Entertainment thread by @ATRightMovies

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BATMAN was released 36 years ago today. One of the earliest classic superhero movies, and among the most popular of director Tim Burton. The story of how it came to the big screen will have you dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight…

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Following the huge success of Superman in 1978, Warner Bros turned to their other huge property. Superman co-writer Tom Mankiewicz was hired to write the origin of Batman. Robin featured and the villains were the Joker and the Penguin.

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After his success with Superman, WB spoke to Richard Donner about directing. He wanted Mel Gibson as Batman.

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The first idea was to make a comedy-action film and Ivan Reitman and Joe Dante were considered as director. The studio reportedly wanted Michael J. Fox or Eddie Murphy as Robin, John Lithgow as the Joker, David Niven as Alfred and Bill Murray as Batman.

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Schedule for release in 1985, the project was shelved when producer Michael E. Uslan was booked on other work. It gathered dust for 2 years until producer Jon Peters picked it up.

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Peters spoke to David Cronenberg about directing, but he said no. On the back of huge success with Pee Wee Herman, Peters then spoke to Tim Burton. He said he’d take the job if he and his artist girlfriend, Julie Hickson, could rewrite the script.

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Burton and Hickson wrote a 30 page treatment and hired young writer Sam Hamm to pen the screenplay, with further drafts by Warren Skaaren. WB weren’t convinced by the script but when Burton’s Beetlejuice was a huge hit, they greenlit Batman.

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Tim Burton met with several actors about playing the lead, including Pierce Brosnan. Having just worked with him on Beetlejuice though, Burton only ever really wanted Michael Keaton.

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Jon Peters was on board with Keaton being cast but WB weren’t. Seeing Keaton as a comic actor, they thought Burton was planning on bringing back the comedy idea. They considered firing Burton, until he told them his vision was far from a comedy.

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Keaton’s casting announcement caused controversy among comic book fans. 50,000 letters of protest were sent to Warner Bros and Batman co-creator Bob Kane openly questioned the casting. This is Keaton when Batman won a People’s Choice Award…

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Adam West played Batman in the 1960s and also voiced his displeasure. Not with Keaton, but rather that he wanted to play Batman himself. He was 61 and said when he heard about Keaton’s casting he “cried for an hour.”

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To prepare for the role, Keaton did research into bats, lived alone in London for 1 year, and studied two texts: Frank Miller's classic comic books The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One.

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Keaton and Burton discussed at length how Bruce Wayne would keep his identity secret. Ultimately, Keaton decided to perform Batman's voice at a lower register than Bruce Wayne. This has now become a staple of screen portrayals of the character.

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Keaton came up with the famous "I'm Batman" line. The line in the script was "I am the night" but Keaton ad-libbed the line and Burton liked it.

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In casting the Joker, Jon Peters always wanted Jack Nicholson. Burton did too, but he spoke to Willem Dafoe as well. Talks with Dafoe broke down and Nicholson delayed and seemed uninterested.

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Burton approached Robin Williams and he agreed to be the Joker. When Peters heard this, he went back to Nicholson and said he was about to lose the part. Nicholson agreed to be in the film, and Williams refused to work with WB again until they apologised.

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Nicholson had to be in make up 2 hours to become the Joker. Nicholson hated it so much that they had to bring in tapes of baseball games to keep him entertained.

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Nicholson would give away his Joker gloves as signed gifts. This frustrated costume designer Bob Ringwood as he had to make another pair. Nicholson promised he would stop but never did. Ringwood estimated he remade the gloves 100+ times.

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Nicholson received a percentage of the gross on the film. And due to its massive box-office take, he made around $60m.

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Michelle Pfeiffer was asked to audition to play Vicki Vale. She was dating Michael Keaton at the time though, so declined. She returned for the sequel of course, as Catwoman.

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Sean Young was then cast as Vicki Vale. Unfortunately, she broke her collarbone practicing horse riding for a scene and had to drop. Burton had earlier been speaking to Kim Basinger. She received an emergency call 1 week before filming, and took the part.

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Don Johnson, Dale Midkiff, William Petersen and Ray Liotta were all considered for the part of Harvey Dent. Burton wanted Liotta, but he was in talks to make Goodfellas at the time.

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Burton then approached Billy Dee Williams. He took the role on the condition it was written into his contract he’d return to play Two Face. When WB were casting for Batman Forever they had to buy Williams’ contract out to hire Tommy Lee Jones.

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Burton had dyslexia and hadn’t read any Batman comics. To understand the mythology he studied Alan Moore’s Joker origin story The Killing Joke. Burton said it was the only comic book not hindered by his dyslexia.

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Burton has a cameo in the film. He plays one of the Joker’s squad of goons.

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The Joker’s name is revealed as Jack Napier. This was made up for the film as a play on the word "jackanapes", an Old English term for an idiot who looks like an ape.

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Bob Ringwood designed the Batsuit. Burton’s brief was “no tights or spandex.” Ringwood studied 200+ comic books. 28 suits, 25 capes and 6 cowls were created at a cost of $250k.

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There was some incredible miniature work on display. Both Gotham City and the Batwing were created as scale models.

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WB wanted John Williams to compose the score, but Burton wanted Danny Elfman. To get the gig he composed the famous main theme for free and when the studio heard it they were convinced.

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Jon Peters always wanted a pop soundtrack to be written by a star. He spoke to George Michael. He wanted Michael Jackson but he couldn’t commit. So he turned to His Royal Badness, Prince, to compose the music.

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The Batmobile was designed by Julian Caldow. He took inspiration from comic books and also Maclolm Campbell’s Blue Bird, which set the land speed record in 1935.

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The Batmobile was 20ft feet long, had an 8ft wheelbase, and weighed 1.5 tons. Two working cars were built and when Burton saw it, he said “where’s the door?” This is why it has a sliding cockpit.

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With the script being rewritten, there was no climax. Peters had seen Phantom of the Opera and told Burton to end the film in a cathedral. On filming it, Burton said: “Jack says 'Why am I walking up all these stairs? Where we going?' I had to tell him I didn't know."

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To test the 90 second trailer, WB showed it at a theater in California to an unsuspecting audience. It received a standing ovation and WB used that story to promote the film.

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Batman grossed $40 million in its opening weekend, the biggest of all time. Domestically, it was the highest grossing film of 1989. It became the highest grossing Batman movie and highest grossing DC film adaptation.

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To finish, some great behind the scenes shots from the Bartman set…

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If you liked our making of story on BATMAN, please share the opening post.

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BATMAN was released 36 years ago today. One of the earliest classic superhero movies, and among the most popular of director Tim Burton. The story of how it came to the big screen will have you dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight…

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BATMAN was released 36 years ago today. One of the earliest classic...

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