A Hollywood star dozes through his scenes.
A dark knight commits grand theft auto.
And…
Danny DeVito fights a monkey?
Batman movies can get a little weird sometimes, so maybe it's no surprise that strange things
happen behind the scenes, too.
Keep watching to learn exactly what!
It must be tough being both Bruce Wayne and Batman: you've got to be a socialite playboy
during the day, and then you're hitting the streets at night to kick in some skulls and
defend Gotham's honor.
When does he ever find the time to get some shuteye?
"Bats are nocturnal."
"Bats maybe, but even for billionaire playboys, three o'clock is pushing it."
As it turns out, being Batman is grueling for the actors who play him, too — Just
ask Christian Bale.
During a conversation with GQ, Bale revealed that he has a habit of nodding off on set.
In fact, he had an embarrassing moment on the set of Batman Begins, when his co-stars
Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman saw him snoozing away.
He told the outlet:
"In the scene, I was meant to be waking up, so I laid down and just fell asleep.
And I didn't hear 'Action.'
So Michael and Morgan were talking, and I was supposed to join in.
I woke up with Michael Caine poking me in the ribs and going, 'Look at that!
He's bloody fallen asleep, hasn't he?"
Considering how action-packed Batman movies are, it shouldn't come as any surprise that
the occasional accident takes place on set.
Most people would expect a stray punch, a pebble in the shoe, or even a broken window
or two — but how about damages of up to $500,000?
Well, that's how much IMAX cameras are insured for, and Christopher Nolan and his team have
totaled more than a few over the years.
Warner Bros. execs must have been pulling their hair out when news broke that a Catwoman
stunt double had crashed into an IMAX camera on the set of The Dark Knight Rises.
While there was an initial denial that the camera was damaged in the accident, the footage
from the incident suggested otherwise.
Thankfully, the stunt double and cameraman weren't hurt — but that's more than can
be said for the insurance company.
Early on in Batman Begins, Ra's Al Ghul spars with Bruce Wayne on the surface of a frozen
glacier.
After numerous defeats, Bruce eventually defeats Ra's, only to fall into the freezing water.
It's a lesson that teaches Bruce not to become too overconfident in a fight.
While the actor wasn't actually required to submerge himself in sub-zero temperatures,
the scene didn't come entirely without risk.
In fact, this was one of the first scenes shot during production, and it easily could
have ended up being the last.
The ice fight was filmed in Iceland, and while the weather wasn't exactly bursting with sunshine,
the glacier itself caused far more trouble for the cast and crew.
As Christian Bale later told the Chicago Tribune:
"We were out there, and it was splitting — there were big cracks appearing down it — and
we all had to stand still and not break it."
Still, it's not like Batman can't handle a little ice.
The casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin was a peculiar choice,
to say the least.
At the same time, Schwarzenegger's icy puns and cold play on words didn't come cheap,
as he cost the production a chilling $25 million.
"Very niiiiiice."
As the biggest star on set, Schwarzenegger attracted a lot of attention for the movie,
and he even had a few high-profile friends stop by the production every so often.
Actor Stogie Kenyatta, who played one of Freeze's thugs in the movie, later told The Hollywood
Reporter:
"Jon Bon Jovi came by, and he brought Cuban cigars for Arnold.
So Arnold had them color it white so he could smoke it in the scenes."
"I smoke my stogie anywhere I want.
I don't have to find a hideout place like you!"
The cigars ended up being the only contribution Bon Jovi made to the movie.
The pleasure of writing a tie-in song went to the Smashing Pumpkins, who delivered the
Grammy Award-winning track "The End Is the Beginning Is the End."
On the surface, Chris O'Donnell's Robin should have had an easier time in his costume than
the other half of the Dynamic Duo.
He didn't require the complex Batsuit — a notorious issue for Batman actors — and
only needed a domino mask to conceal his identity.
Of course, it wasn't as simple or as comfortable as that, according to O'Donnell.
He once told Entertainment Tonight:
"First thing in the morning, they painted my eyes black and then would glue the mask
on [to my face].
It was so hot, you would touch the mask, and water would just run down your face."
O'Donnell added that the Batman Forever suits were also difficult to take off and put on,
so he and Val Kilmer stayed in costume for most of the time.
Fortunately, costume adjustments were made for the sequel, Batman & Robin.
It's a lot of pressure playing Batman.
Among other problems, you've got to be able to act your heart out while wearing a cowl
that covers most of your face, making it incredibly difficult to see any emotion in your performance.
Robert Pattinson found this out the hard way when The Batman director Matt Reeves insisted
he redo one specific scene over and over again.
From Pattinson's perspective, however, he couldn't see what he was doing wrong — until
Reeves eventually called him over to see the issue with the shot.
In fact, Reeves later told Insider he believed Pattinson was, at one point, "about to burst
a vein."
Pattinson himself told the outlet:
"That was maybe the worst day of the whole shoot because I really genuinely thought it
was [Reeves] that was wrong.
I was like, how can we be doing 40 takes of this?"
While that might sound excessive, one British tabloid reported that Pattinson had to redo
a single scene 50 times.
Whether it was the same scene or not is unclear, but it's clearly more than enough to drive
anyone a little batty.
When Tim Burton's Batman raked in over $411 million at the box office, Warner Bros. began
to get a little more protective over its investment.
No longer was this a comic book movie made purely for children; it was now a global franchise
with huge earning potential.
As a result, the studio took some extreme measures when it came to protecting the integrity
and secrecy of the sequel, Batman Returns.
The cast and crew were given ID badges for a fake movie title called "Dictel."
These badges were absolutely necessary for them to get around on set, as the studio tried
to prevent prying eyes from visiting the production unannounced.
That wasn't all, though: the movie's art directors had to shut out the sun and pull down the
blinds in their office.
This may seem drastic, but it's a drop in the water compared to the security measures
taken by Hollywood studios these days — and, in a sense, Batman Returns helped lead the
way when it comes to the secret nature of franchise movies.
Working with animals can often be a challenge, especially since they don't always stick to
the script.
Batman Returns is a movie filled with animals, including a small army of dastardly penguins,
but it was a certain little spider monkey that really caused trouble on set.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Danny DeVito described his "horrifying"
experience with his furry co-star.
"Well, you had to work with a monkey."
"Yeah, that was horrifying.
That was a horrifying experience."
Apparently, the monkey was meant to come and deliver a note from Batman to his character,
the Penguin.
The crew tested the scene with the animal trainers beforehand, and everything went according
to plan.
However, when DeVito called the monkey over, things went south — so to speak.
"The monkey comes down, takes one look at me, and leaps at my balls."
DeVito added that his costume was thankfully heavily padded, so he was fortunate enough
to not feel the full force of the monkey's bite.
DeVito wasn't left too shaken by the incident, though, as he did another take, which ultimately
proved to be more successful than the first.
Superman and Lex Luthor.
Batman and Joker.
And…
Joel Schumacher and Val Kilmer?
Despite working together on Batman Forever, there was no love lost between director and
actor by the time the film hit theaters.
In fact, Schumacher once told Vulture:
"I didn't say Val [Kilmer] was difficult to work with on Batman Forever.
I said he was psychotic."
Schumacher explained to Entertainment Weekly that he'd heard stories about Kilmer's behavior
in the past, but he decided to hire him to play Batman anyway as he thought he was an
excellent performer who was perfect for the role.
However, their relationship became patchy after just a few weeks of production, and
Kilmer's actions towards the rest of the crew rubbed him the wrong way.
Schumacher told the outlet that they even "had a physical pushing match," and he called
the actor "badly behaved," "rude," and "inappropriate."
After their encounter on set, Kilmer didn't speak to the director for two weeks — a
period that Schumacher described as "bliss."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kilmer didn't return for Batman & Robin.
Just imagine being cast as Batman and trying on the cape and cowl for the first time.
As Robert Pattinson once told Variety, it's a "transformative" experience.
And once the Batsuit is on, what's next on the list?
Getting behind the wheel of the Batmobile, of course.
Much like anyone else would be, Pattinson was pretty excited to take the Batmobile for
a spin around the block.
However, his eagerness ended up causing a few problems.
As he told Empire magazine:
"They wanted me to drive it, like, only 10 feet, but I immediately went off for 25 minutes,
trying to do all the stunts I'd learned in the normal cars.
After that, I was never allowed to drive it without someone else in the car."
Let's be honest, though: can anyone say they wouldn't do the same?
After the sleek and shiny appeal of the previous Batmobiles, the Tumbler was a major departure
for the Batman movies.
Big, bulky, and looking kind of like a tank that swallowed a smaller tank, it took a while
to get used to.
However, it has since gone on to become one of the most iconic silver screen Batmobiles.
"I gotta get me one of those."
The Tumbler's toughness was put to the test on the streets of Chicago during shooting
on Batman Begins.
As Christian Bale explained at WonderCon 2005, the vehicle took everyone's breath away, but
it also frightened one driver in particular.
Bale remembered:
"There was even this guy who crashed into it.
This poor drunken guy who didn't have a license, who said he got so panicked when he saw the
car, he thought aliens were landing."
Maybe he'd have had an easier ride if it had been the Batman Forever Batmobile.
A lot has been said about how difficult it is to wear a Batsuit, but how about a villain
suit?
While Cillian Murphy wore a potato sack over his head to play Scarecrow and Paul Dano [DANE-oh]
ended up in a Zodiac-style number, these examples pale in comparison to what Arnold Schwarzenegger
went through to become Mr. Freeze.
At first, the star was willing to shave off all his hair for the role; however, he soon
had a change of heart and requested a bald cap instead.
That wasn't the biggest challenge for Freeze's look, though.
The LED lights used around his mouth caused some concern for both him and the crew, as
revealed by Batman & Robin makeup artist Jeff Dawn.
Not only were these lights an obstruction for Schwarzenegger while delivering his lines,
but it also brought with it another major hazard.
Dawn told The Hollywood Reporter:
"When you put it in Arnold's mouth, Arnold's saliva would creep into the seams of this
thing and attack the batteries.
The batteries would immediately start disintegrating and start putting out battery acid into Arnold's
mouth."
Licking battery acid is never a good idea, of course, even for an icy supervillain.
Luckily the makeup team quickly figured out a solution to this problem: packing the entire
device into a small balloon.
Now that's cool.
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