While a potential Batman picture had been in development around the same time that Superman was dazzling audiences and racking up millions at the box office, the project had stalled by the mid-1980’s. The lukewarm reception to Superman III and the complete failure of Superman IV had soured Warner Brothers on producing another superhero picture. Lucky for Batman, however, an up and coming director named Tim Burton was interested in making the film.
Cast out of Disney for being too bizarre, Tim Burton was afraid he’d never work in Hollywood again. His big break came when Paul Reubens insisted that he was the perfect director for Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Pee-Wee was a hot franchise at the time, so Paul was able to bring in Tim despite the studio’s reservations. The film was a smash success. It sent Pee-Wee’s career into the stratosphere and made Tim Burton a sought after director, practically overnight. Tim could now pick and choose his projects and an adaptation of Batman was at the top of his list. At this point, the project became seemingly unstoppable. Not even the disastrous Superman IV could slow things down.
After coming on board, Tim Burton quickly threw out most of what had been considered for the film. Before Tim took over, the possible choices for main character Bruce Wayne ranged from an unknown actor to Bill Murray. Tim didn’t consider Bill Murray, but he did invite a pre-fame Ray Liotta to tryout, an opportunity Ray declined to his later regret. Warner Brothers pressured Tim to choose a big name and a who’s who of Hollywood action stars were considered. Tim Burton ended up suggesting Michael Keaton. Warner Brothers was not sold on Keaton until Beetlejuice, his collaboration with Burton became a smash hit. The pre-internet comic book fandom rallied against the choice, feeling that Keaton was a comedic actor and thus unsuitable for the role. By this time, however, the project had gained too much steam and traction at Warner Brothers to be stopped.
By this time, Batman’s origin story had been stripped from the beginning of the picture, replaced with a series of flashbacks. Gone too was Robin. To further streamline things, Tim had chosen to include just one villain in the final film- the Joker. The part was highly sought after, with Robin Williams heavily lobbying for the role. Others considered for the role were Tim Curry and John Lithgow. The number one choice of the studio, producers and fans alike, however, was Jack Nicholson. Jack, however, wasn’t initially enthusiastic about the role and had a standard list of demands that would make production difficult. Warner Brothers was willing to do whatever it took to get him onboard, however, and even agreed to his getting top billing and an unprecedented share of merchandise revenue and the gross. While Jack was only guaranteed a relative pittance, he stood to make a record breaking payday if the movie took off.
Vicki Vale, who would be Bruce Wayne’s love interest in the picture, was originally supposed to be portrayed by Sean Young. Ms. Young had already been heavily involved with pre-production on the film when a horse riding incident forced her to withdraw. With production scheduled to begin a replacement had to be found quickly. Kim Basinger stepped in to take the role. With casting completed, production on the film began in the U.K.
