Trivia: The Dark Knight

Found a couple different resources for interesting trivia about The Dark Knight. Wanted to share with you readers. Some real interesting stuff, to continue on towards the release of The Dark Knight on July 18th. In lieu of reviews and rants about other stuff, you can expect me to focus most of my posts in the next two weeks on my most anticipated movie of 2008. Here's some trivia:

- Before the release of "Batman Begins," screenwriter David S. Goyer wrote a treatment for two sequels introducing the Joker and Harvey Dent who would become Two-Face. Originally, the Joker would scar Dent during his trial in the third film however that event was moved up to the end of this film. Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent's friendship and rivalry Nolan claims to be the "backbone" of this film.

- After much research, his brother and co-writer Jonathan Nolan suggested the character's first two appearances be their influence. Nolan chose not to give the villain an origin story and simplifying the character's chemical-based origin to wearing make-up was a way of not dealing with the character in depth.

- Nolan described the sequel's theme as escalation, continuing how Batman Begins ended, with "things having to get worse before they get better." The director indicated that the film will continue the themes of justice vs. revenge and Bruce Wayne's father issues, but it would also show more of Batman as a detective, as "[they]'re trying to move the story forward."

- For its IMAX release, Nolan had four major action sequences, including the Joker's introduction, shot in the format. Nolan wished he could have shot the entire film in IMAX, as he felt "if you could take an IMAX camera to Mount Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie."

- Goyer cited "Batman: The Long Halloween" as the pre-eminent influence on the storyline.

- This is the first Batman film to not have "Batman" in the title.

- As a joke, one bat suit was made with nipples. It was presented to Christian Bale as the real bat suit, but he knew instantly it was a joke, having seen a few design pictures during preproduction. He did pose for some publicity photos in the "nipple" suit.

- In October 2007 in London at the defunct Battersea Power Station, a rigged 200-foot fireball was filmed. The fireball prompted calls from local residents who feared a terrorist attack on the station.

- While filming on the streets of Chicago in April 2007, the filming was carried out under the fake movie title "Rory's First Kiss". Flyers regarding the filming carried this fake title, complete with a fake "RFK" logo for the movie and an address for the film's production offices.

- The Joker's clown make-up is minimal and made up of three pieces of stamped silicone which only took an hour to apply. In the film, the Joker is merely exaggerating his facial scarring; he never removes his make-up. During the course of the film it worsens, resembling an infection.

- Designers improved on the design of the Batsuit, adding wide elastic banding to help bind the costume to Christian Bale, and suggestive of sophisticated technology. The redesign consisted of 200 individual pieces of rubber, fiberglass, metallic mesh, and nylon was done to make Bale feel more comfortable and more agile in his performance, though the suit was still hot to wear.

- The new cowl was modeled after a motorcycle helmet and separated from the neck piece, allowing Bale to turn and/or nod his head. The cowl is equipped to show white lenses over the eyes when the character turns on his sonar detection. The gauntlets had their razors made retractable and able to be fired.

- The Batpod is a recreation of the Batcycle. Nathan Crowley, who designed the Tumbler for Batman Begins, designed six models for use. The Batpod is steered by shoulder instead of hand, and the rider's arms are protected by sleeve-like shields. The bike has 20-inch tires, and made to appear as if it is armed with grappling hooks, cannons, and machine guns. The engines are located in the wheel hubs.

- Filming took place in Hong Kong from November 6th-11th 2007 at the Central Mid-Levels escalators, Queen's Road and The Center. The shoot hired helicopters and C-130 aircraft, and a stunt where Batman jumps off a skyscraper was filmed at the International Finance Centre.

- The first six minutes of the film premiered before selected IMAX screenings of "I Am Legend" released on December 14th 2007. The preview ends with a montage of scenes from the film, many of which were shown in the theatrical trailer released concurrently in front of regular cinema screenings of 'Legend.'

- "Batman: Gotham Knight", a direct-to-DVD anime will be released early July 2008. It's set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, featuring six original stories. Each segment has its own artistic style ala "The Animatrix".

- Katie Holmes chose not to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes due to 'scheduling conflicts'. Rachel McAdams and Emily Blunt were initially rumored to replace her, but Maggie Gyllenhaal ultimately won the role.

- The Penguin was rumored to be in the movie in the form of a Russian or British arms dealer and both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bob Hoskins were mentioned as candidates. Nolan later stated he had no intention of using the Penguin, claiming him to be too far-fetched a character.

- Hugh Jackman, Ryan Phillippe, Liev Schreiber, and Josh Lucas expressed interest in the role of District Attorney Harvey Dent.

- Robin Williams, Lachy Hulme, Paul Bettany, and Adrien Brody all expressed interest for the role of the Joker before Heath Ledger was cast. Sean Penn was the first choice.