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Trivia for
Batman Begins (2005)

* Before Christian Bale was cast as Batman, many other actors were considered for the role including Guy Pearce, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, John Cusack, David Duchovny and newcomer Hugh Dancy.

* 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. Christian Bale got the part. However, Christopher Nolan liked Cillian Murphy's audition so much, he cast him as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow.

* A very large number of directors were considered to direct the film. For some time, despite the fourth movie's failure, Joel Schumacher was attached to direct the film based on the Batman: Year One saga. After he left, among others, the producers opted for an even darker approach, and officially asked David Fincher to direct the film, who declined. At one point, following the Dark Knight saga, producers considered an older Batman, with Clint Eastwood taking the director duties as well as donning the cape. In 2002, producers planned to make a Superman vs. Batman movie with Wolfgang Petersen at the helm, but Petersen instead opted to make Troy (2004) for Warner's. Finally, Christopher Nolan took over the project in 2003.

* This is the first movie to use the new DC logo

* Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by at one of the sets during filming

* 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 suped-up Lncoln Towncar, and Bruce Wayne being homeless, among other things. This is all detailed in 'David Hughes' ' book "Tales from Development Hell."

* The sets were built in the Admiralty Hanger No. 2, one of the largest hangers in the world. The floor area is the size of 16 Olympic-size swimming pools.

* This Batmobile was built from the ground up, not based on any existing cars.

* The Batmobile can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds.

* The license plates for the Gotham related cars were designed in the same style as the Illinois state license plates.

* 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 Assassins.

* A quote from Christian Bale that some of the crew had on the back of their t-shirts (the wardrobe dept. did it as a joke) said: "It's hot, dark and sweaty and it gives me a headache."

* Christopher Eccleston was rumored for the role of Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow before Cillian Murphy was eventually cast.

* Chris Cooper turned down the role of James Gordon.

* Kurt Russell and Dennis Quaid were considered for the role of James Gordon.

* Viggo Mortensen turned down the role of Ra's Al Ghul, the main villain in the film. Daniel Day-Lewis was also approached for the role.

* The title went through many changes. First, it was known as "Batman 5". It became "Batman: The Frightening" for a while and was then confirmed by Shepperton Studios' website as "Batman: Intimidation Game" before settling on "Batman Begins".

* The movie restarts the Batman franchise, having nothing to do with the previous four films (Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997)).

* Anthony Hopkins was offered the role of Alfred but declined.

* Laurence Fishburne was considered for Lucious Fox.

* Filming was temporarily delayed on the London soundstage due to the sound of amorous pigeons in the rafters above.

* The crime boss Carmine "The Roman" Falcone was a character from the comics. He was Gotham City's last "old school" gangster. He was killed, and his empire wiped out, when Batman's familiar rogue's gallery came into prominence.

* Filming began on 22 May 2004 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.

* Christian Bale's trailer didn't have his name on the door but said "Bruce Wayne" instead.

* 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.

* The Batmobile has four 44-inch Humvee tires at the rear, while the front is covered in jagged plates of armor.

* On the set, the costumed Bale constantly had two people trailing him to keep the Batsuit smudge-free.

* 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."

* This Batsuit has no nipples, unlike the one George Clooney wore in Batman & Robin (1997).

* The script was written by David S. Goyer while he was also writing and preparing to direct Blade: Trinity (2004).

* 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.

* 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.

* David S. Goyer said that the graphic novels "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" by 'Joseph 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 of 2004.

* David Goyer's script leaked onto the Internet long before the film's release.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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."

* Katie Holmes barely beat Natalie Portman and Sarah Michelle Gellar for the role of Rachel Dawes.

* Baseball pitcher Dwight Gooden of NY Mets and Yankees fame plays a Gotham City police officer in the film.

* At $100 million, the film's marketing costs were the most ever for a single film in history.

* Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski were approached to direct but turned down the offer and instead made the Matrix sequels.

* This is the first Batman film to be shot in 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

* Contains 400 VFX shots