Stills from the filming and interesting facts about the film "Batman" that many people don't know about (18 photos)

In 1989, the film "Batman" from Tim Burton was released, which was an incredible success. The director managed to bring to life all the darkness of Gotham, which allowed him to take comic book movies to a new level.





1. Initially, Mel Gibson was the main candidate for the role of Batman, but he turned down the film in favor of the film Lethal Weapon 2. Also, Alec Baldwin, Pierce Brosnan and even Bill Murray auditioned for the role of the Dark Knight, but in the end the choice of director fell on Michael Keaton.



Many were unhappy with the director's choice, since Keaton was mostly a comedic actor, and few saw him as the dark Batman. However, the actor was able to prove that he is capable of portraying the role of the Dark Knight on screen. Moreover, he trained intensively for several months to perform his own stunts and fight scenes. Only in some especially dangerous moments was he replaced by an understudy.





2. Also, Adam West, who had already played this character in the 60s TV series, wanted to play the role of Batman, but he was refused due to his age (at that time he was already 60 years old). West was even hurt by this refusal, because it was he who considered himself the unique Batman.



3. Many actors auditioned for the role of the Joker, including Willem Dafoe, Tim Curry and others. But the director wanted to see Jack Nicholson in this role, although he was in no hurry to answer.



Then the studio played a trick and started a rumor that the role of the Joker had gone to Robin Williams, which prompted Nicholson to give his positive answer.



True, Robin Williams himself, having learned that his name was used without his knowledge for such mercantile purposes, was offended by the studio, and when he was offered to play the mystery man in the third film, he refused.

4. Initially, actress Sean Young was supposed to play the role of Vicki Vale, but right before filming began, she fell from a horse and broke her collarbone. Therefore, they had to look for another actress to play the role of the journalist. Michelle Pfeiffer could have played this role, but Michael Keaton did not want this, since they were dating at that time. Then Kim Basinger was cast in the role of Vicky.



But Michelle Pfeiffer appeared in the next part of Batman, playing Catwoman. At that time, the couple had already separated, so Keaton no longer spoke out against this candidacy.

5. Batman's car (Batmobile) was made on the basis of the Chevrolet Impala.

6. Unlike other actors, Jack Nicholson did not work for a fixed fee, but for a percentage of the profits from each show. Thus, Nicholson earned more than $60 million. Moreover, he continues to receive royalties from this film to this day. For this, he even got into the Guinness Book of Records at one time.



7. Initially, it was planned to introduce Robin (Batman's partner) into the film. Moreover, actor Ricky Edison Reed has already been cast for this role. But in the end this character was abandoned.

8. In the film, the Joker's name is Jack Napier. This surname was not taken out of thin air. The main villain received this surname in honor of actor Alan Napier, who played Alfred in the 60s TV series. The actor died a couple of months before filming began, so the creators decided to honor his memory in this way.



9. Tim Burton liked Ray Liotta's performance in Wild Thing so much that he wanted him in his film. Therefore, he suggested that Ray take one of three roles to choose from - Harvey Dent, Batman or the Joker. But Liotta felt that Burton would not be able to make a serious and interesting film, so he refused the offer.



True, many years later Liotta admitted that he regretted turning down Tim Burton’s offer. Quite a common occurrence in the film industry.

10. The film "Batman" was shot in record time, namely in 12 weeks. Moreover, it is worth considering that the film was filmed during the Christmas holidays, which added some difficulties.



11. The Batman costume was so heavy and uncomfortable (it weighed 30 kg) that Keaton could not move normally in it. And in order to turn his head, he had to move his whole body. Moreover, due to the tight-fitting mask, he could hear practically nothing. Also adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Keaton suffered from claustrophobia since childhood, which made him terribly uncomfortable in a tight suit.



12. Billy Dee Williams agreed to play District Attorney Harvey Dent only in order to appear in subsequent parts as Two-Face. But in the end, the role of Two-Face in the third part was played by Tommy Lee Jones.



13. The phrase “I am Batman” has become a cult and even a kind of meme, but few people know that it was not in the script. It was an improvisation by Michael Keaton, who decided to say this phrase at the very beginning of the film. In the original script, Batman was supposed to say "I am the night."



It was also Michael Keaton who suggested having Bruce Wayne sleep upside down. According to his idea, this was supposed to make the character darker and more mysterious.



14. The film decided to add more drama by making the Joker (Jack Napier) the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents. Although in the original the Joker had nothing to do with the death of young Wayne's parents.



15. Sam Hamm created the head of the League of Shadows, Henri Ducard, specifically for the film, but this character was abandoned. As a result, he migrated to comics, and then appeared in the film "Batman Begins" performed by Liam Neeson.

16. After the film was released, Tim Burton was dissatisfied with the film, considering it too boring. Yes, he said that he enjoyed working on the film and even liked many of its individual scenes, but overall he did not particularly like the film.



True, his opinion changed every year and today he considers this film to be a completely successful work.

17. Sylvester Stallone spoke out against the film "Batman", saying that this picture became an "action killer". He reasoned that now actors do not have to spend hours straining themselves in the gym, but can simply put on a suit and hang from a rope to attract an audience.

Over time, Stallone eventually changed his anger to mercy and even began to appear in comic book films himself. For example, he briefly appeared in the film Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and played the main role in the film Samaritan (by the way, he played a superhero).