I Can’t Believe How Close The Dark Knight Trilogy Came To Almost Not Happening
12 years after The Dark Knight trilogy came to a conclusion, I can"t believe how close the DC series came to almost never existing in the first place. While most live-action Batman movies have their fair share of fans, The Dark Knight series is arguably the most beloved of these, with its gritty yet emotional rendition of the Caped Crusader and the city he protects being one of the most universally resonant and significant additions to Batman"s cinematic history. That said, things weren"t always necessarily as straightforward for the movie series as it might seem looking back now.
The Dark Knight trilogy helping reset Batman"s film presence made its take on the world an especially welcome breath of fresh air, but it also meant that prior to the first film"s release, there were uncertainties about what to expect from it. As it turns out, the backdrop that came before Batman Begins was conceived of veered into the movie series itself almost not coming to pass. Given everything that"s unfolded since that point, this idea remains a particularly interesting point of the trilogy"s history, especially with the blessing of hindsight we now can have for the project this far after The Dark Knight Rises" ending.
The Story Of How Christopher Nolan Was Offered The Opportunity To Make A Batman Movie Underlines How Easily The Dark Knight Trilogy Could've Not Happened Emma Thomas' Story About The Dark Knight Trilogy's Real-Life Origin Story Shows How Easily The Opportunity Could Have Been Missed Close In The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of the Dark Knight Trilogy documentary, series producer and Christopher Nolan’s wife Emma Thomas mentions that she received the initial call from Nolan"s agent to talk about the director creating a Batman film. Thomas explains she let his agent know she didn"t think Nolan would be interested in this kind of project, with both her considerable working history with her husband and her knowledge of the prior Batman movies leading her to believe that this wasn"t something he"d be invested in. However, this was not the case, as she explained:
[indent] “I think the first time I heard that Warner Bros were looking for someone to make a Batman film, Chris was sort of looking around for something to do, and his agent called me and said Warners is looking to make another Batman film - and I was like “I don’t think there’s any world in which Chris would be interested in that…” because my reference for the movies were the previous ones and I just didn’t really see that Chris would have any interest in doing that. I just mentioned it in passing to Chris - "Hey, Dan called, he was saying this, and I didn’t think that was anything for you… right?" And he was like "No! That’s really exciting, because I’ve always thought there was a Batman story that hasn’t been told on film.”
[/indent]Given how synonymous Christopher Nolan"s name is now with the Batman movie mythos, I find it truly fascinating to get this insight into how tenuous the early days of The Dark Knight trilogy coming to fruition really were. Had Nolan not already seemingly had some solid ideas for how to approach Batman and his story on the big screen, there"s a very real chance these first ventures could have come to nothing. Similarly, the idea that the initial conversations about it were a conversation in passing also add a new light to the creation story of the series, since in another world the opportunity might have been missed.
Why It Makes Sense That Christopher Nolan Might Have Not Wanted To Make A Batman Movie The Batman Movie Backdrop Prior To The Dark Knight Trilogy Makes It Easier To See Why Nolan Might Have Not Wanted To Make The Films Close While the idea that Christopher Nolan might not have wanted to make one of the most successful movie series of all time might seem a little surreal for us to hear after it proved as immensely, genre-changingly well-received as it indeed did, this does make sense when looking at the lay of the land prior to the movies actually releasing. The original Batman movie series, though huge in its own right, had ended on a decidedly lackluster note, with Batman & Robin seeing a critical at best reception and lower box office rewards than its predecessors.
Tonally, the brighter and more gauche leanings of both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin had complicated the way audiences viewed the series, as the story went from Burton"s dark Gothic Batman and Batman Returns to increasingly different releases that were almost entirely at odds with this initial atmosphere. Since these final releases had left Batman on a note wherein audiences associated the character with more child-friendly and borderline goofy antics, it"s understandable that it may have appeared even to those very close with Nolan as though he might not want to wade in to this situation.
Though Nolan proved himself to be very much the perfect director for this era, it would have also been understandable if the director had simply not wanted to shoulder the potential burdens of reimagining Batman for a new age. While this is much of the appeal of The Dark Knight trilogy, it"s also an undertaking that clearly involved immense and sustained efforts, as well as some considerable pressure as well. While everything paid off and then some in this regard, it"s easy to see how it could"ve initially appeared like Nolan wouldn"t have wanted to handle the Batman reboot.
The Dark Knight Trilogy's Origin Story Makes It Actually Happening All The Better It's Even Better To Know That The Dark Knight Trilogy Wasn't Always A Guaranteed Thing Close Over a decade after The Dark Knight trilogy"s conclusion, the legacy of the movies is well and truly cemented, especially given both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises made over $1 billion from their respective worldwide box office runs. With The Dark Knight series now a monolith example of the potential of superhero movies - both in terms of their story and impact, and in terms of financial results - it can be easy to imagine the creation of the films and their success was always inevitable, since it"s now such an immutable fact.
As such, these insights into how The Dark Knight trilogy"s creation and success was by no means set in stone actually make the fact these movies were created - and created to such a high standard - all the more special, since it"s clear there were points along the way where the series simply could have never happened, especially so early on. Instead, the trilogy came into existence through a mixture of talent, fortitude, and a light dusting of good fortune, which serves to make its place in the annals of DC"s history even better.
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The Dark Knight trilogy helping reset Batman"s film presence made its take on the world an especially welcome breath of fresh air, but it also meant that prior to the first film"s release, there were uncertainties about what to expect from it. As it turns out, the backdrop that came before Batman Begins was conceived of veered into the movie series itself almost not coming to pass. Given everything that"s unfolded since that point, this idea remains a particularly interesting point of the trilogy"s history, especially with the blessing of hindsight we now can have for the project this far after The Dark Knight Rises" ending.
The Story Of How Christopher Nolan Was Offered The Opportunity To Make A Batman Movie Underlines How Easily The Dark Knight Trilogy Could've Not Happened Emma Thomas' Story About The Dark Knight Trilogy's Real-Life Origin Story Shows How Easily The Opportunity Could Have Been Missed Close In The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of the Dark Knight Trilogy documentary, series producer and Christopher Nolan’s wife Emma Thomas mentions that she received the initial call from Nolan"s agent to talk about the director creating a Batman film. Thomas explains she let his agent know she didn"t think Nolan would be interested in this kind of project, with both her considerable working history with her husband and her knowledge of the prior Batman movies leading her to believe that this wasn"t something he"d be invested in. However, this was not the case, as she explained:
[indent] “I think the first time I heard that Warner Bros were looking for someone to make a Batman film, Chris was sort of looking around for something to do, and his agent called me and said Warners is looking to make another Batman film - and I was like “I don’t think there’s any world in which Chris would be interested in that…” because my reference for the movies were the previous ones and I just didn’t really see that Chris would have any interest in doing that. I just mentioned it in passing to Chris - "Hey, Dan called, he was saying this, and I didn’t think that was anything for you… right?" And he was like "No! That’s really exciting, because I’ve always thought there was a Batman story that hasn’t been told on film.”
[/indent]Given how synonymous Christopher Nolan"s name is now with the Batman movie mythos, I find it truly fascinating to get this insight into how tenuous the early days of The Dark Knight trilogy coming to fruition really were. Had Nolan not already seemingly had some solid ideas for how to approach Batman and his story on the big screen, there"s a very real chance these first ventures could have come to nothing. Similarly, the idea that the initial conversations about it were a conversation in passing also add a new light to the creation story of the series, since in another world the opportunity might have been missed.
Why It Makes Sense That Christopher Nolan Might Have Not Wanted To Make A Batman Movie The Batman Movie Backdrop Prior To The Dark Knight Trilogy Makes It Easier To See Why Nolan Might Have Not Wanted To Make The Films Close While the idea that Christopher Nolan might not have wanted to make one of the most successful movie series of all time might seem a little surreal for us to hear after it proved as immensely, genre-changingly well-received as it indeed did, this does make sense when looking at the lay of the land prior to the movies actually releasing. The original Batman movie series, though huge in its own right, had ended on a decidedly lackluster note, with Batman & Robin seeing a critical at best reception and lower box office rewards than its predecessors.
Tonally, the brighter and more gauche leanings of both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin had complicated the way audiences viewed the series, as the story went from Burton"s dark Gothic Batman and Batman Returns to increasingly different releases that were almost entirely at odds with this initial atmosphere. Since these final releases had left Batman on a note wherein audiences associated the character with more child-friendly and borderline goofy antics, it"s understandable that it may have appeared even to those very close with Nolan as though he might not want to wade in to this situation.
Though Nolan proved himself to be very much the perfect director for this era, it would have also been understandable if the director had simply not wanted to shoulder the potential burdens of reimagining Batman for a new age. While this is much of the appeal of The Dark Knight trilogy, it"s also an undertaking that clearly involved immense and sustained efforts, as well as some considerable pressure as well. While everything paid off and then some in this regard, it"s easy to see how it could"ve initially appeared like Nolan wouldn"t have wanted to handle the Batman reboot.
The Dark Knight Trilogy's Origin Story Makes It Actually Happening All The Better It's Even Better To Know That The Dark Knight Trilogy Wasn't Always A Guaranteed Thing Close Over a decade after The Dark Knight trilogy"s conclusion, the legacy of the movies is well and truly cemented, especially given both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises made over $1 billion from their respective worldwide box office runs. With The Dark Knight series now a monolith example of the potential of superhero movies - both in terms of their story and impact, and in terms of financial results - it can be easy to imagine the creation of the films and their success was always inevitable, since it"s now such an immutable fact.
As such, these insights into how The Dark Knight trilogy"s creation and success was by no means set in stone actually make the fact these movies were created - and created to such a high standard - all the more special, since it"s clear there were points along the way where the series simply could have never happened, especially so early on. Instead, the trilogy came into existence through a mixture of talent, fortitude, and a light dusting of good fortune, which serves to make its place in the annals of DC"s history even better.
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