise the distributors to specifically reduce any of the sound effects, as the sound mix was incomplete at the time of the viewing, this film was passed 12A with no cuts made. This same version was released worldwide, with the cuts discussed in full on the SBBFC website for students.
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman; and four Oscar nominees: Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Ken Watanabe and Tom Wilkinson.
One of two comic book movies Rutger Hauer appeared in in 2005. The other was Sin City (2005).
The character Rachel Dawes does not exist in the batman comics. She was created for Nolan's purposes in the plot of his trilogy.
Although Henry Cavill auditioned for the role of Batman, he would later go on to play Clark Kent a.k.a Superman in Man of Steel (2013).
Production designer Nathan Crowley said that the design of the Batmobile was largely influenced from the design seen in Frank Miller's graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns". The incarnation of the Batmobile was given the nickname "The Tumbler" by both filmmakers and Miller.
The key "combination" that Bruce plays on the piano to open the secret entrance to the Bat Cave is comprised of three, two-note chords, starting three octaves above middle-C. The keys he presses are D-E, D-E (up an octave), and G-A. However, the tones heard in the soundtrack are actually a half-step down from the correct tones for the notes he plays. This may simply be a post-production soundtrack adjustment or variance, but could also be that the piano was tuned a half-step down, which is sometimes done on older pianos to reduce the 18-20 tons of string tension stress on their framing.
In "Batman Begins" (2005), Batman rescues Rachel Dawes and is evading the police with the Batmobile/Tumbler on I-17 in Gotham City. The city fictitiously exists on the eastern starboard of the United States. The real I-17 is 146 miles long and exists entirely in the state of Arizona, linking Phoenix to Flagstaff.
The character Ra's al Ghul was co-created by comic-book writer/editor Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams. O'Neil also wrote the Batman Begins (2005) novelization.
Prior to filming, Christopher Nolan told Christian Bale that if people were supposed to believe he was Batman, he would have to gain weight. Christian took his advice, but actually ended up gaining too much weight. He then had to lose weight in order to fit in the Batsuit.
The opera that young Bruce attends with his parents is "Mefistofele", composed in the mid-1800s by Arrigo Boito.
The name of the commissioner on the film is "Loeb". However, this is NOT a reference to comic book writer Jeph Loeb, author of the graphic novels "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory", but rather simply the canonical name of the Gotham City police commissioner when Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham. This is shown in Frank Miller's Year One, which actually influenced both "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" and was published nearly a full decade before either of these. Additionally unlike the comics, Loeb is not a corrupt officer in the film.
Andrew Kevin Walker was interviewed by Nolan to write the script.
Josh Hartnett turned down the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
When Warner Bros. was considering "Batman: The Frightening" as the title, a script was released online that was widely believed to be official. Two writers, Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias, were credited on the draft, but both denied writing it. The author was later discovered to be Brandon Gaines.
First credited theatrical film of Jack Gleeson. His very first film appearance was in _Reign of Fire (2002), with an uncredited role. Christian Bale also appears in that movie.
The only film out of either the Nolan series or the Burton/Schumacher series where none of Batman's vehicles are dismantled.
In the mid 1999, Warner Bros. hired Darren Aronofsky to write and direct Batman: Year One, which was to be the fifth film in the Batman franchise. Aronofsky, brought Franck Miller to co-write Year One with him .Aronofsky collaborator Matthew Libatique was set as cinematographer ,moreover he wanted to shoot the film in TOKYO for doubling Gotham city. Aronofsky wanted to cast Clint Eastwood for the role of Batman.However, Warner Bros was not happy with the script due to the differences from the source materiel and did not green-lit the film.
Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer and Nathan Crowley set up shop in Nolan's garage to work on the screenplay. They had to vacate the premises on the day that the cleaner came as the garage simply became too hot with the washing machine and drier going.
Joe Pantoliano revealed in an interview that he turned down the role of Detective Flass citing him as an unimportant character.
The Bat Symbol at the beginning of each film in the trilogy foreshadows something that happens later. In this case the Bat Symbol is made up of bats and it symbolizes Batman using the sonar to call the Bats to distract the cops while he escapes from Arkham Asylum with Rachel.
This film's origin sequence in Tibet, while present in some later 1980's comic books, ultimately derives from the Shadow's (Lamont Cranston/Kent Allard) oriental scholarship.
M. Night Shyamalan was at one point considered to write and direct the film but turned it down.
As of 2014, the only feature length film directed by Christopher Nolan not released in an even numbered year.
Christopher Nolan planned his "Batman" reboot to be a trilogy. "Batman Begins" is the first installment.
On 22 May 2004 filming took place at Senate House (a property belonging to the University of London, just off Russell Square). The front of the building was made up as the Gotham City courts, complete with New York-style taxis and Gotham Police Department cars.
The sets were built in the Admiralty Hangar No. 2 at Cardington, one of the largest hangars in the world. The floor area is the size of 16 Olympic-size swimming pools. The No. 2 shed was assembled at the site in 1928 to house the British airship R100.
The three notes that Bruce Wayne plays on the piano keyboard after speaking with Rachel Dawes sound suspiciously like the "Whap", "Biff", "Oooof" sound effect from the original "Batman" theme.
The boy who Bruce Wayne gives the fruit to, after he steals it at the market, is wearing an old Sheffield United shirt. This is the only time football is referenced in the movie.
Early in the writing process, production designer Nathan Crowley was brought on board to spitball ideas.
Alexandra Bastedo's last role in a theatrical feature.
Cameo
John Nolan, Christopher Nolan:
the birthday party guest who tells Bruce Wayne that "the apple has fallen very far from the tree."
Lucy Russell:
The female lead from Following (1998), Christopher Nolan's first film. She plays a guest in the restaurant, and has the second most lines of any female in the movie, second only to Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes).
Jeremy Theobald:
The male lead from Following (1998), Christopher Nolan's first film. He plays the younger of the two Gotham Water Board Technicians.
Larry J. Franco:
police officer during the chase sequence.
Spoilers
In the early minutes of each film in the trilogy the main villain (Ra's Al Ghul, Joker, Bane) disguises himself as one of his own henchmen and there is a conversation about said villain in each scene.
The Joker playing card presented to Batman at the end of the film is replica of the Joker Card from the 1989 graphic novel "Arkham Asylum" by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. It carries an evidence label, this label reads that the officer who discovered it was a J. Kerr, one of the Joker's favorite aliases (Joe Kerr) in the comic books.
Ducard's line "But is Ra's Al Ghul immortal?" is an in-joke, since the comic book version of the character is over 600 years old (and has been killed and resurrected many times) thanks to a device called the Lazarus Pit. Christopher Nolan chose to eschew all fantasy elements from his version of Batman.
Christian Bale is the youngest actor to play Batman, being 30 at the time he played the character. Michael Keaton and Adam West were 38 years old when they played Bruce Wayne in Batman (1989) and Batman (1966), meanwhile Val Kilmer and George Clooney were both 36 years old for Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), respectively.
This is the only Batman film in the Nolan series that does not open with a criminal or supervillain committing some sort of crime.
Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) and Batman's (Christian Bale) first encounter is more like Batman: The Animated Series: Nothing to Fear (1992) than the comics. Both titles feature Batman trying to foil Scarecrow's arson attempt, failing and being drugged by the villain's fear toxin.
A clue to Ducard's true identity is given by the fact that his twin mustaches are the same shape as Ra's Al Ghul's trademark goatees.
Despite not being "Year One", there are a few references to Year One. The line "You're a good cop. One of the few," Batman using sonar (hidden in his boot heel) to call on the bats while being attacked by police, and the ending (although done differently) where Batman's "next case" is The Joker).
In the comics Ra's Al-Ghul is Middle Eastern, however he is portrayed by Ken Watanabe (who is Japanese) and Liam Neeson (who is Irish).
In the shot of the newspaper. the story about Bruce Wayne's mansion burning down is credited to Julie Ochipinti, the name of the movie's assistant set decorator.
In Wayne Manor, Ra's Al Ghul says that Jonathon Crane doesn't know the plan and that Crane thinks the plan is to hold the city for ransom. In "The Dark Knight Rises"(2012) Bane publicly holds the city ransom for the League of Shadows.
In each part of the trilogy Batman/Bruce Wayne has either a Friend who turns into the villain and vice versa. Batman Begins (2005) Ra's Al Ghul trains Bruce Wayne then turns against him/Batman in Gotham/Arkham The Dark Knight (2008) Harvey Dent/Two-Face is an Ally of Bruce Wayne then after opposes Batman blaming him for Rachel's death and his transformation. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Catwoman/Selina Kyle initially steals from Bruce Wayne (Lamborghini & Necklace), then tricks him into Banes underground hiding. Near the end she sides with Batman over Bane Also Miranda is initially an ally of Bruce Wayne/Wayne enterprises. Near the end she reveals herself to be the villain all along