In 2005, Christopher Nolan successfully rebooted the Batman franchise following the disaster that was 1997’s “Batman & Robin.” In the interim, there had been multiple unrealized attempts to revitalize the series, including a script entitled “Batman: DarKnight” that would have been completely different from “Batman & Robin.” And even though Warner Bros. developed that particular project for two years, the studio ultimately decided on a hard reset, allowing Nolan to tell his grounded Batman origin story.
But rebooting Batman would prove quite tough. While filming in Iceland, Christian Bale and Liam Neeson had to fight on a frozen lake that kept threatening to crack. Elsewhere, the production shot in 75 mph winds for one sequence, and built entire Gotham City sets at Shepperton Studios and in an airship hangar. Though it was worth it in the end, the “Batman Begins” shoot was by no means easy.
Meanwhile, Bale wasn’t having the easiest time either. Having rebuilt his body after “The Machinist,” he was asked by Christopher Nolan to shed 40 pounds to better fit the director’s vision of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Couple that with the intense training he underwent for the role, and you could understand if he might have been feeling the strain a bit. Which is probably why he dropped off during a scene with Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. As Bale told Uproxx:
“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? He’s bloody fallen asleep!'”
