Batman (Michael Keaton)

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Gotham City: dark, dangerous, 'protected' only by a mostly corrupt police department. Despite the best efforts of D.A. Harvey Dent and police commissioner Jim Gordon, the city becomes increasingly unsafe...until a Dark Knight arises. We all know criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot...so his disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. He becomes a bat. Enter Vicky Vale, a prize-winning photo journalist who wants to uncover the secret of the mysterious "bat-man". And enter Jack Napier, one-time enforcer for Boss Grissom, horribly disfigured after a firefight in a chemical factory...who, devoid of the last vestiges of sanity, seizes control of Gotham's underworld as the psychotic, unpredictable Clown Prince of Crime...the Joker. Gotham's only hope, it seems, lies in this dark, brooding vigilante. And just how does billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne fit into all of this?

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Adam West (the star of the TV series "Batman") wanted to play Batman, but Michael Keaton was given the role after getting the nod from Bob Kane, the creator of the original Batman comic strip.

Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale, but broke her collarbone while filming a horse-riding scene with Michael Keaton. The scene was subsequently written out of the script.

Set designer Anton Furst deliberately mixed clashing architectural styles to make Gotham City the ugliest and bleakest metropolis imaginable.

Michael Keaton worked out for two months to prepare for the role, and learned kickboxing from his stunt double, David Lea. Keaton performed most of the fights himself, and one of the few scenes in which Lea stood in for him is during the fight in the alley with the swordsman.

Director Tim Burton and Michael Keaton did a lot of re-writing during production. The most notable re-write is the opening scene in which Batman says, "I'm Batman." In the script Batman was to reply "I am the night." The other notable re-write is the showdown between Batman and the Joker.

The first draft of this movie was written in 1980 by Superman (1978) co-writer Tom Mankiewicz and told the story of Batman's and Robin's origins. The villains were The Joker and The Penguin, and Rupert Thorne and Barbara Gordon were also to appear. At the end Robin was to appear in costume (much like Batman Forever (1995)). It was going to be released in 1985 with a budget of $20 million, but with producers Michael E. Uslan and Benjamin Melniker booted off the production, the project was shelved until 'Jon Peters' and Peter Guber picked it up. In 1985, after the surprise success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), the studio offered the job to Tim Burton. Unsatisfied with the Mankiewicz script, Burton and his then girlfriend Julie Hickson wrote a 30-page treatment of the project. This treatment was approved by both the producers and studio. In 1986 Burton met Sam Hamm, who had just received a two-year contract with WB, and gave him the job of writing a screenplay based on Burton's and Hickson's treatment. However, the writing process stretched too long and Hamm couldn't write further drafts of the script because of the writers strike. In his place, Burton got Beetle Juice (1988) co-writer Warren Skaaren to continue writing. Nearly three years after working on the project Burton didn't get the film greenlit until the box-office result of "Beetle Juice". "Batman" began filming in October and it only took 12 weeks to shoot.

It made an estimated additional $750 million in merchandising alone.

Executive producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan sued Warner Brothers for forcing them into accepting a net profit agreement rather than the gross profit one that was set up for other parties like Jack Nicholson. Warners then claimed that, although "Batman" at the time was the 5th biggest grossing film ever, it was still technically in the red, and offered the two producers a $1 million out-of-court settlement. They naturally rejected this.

Ricky Addison Reed was cast as Robin when the character was part of an earlier story treatment. Robin was eventually dropped, and Reed lost the role.

The plastic surgeon's weird surgical tools are originally from another Warner Brothers production, Little Shop of Horrors (1986). They were the dentist tools owned by Orin Scrivello.

The Batman costume weighed 70 lbs.

The Batman symbol on the costume in this film is slightly different than the version seen in the comic books. It has two extra "points" on the bottom of the black bat emblem. However, the teaser poster and other such promotional materials for the film depict the logo just as it appears in the comics, for copyright purposes (because that specific look for the logo is what DC comics had copyrighted). The Batman costume was slightly modified for Batman Returns (1992) and sported the comic version of the symbol.

At one point during pre-production, director Tim Burton wanted to turn Frank Miller's 1986 comic "The Dark Knight Returns" into the new movie. However, Warner Bros. wanted to introduce the "dark" Batman before having a movie about his last days as a crime fighter. Not to mention that a DKR movie would be about four hours long.

Corto Maltese (where Vicki had been taking pictures) is the name of a popular European comic character, starring in the adventure comic books of Italian Hugo Pratt.

Heavy security surrounded The Joker's makeup.

The throne that the Joker sits on when he spreads money over the citizens of Gotham is a copy of the "Silver Throne", the Royal Throne of Sweden which the King of Sweden used until 1974 at the opening of the Swedish Parliament. The replica was made for the film Queen Christina (1933).

Tim Curry was an original choice to play the Joker.

Ray Liotta was reportedly Tim Burton's first choice for the Joker, and then for the character of Harvey Dent (later to become Two Face), but he turned down both due to his commitment to make Goodfellas (1990).

Robin Williams was considered for the role of The Joker; he would later be considered for The Riddler as well. Jack Nicholson got the role of The Joker but demanded top-billing and a lucrative deal that gave him royalties on all merchandise.

Billy Dee Williams appears as Harvey Dent, who in the comics became Two-Face. Williams took the role with the expectation that he would be brought back to play Two-Face and reportedly had a contract clause added reserving the role for him. During casting for Batman Forever (1995) Warner Bros. decided they would prefer Tommy Lee Jones and bought out Williams' contract.

It is claimed that Adam West was offered a cameo as Bruce Wayne's father but turned it down, though West denies being offered the part.

This was the first film to ever get a "12" rating in Great Britain. The rating was created to prevent young children from seeing the film. It had been in place up until 2002, where it was updated to "12A" for the live-action Spider-Man (2002) movie.

Corto Maltese is also an island country in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, one of Burton's inspirations for Batman.

Kim Basinger is only a few inches shorter than Michael Keaton. To make Keaton appear taller, she wears flat heels or is in stocking feet in all the scenes in which they are standing next to each other.

Alec Baldwin, Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Selleck were considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Mel Gibson was the original choice for Bruce Wayne/Batman but was forced to turn down the role due to his commitment with Lethal Weapon 2 (1989).

In the Globe office, a reporter hands Knox a drawing of a bat dressed like a man, poking fun at his belief in Batman. The drawing is signed "Bob Kane - the creator of Batman".

Alfred's story of how Bruce sprained his ankle while horseback-riding is a reference to Sean Young's accident when she was preparing for the film. It also refers to a deleted scene from the script which had Bruce on horseback chasing the Joker.

Martin Landau turned down the role of Carl Grissom.

Michael Jackson was asked to write and perform the songs for the movie, but he had to turn it down due to his concert commitments.

The producers wanted John Williams to write the score, but he had to turn it down due to his commitment to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

The studio offered Joel Coen and Ethan Coen the director's chair, before Tim Burton got the job.

Jack Nicholson received a percentage of the gross on the film, and due to its massive box-office took home around $60 million. As of 2003 it is still the single-movie record for actor's salary.

The flag of Gotham City closely resembles the state flag of Indiana. It can be seen briefly in Harvey Dent's office.

When the Tom Mankiewicz script was in development, the directors associated with the project included Joe Dante and Ivan Reitman. Producers wanted an unknown to play Batman and the cast wish-list included William Holden as Commissioner Gordon and David Niven as Alfred, Bruce Wayne's faithful butler.

The movie's "Vicki Vale" is actually based on 1970s Bruce Wayne girlfriend Silver St. Cloud, a name deemed too silly for a movie character. However, in the comics there was a character named Vicki Vale, who was a reporter and appeared in the comics throughout the '40s and '60s.

The character of Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) was a character created for the movie. In the script the character was killed during the parade scene.

In the original script, the paper Knox and Vicki worked for was the Gotham Gazette, not the Gotham Globe.

The original script featured a bitter rivalry between Bruce Wayne and Knox over Vicki.

In the original script, Bruce Wayne was described as a man with "muscles on top of muscles and scarred from nightly combat".

When Alfred receives Vicki Vale's message a portrait of Thomas Wayne can be seen in the background.

It has been reported that Tim Burton had an uncredited cameo as one of The Joker's goons in the Museum scene.

In the original script with Robin included, the Flying Graysons (John, Mary, and Dick) are introduced at the parade scene. The Joker shoots the trapeze artists sending John and Mary to their deaths and leaving Dick to survive. Dick later becomes Robin in full costume at the end.

According to a Playboy interview with Robin Williams, Jack Nicholson was the offered the role of Joker first. When Nicholson kept delaying his answer, Williams was offered the role. The producers immediately turned around and informed Nicholson that Williams was considering the offer, and Nicholson accepted. Williams has remained bitter about being "used as bait". See trivia for Batman Forever (1995).

For its first video release, the film was graded slightly lighter as cinema audiences had complained that it was filmed so darkly that they could hardly see what was going on.

Anton Furst's designs for Gotham City were incorporated into the comics during the early '90s. The design was removed during the "No Man's Land" arc.

The painting that the Joker spares during his vandalism spree is Francis Bacon's "Figure with Meat."

The design of Gothan City is based on the work of architects Antoni Gaudi, Otto Wagner, Shin Takamatsu and Louis H. Sullivan.

In a newsroom scene, Vicki Vale and Alexander Knox examine a map of Gotham City which has been marked with Batman sightings. The map is actually a map of Vancouver, British Columbia.

In order to combat negative rumors about the production, a theatrical trailer was hastily assembled to be distributed to theaters. To test its effectiveness, Warner Bros. executives showed it at a theater in Westwood, California to an unsuspecting audience. The ninety-second trailer received a standing ovation. Later, it would become a popular bootleg at comic book conventions, and theater owners would report patrons paying full price for movie tickets just to have an opportunity to see the trailer, and leaving before the feature began.

In the film Jack Napier aka The Joker is the murderer of Batman's parents. In the comics the murderer is a character named Joe Chill.

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The original (non Special-Edition version) Region-1 DVD actually contains two different versions of the film. The fullscreen version is the theatrical version, the widescreen version has one brief shot replaced. It is a small scene near the end at 1:14:06 just before Batman fights the Joker in the Clocktower. In the fullscreen version Vicki Vale gets a disgusted look when she kisses the Jokers jacket and pulls a lint out of her mouth, however in the widescreen version she really seems to like it.

An unofficial version of the film has aired on Latin American TV at least once. Besides being dubbed into Spanish, the film's ending is heavily edited as follows: When The Joker puts on glasses and says: "You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses on, would you?" Batman punches him and knocks him over the edge. In the original version the climax continues beyond this point. But in this changed version, The Joker simply plummets to his death after the punch. This was achieved by cutting from the punch to the birds-eye-view shot of The Joker falling. The next shot is simply The Joker lying dead and the crowd of people looming over him. The entire struggle on the ledge and attempted helicopter escape are completely omitted.