SciFi.com, January 4, 2005
Christopher Nolan, director of the much-anticipated Batman Begins movie, told SCI FI Wire that he won the job in part because he wanted to tell a story that had never really been dealt with fully on film: Batman's origins. "I was just very interested in the idea of creating a Batman [film] from what I thought had never been made, which in a way is what you would have expected them to make first, which is the origin story and the journey of the character from an ordinary person to Batman," Nolan said in an interview during a break in filming in England last September. Nolan added: "I'd heard they were wondering what to do without looking for somebody to have a vision of what to do with it. It was a very appealing idea to me."
Nolan (Memento) tackles his first big-budget franchise film with Batman Begins, which shot partly in a massive 12-story-high, World-War-II-era hangar a couple of hours outside London. Inside, Nolan and his crew constructed several blocks of Gotham City, including buildings eight stories high. Part of the set included The Narrows, the notorious trash-strewn slums of Gotham, where some key action takes place.
But Nolan says he doesn't feel real pressure moving from small independent features to his first big movie. "I don't know, really," he said. "A certain amount of pressure. The pressure I feel, really, is just that responsibility, you know? He's a beloved icon. Obviously there's a lot of weight that comes with trying to interpret that. But beyond that, really, it's just about having fun with it. Making a great film ... [or] trying to."
Nolan's wife, Emma Thomas, who is a producer on the film, said that Nolan always wanted to make a big blockbuster film like Batman Begins. "Yeah, I don't know why," Nolan said. "Now I'm beginning to wonder why I ever wanted to do that. No, I mean, I have. I grew up watching huge blockbusters and really enjoying them as a kid. So I've always enjoyed films that create a whole world, provide escapism, as well as food for thought, [and] that create [a] world outside of the one we're actually in. So it's a great opportunity to actually try that." Batman Begins, which stars Christian Bale and Liam Neeson, opens June 17.
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