I previously showed you a picture from Cillian Murphy‘s audition for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan‘s Batman Begins along with a look at Christian Bale‘s audition video, both from the new features on the just-released The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Well, today the entire seven minute “Ensemble” feature has been uploaded and made available directly below.
The feature includes commentary from Nolan and others as to the reasons why they went with Bale for the role, it also includes Eion Bailey‘s screen test as well as Murphy’s, both as Wayne and again as Batman. He was rightly not cast in the role, but it is fascinating to watch his interpretation. Murphy is such a talented actor, while he doesn’t fit the part the part seems to want to bend to fit him.
Additionally, The Dark Knight trilogy screenwriter David S. Goyer recently spoke at the BAFTA And BFI Screenwriters’ Lecture and spoke of how heading into Batman Begins, Chris Nolan had never read comic books and didn’t know the world of Batman and trusted Goyer to guide him. Goyer said, “I identified the ten things that remained sticky about Batman… Wrote them up and said to Chris ‘These are the 10 things that should be in the movie. Like the Ten Commandments. As long as we honor that, we’ll be good.’”
One such example Goyer referenced was Batman’s utility belt, which Nolan was curious if they actually needed it. “Early in Batman Begins [Chris Nolan] said ‘does he have to have a utility belt?’,” Goyer said. “I said ‘yes’. And he said ‘why?’ And then he showed me a design and it was all black. And I said ‘it has to be yellow’, and he said ‘oh’.”
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