Batman in film (Napoleon's World)

Batman, the DC Comics character created by Bob Kane, has appeared in numerous films since his inception in the 1930's. As of 2011, eight films starring Batman have been made, and a ninth is in production for 2012.

Batman: Darkest Knight
After the failure of Batman and Robin, Dooley Brothers decided to forego extending the contract of George Clooney as Batman and started searching for a new creative and production team. In early 1998, they approached writer/director Jerry Patterson, who had made several successful science fiction films in the 1980's and was coming off of his critically acclaimed Clinic and was going through the production of his ensemble comedy The Last. Patterson agreed to a loose understanding and with novelist Robert Safe wrote a treatment for a reimagining of the Batman series to be released in 2001.

The treatment would explore Bruce Wayne's battles with the mob. Patterson emphasized that it was not an origin story - it would assume that Batman had already started his vigilantism, but would explore the emotional stakes of his existence without many of the larger-than-life villains overshadowing the character himself. Dooley Brothers was displeased with the treatment, wanting to push a film for a 2000 release date and include a more marketable storyline. Patterson removed himself from the project to work on The Watchers shortly thereafter.

Batman's Revenge
After Patterson abandoned the series, Dooley Brothers approached acclaimed director Al Gore to help resurrect the series, due to his excellent work with Deception, which many credited with saving the Martin Jones series. Rusty Stoner had been hired in 1999 to write a screenplay with Gore in mind, and this new plot would revolve around Batman seeking revenge against Carmine Falcone and the mob for the murder of Robin, which they had orchestrated with the help of Man-Bat. The film would focus on the relationship between Man-Bat and Batman, but was eventually scrapped due to lack of support from the studio and the inability to work out an agreement with Gore, who disliked the script and didn't support the desire of DB to cast Nick Gross as Batman.

Batman vs. Superman
The suggestion in 2000 at Dooley Brothers was a revolutionary one - with two failed bids to attract major directors to the franchise and the collapse of the Gore-headlined project, Dooley Brothers commissioned bestselling novelist Donald Rumsfeld to write a treatment for a combination of the Batman franchise with the Superman character, which was also suffering through development hell - the film was intended as a stand-alone "finale" of the ongoing franchise. Rumsfeld was uncomfortable writing screenplays but worked with screenwriter friends Ron and Steven Brissel to conceive a big-budget "spectacle" that was planned for summer of 2002, in which Batman would pursue the Joker and Harley Quinn to Metropolis, where he finds them in league with Lex Luthor. Bruce Wayne would then pursue a romantic relationship with Lois Lane, resulting in a confrontational attitude between himself and Clark Kent, as well as the tension between their alter egos.

Nick Gross was cast as Bruce Wayne, John Cusack was cast as Clark Kent/Superman, and Natalie Weaver was cast as Lois Lane. For the Joker, Kevin Ross was cast, while English actor Jonathon Pryce was cast as Lex Luthor. Supporting roles in the ensemble cast included Kelly Ryan as Harley Quinn, Peter Dempsey as Perry White, Patrick Kelvin as Jimmy Olson, and Richard Hayes as Alfred. Pat Alden was brought on to direct the project.

While a commercial success, the film was met with mixed critical response. Dooley Brothers split afterwards over whether or not they wished to continue with the direction the film had gone in, eventually deciding to split the two franchises once again with the success and buzz generated from the "superfilm."

Development
With the success of Batman vs. Superman and with the negative energy of Batman and Robin in the rearview mirror, Dooley Brothers debated the approach to future Batman projects. Eventually, they settled on Memento director Christopher Nolan and hiring him to do a reimagining of the series. Nolan elected to reboot the series and take a grittier, more realistic approach, similar to what was being planned for the Martin Jones series at Crown Pictures and United Pictures' Shetland franchise.

Nolan liked Gross as Bruce Wayne, but Gross declined to fulfill his two-film option from the previous installment in order to pursue other projects and eventually sign on with the James Bond film series for 2006's Casino Royale. Several actors auditioned for the role, including Aidry Carroll, Cillian Murphy, Rob Stainer, then-unknown Mikey Tolbert, and Jake Gyllenhaal. Eventually, Nolan settled on Gyllenhaal, and Dooley Brothers chose to greenlight the reboot with a potential option for two sequels for both Nolan and Gyllenhaal.

Batman Begins (2005)
The fifth Dooley Borthers Batman film went into early production in spring 2004, with the shoot lasting into that fall. Alongside Gyllenhaal, Nolan cast Michael Caine as the butler Alfred, Liam Neeson as the villain Henri Ducard/Ra's al-Ghul, Rochelle Harrison as new love interest Rachel Dawes, Cillian Murhpy as Dr. Jonathon Crane/Scarecrow, and Barack Obama as Lucius Fox. The film was a critical and commercial success, inspiring Dooley Brothers to greenlight two sequels and to sign Gyllenhaal up for two more Batman films, with the option for a third.