All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S06E02.My.Smile.is.Just.Skin.Deep.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTN_track4_[eng]

With 1989's Batman,

Warner Bros. were looking
to resuscitate a comic hero

that had been on life support
for 20 years.

Wake up,
little bitty boys.

...reviving him
as more Dark Knight

than lightweight.

Their prescription?

Take one
inexperienced director known
for off-the-wall comedy...

"Good morning, Pee-wee!"

Good morning, Mr. Breakfast!

Head of production
at Warners signed him
to a three-picture deal.

It's showtime.

...along with a leading man
known for the same...

Where does Mommy
keep the extra diapers?

Mr. Mom is playing Batman?

...and a demanding
screen legend...

We would say, "Look,
we can work around
the play-offs."

...several
overbearing producers...

Jon could be a bit
of a pain in the ass.

Mark, he was a little man
with no talent.

A ballooning budget.

"Okay, if you screw this up,
you're fired."

And then,
to wash it all down,
with a leading lady crisis.

I think they saw
the opportunity to send me
packing, and did.

Within a week,
Kim and Jon Peters
are living together.

What
could possibly go wrong?

People went like,
"What the heck is that?"

Would they
breathe new life
into the caped crusader?

The one thing
Tim was not a fan of
were the Prince songs.

Or would it be
the final nail
in his coffin?

I mean, it was out of control.

- You're now over there.
You wouldn't have worked--
- No.

In October 1988,

with $30 million
at his disposal,

Tim Burton began
filming on Batmanin the United Kingdom.

[Tim] Action!

It was like the most expensive
movie Warners had ever made.

Everyone was in all the way.

But much
of that $30 million
had now been spent

on the incredible sets
of Gotham City.

Pinewood Studios
had never looked like this.

So we owned Pinewood
and it was a great place to go.

- And it was away from everyone,
which is always better.
-

Better
for studio execs.

But arguably
not Tim Burton,

who is now a stranger
in a strange land.

[Billy] I'm sure
it was hard for Tim.

100% English crew.

He had no say in who was
going to be working on it,
crew-wise.

He wasn't allowed
to bring anyone
from, uh, the US.

That was all
thanks to British labor laws.

Tim was left to search out
those that could make
his life easier.

Second unit director
Peter MacDonald

was someone he desperately
needed to get on his side.

I'd been recommended.

Having worked
with Warners,

I knew what these
big films...

I'd done Superman
and other films with them.

However,
MacDonald had
a close relationship

with producer Jon Peters.

Because I had worked
with his then-partner,
Barbra Streisand,

I had a very good
relationship with her.

It was
as yet unclear
whether the exuberant

creative mind of Tim Burton

would be compatible
with Jon Peters.

So Peter MacDonald
was the perfect middle man.

[Peter] Jon trusted me totally.

I liked Jon.

He instinctively knew
what was right.

The difficulty was really
Tim was very quiet.

I must say, I was
a little worried

at whether he'd be
strong enough to make
a film like this.

And I thought, "My God,
is this going to work?"
You know?

Well,
as filming began,

we were all
about to find out.

Tim Burton knew
what he was doing.

His team knew
what they were doing.

Now,
all Michael Uslan had to do

was sit back and enjoy
the fruits of his labor.

Really, my role at this point
was as the official cheerleader.

And there were plenty
of other supportive onlookers.

The first day was Jack
and Jack Palance,
which was exciting.

So I go to watch them.

I'm not shooting that day.
I'm not scheduled.

Jack Palance was there
for, like, two days,
and he's gone.

Plus, I like being on the set
and, you know, I... you know,

I... just wanted
to see everything.

And those scenes were fun.

"Jack, you're mynumber one guy."

But suddenly,
the supportive onlooker spirit

became looks of concern.

Late on day one of shooting,
many miles away...

- -...something,
or rather someone,

had come crashing down.

So I was rehearsing a scene
with Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale,

riding back
to the manor.

And I'm not much
of a horsewoman.

But I wanted to be
the good little soldier,

and I wanted everybody
to like me and everything.

But I'm terrified
of horses, and...

I fell off.

I kept... kept spinning,
landed on my head
and my shoulder,

and I'm thinking
I'm about to die.

News
of the accident quickly made
its way back to the set.

[Robert] Sean Young
gets thrown from the horse

and I see Mark Canton
and Jon Peters
in discussion.

Mark Canton, of course,
being the executive

that had developed Batmanfor Warner Bros.

They said Sean Young
has broken her collarbone.
I believe her shoulder,

I mean, separated
shoulder, collarbone.
Rehearsing, you know.

I remember saying,
"What happens
if she can't continue?"

I just thought they'll be able
to wait for me or work
around my arm

or put me toward
the end of the schedule.

Those were all
viable options.

And I remember
Mark Canton saying...

It's complicated,

All that stuff
was very intense
with Sean.

She was a very
talented actress.

But like all filmmakers,
you have a release schedule.

So it was dependent
on the release schedule.

And we had to make a...
figure it out.

A day
that had started out
with so much promise

ended with Sean
wearing a neck brace.

So I was in
a pretty bad mood.

Leaving Sean
to recuperate,

back on the set
of Pinewood Studios
in England,

Michael Keaton
donned the Batsuit
for the first time.

And it seemed that he, too,
was dealing with neck issues.

[Nick] The big issue was
Michael Keaton in the Batsuit,
he couldn't turn his head.

You know,
Batman has to sort of
shuffle around.

It was a total screw up.
Biggest film being made

and quite a, you know,
new director.

You can't have an actor
that could hardly move.

And after about
an hour of work,
needs to rest.

You know, an actor
has to be able to move.

Michael Keaton
wasn't the only one
being prevented

from making
a head-turning performance.

Jack Nicholson's transformation
into the grinning super villain

was causing only grim frowns
and furrowed brows.

[Nick] Because we had
an origin for the injury,

having been shot
through the mouth...

-
- [Joker screams]

Makeup designer
Nick Dudman had to decide

how the injury
would affect the Joker's smile.

Let's see how we did.

The studio
had one mandate.

One of the producers
actually took me to one side

and just said,
"Just bear in mind

Jack Nicholson's face
mustn't be hidden."

You lose Jack Nicholson,
we're throwing the money away.

I will dump 20 million in cash.

[Nick] So I've got to change
somebody's face dramatically

and yet not lose them.

Sean Young's
recovery was proving
just as frustrating,

leading her to fear the worst.

"October 1988,
generally speaking,
I've had better days.

It seems to be that odds
are that it is unlikely

that I will be able
to do the movie."

[Robert] And I remember
Mark Canton saying,
"She can't continue.

"She can't continue."

And I was completely shocked.

However,
after Sean Young's
table read debacle...

Every line reading
is like this.

In a monotone.

...and unauthorized
photography sessions
featuring Jack Nicholson...

"Jack didn't like that."

...the question
had to be asked.

Were they looking for an excuse
to get rid of her?

Something Mark Canton
categorically denies.

I think people were uncertain,
but I'm not going to say who.

It was dependent
on the release schedule
for the following June.

That's
something Sean Young
categorically denies.

I think they saw the opportunity
to send me packing and did.

They just acted
like I didn't...

You know, matter at all.

I don't really know Mark
all that well.

I just know...

what exposure I had to him,

and he was a...

a little man with no talent

who wanted to make himself
relevant in some way.

So in that situation,

the best thing he could do
was be Jon Peters' yes-man.

Well,
as Mark himself said,

Peter and Jon were
not easy to say no to.

And
as Mark doesn't say...

I got nothing bad
to say about her.

For their young
outsider director Tim Burton,
this was clearly a blow.

Tim is a very loyal person.

[Sean Young] A super nice guy,

sympathetic, compassionate.

When I fell off that horse,
he was like, "Oh!"
you know?

He was probably
on his own learning curve.

This is a tale as old as time

of the creatives
versus the producers,

where the producers
think they know more
than the creatives

and the creatives think
they know more
than the producers.

And both of them are thinking
from different hats.

But did producers
Guber and Peters

already have
someone in mind
to replace Young?

In the meantime,
Tim pressed on.

[Peter] The challenge
was always keeping
on schedule,

which is obviously
always important
to the studio.

- What is that?
- Some kind of body armor.

Problems
with the Batsuit

had now been
somewhat rectified,

or worked around,
thanks to Peter.

To make it look
as fluid as possible,

I had a really tough
stunt guy wear the suit.

And also, other shots,

I had a ballet dancer
wearing the suit

if I wanted more
of a flowing movement.

Unfortunately,
makeup artist Nick Dudman

was not so successful
with Jack Nicholson's
Joker makeup.

I did a couple of versions
of the sort of bullet
through the cheek.

Michael Uslan
did want Batman to be...

Dark and scary.

- However...
- That wasn't... you know,
it wasn't that show.

It was
in the Joker's comic origins
that Nick found inspiration.

[Shane] In that story,
it's sort of a chemical.

He's deformed
by falling into the vat.

You'll never believe
what happened to me today,

But still,
the key word is deformed.

So Nick needed to come up
with something.

The smile has to stop
at this point on his face

because otherwise,
it makes no sense.

I thought, "You know what?

"We could pull his mouth
back at the corners.

"We could get a dental piece."

And I spoke
to a dental technician
and they went,

"Are you out of your mind?"

He said if we put something
into Jack's mouth,

that's effectively
pulling gently all day,

and he does that
for three months,

you will change his teeth.

- You can't make an omelet
without breaking some eggs.
-

And do you want
to be responsible

for changing
Jack Nicholson's smile?

And it was just like,
"Ah, right. No, we're not
doing that."

Nick was left
scratching his head

over what to do
about the Joker,

and the film
still needed
a leading lady.

The first choice
is Michelle Pfeiffer.

I suppose I could
squeeze you in.

There
was just one problem.

Michael had had
a relationship
with Michelle.

[Sean] Apparently,
Michael Keaton had had

some kind of affair
or relationship
with Michelle Pfeiffer.

Michael had brought
his ex-wife over,
and he's trying to reconcile.

And Michelle's
about to come over?

No.

So Michael ain't buying this.

You know, he's...
He makes his point known.

He, he makes his point
very well known.

That is not happening.

That is not happening.

And I mean
he and Peters go into it.

-
- I will kill you.

And so they have to go
to Plan B.

Stop the press.

Who is that?

Jon Peters had this major
hard-on for Kim Basinger.

And he wanted
Kim Basinger.

That girl has style.

No, I don't think so.

I think that's a lot of baloney.

And those are...
those are just set stories.

Come on. You know?

I don't... I never
would tell any story.

It just doesn't
happen that way.

For Kim Basinger,
the story was just beginning.

And that's when
Kim joins the cast.

Great actress, great person.

But that
wasn't the end of the drama.

At least not according
to Jon Peters.

Michael Keaton was jealous
because he was the lead,

and he had a crush
on her too.

You're a real nice girl
and I like you a lot.

Well, I don't really know
but within a week,

Kim and Jon Peters
are living together.

So you know, that's...

There was a lot going on
in the set all the time,
and talks of romance.

So much intrigue
that goes on in,
in this town.

But if Jon thought
that Sean was out of his life,

he had another thing coming.

Warner Bros.
was just going
to send me home

and they were...
not gonna pay me.

They said, "Oh! Too bad."

And I said, "Well,
what about the insurance?"

And they said, "Nope,
this doesn't cover you.

"This covers us."

I went back
to the doctor's office

and basically,
when no one was looking,

I took my X-rays,
put them in my coat pocket
and went home.

I figured
I have to fight fire with fire.

While
Sean was preparing
to fight fire with fire,

the script was being
hurriedly amended

to make sure Kim Basinger
didn't meet the same fate.

Obviously, there's
no horse riding in Batman 1989,
for good reason.

Cut that scene.

Of course,
this wasn't the first time

the script had
undergone changes.

Dick Grayson's Robin
was actually introduced.

But there were changes made
to the film during production.

Additionally,
serious discussions
were now taking place

as to whether Vicki Vale,
as Batman's love interest,

should be included
in the finale at
the Cathedral Tower.

It's very hard
to get the ending right.

You want an emotionally
connected ending.

You don't want three-quarters
of a great movie.

We just kept
sitting there with Tim

and we struggled
because Tim,

he's very set in his ways.

He's an artist.
He knows the canvas
he wants.

From casting
to Tim's original script idea,

It was becoming clear
that Tim Burton
and Jon Peters

were becoming
more and more at odds.

And it didn't help Tim's cause

that the cost of building
his elaborate version
of Gotham

was pushing the budget
well beyond what the studio
was comfortable with.

They were concerned
about the budget.

The studio leadership was such
but they were all over it.

This was a very
different-looking
superhero movie.

When you're
in uncharted territory,

you're throwing a lot
against the wall.

It's not like they went,
"Hey, have a great time."

But it wasn't
just the cost of Gotham City

keeping the Warner Bros.
brass up at night.

Jack Nicholson,
he wrote something
on his hand, and he's...

went up to the producer,
he said, "You see those numbers?

"That's not my telephone number.

"That's my daily rate."

And, of course,
they went ashen.

But despite
Jack's huge pay packet,

from this actor's
point of view...

Nobody like him.
Nobody like him.

Smartest, funniest guy
I ever met.

My mother-in-law
visited the set,
my wife's mother.

And I introduced
her to Jack,

and he couldn't have
been more gracious.

So then,
it's the big parade scene
where Jack's on the float.

And as he's going down,
he seized my mother-in-law.

On the float,
he grabs his hat
and he goes...

And he tips his hat to her.

Who else does that?

[Nick] The Joker's goons
all had these beautiful
purple leather jackets,

and we were
mentioning it to Jack
and just said,

you know,
"God, they're so lovely.
Aren't they fantastic jackets?"

And he just turned around.

And he said,
"No sooner said than done."

And the next thing we know,
we're being given crew jackets.

As Jack
liberally spread goodwill
in the form of crew jackets...

[Robert] He had made up
for the whole cast and crew.

I still have my Batman jacket.

Tim Burton
was tightening
his purse strings,

recycling old film sets
to save money.

Axis Chemicals' interior
was done at a place
called Acton Power Station.

Aliens was the first film
to use Acton Power Station

as the interior
of the atmosphere processor,

and a lot of the set dressing
is still there from Aliens.

However,
the financial damage
had already been done

on the set of Gotham City,

but it was worth every penny.

[Michael] Audiences
had to immediately
believe in Gotham City

if they were to believe in a guy
dressed like a bat
and running around.

The design of everything,
the look, I thought,

"Wow, wow, this is cool."

When you walked
onto the back lot,

you could almost
go down alleyways
and almost get lost.

It's absolutely lovely.
They were beautiful there.

The Flugelheim Museum,
I think it was called.

The interior of that
was an absolute masterpiece.

And now
there was excitement in the air

as we began filming scenes
with the Batmobile

ripping through the streets.

I remember one night
going up the backlot,

and seeing the Batmobile
on the set for the first time.

And that was really exciting.

And I remember the first time
that the Batmobile
came around the corner.

Sideways, and then
it would come
towards us,

but didn't come towards us.

- It just kept on going sideways
through a shop window.
-

So that wasn't the best
start in the world.

And I thought, "Now I've got
to go explain to the producers

"I just screwed up
their fucking car,
you know?"

While Julian Caldow's
design of the Batmobile
looked badass,

it appeared the decision
to not properly test it...

It was a real pain in the arse.

[Julian] I couldn't believe it.

I felt it's my fault.

Really annoying.

[Peter] It was a real handful.

The Batmobile wasn't made
to go around corners.

It was really... really made
to go in straight lines.

But Peter
was realizing

that despite
his close relationship
with Jon Peters,

he was making
little difference
to the production.

Jon trusted me totally,
which may be a mistake.

Very often...

You had to fight,
you know, the studio,
the producers,

get more money to do things.

And I had to fight
to get test time,

which they thought
was a waste of time.

[Mark] It's not easy,
you know?

These decisions are made
by a few people.

At the end of the day,
for better or worse,
time... time is money.

And Tim,
he's an artist.

He's not just a painter
who, like, throws it
against the wall.

Like Jackson Pollock.

He's way more structured
than you might imagine.

They were pressuring him a lot.

Again, Tim Burton
is not Tim Burton
at that time.

He's done two movies.

But Peters is a tough guy.

Jon could be
a bit of a pain in the ass.

You know, Jon Peters
is a formidable,
formidable guy.

With
a ballooning budget,

growing friction
between Tim Burton
and the formidable Jon Peters,

and a Batmobile
that couldn't go
around corners...

...Batman was in trouble.

While problems
with the Batmobile
were ironed out,

a solution to Jack's makeup
looked to be finally sorted.

If you've gotta go,
go with a smile.

Realizing there could be
no dental deformities,

Nick had a cunning plan.

It all has to be
on the surface.

We did an ordinary life cast
with a relaxed face.

And then I asked him
to just pull the biggest grin
he could pull,

and that gave me the shape
of where we were going.

The life cast of Jack
would serve as Nick's canvas.

[Nick] I just decided
I was going to make
a row of heads

and sculpt from the sublime
to the ridiculous.

But the final look
wouldn't be Nick's call.

Nor Tim's, nor the producers'.

It was Jack Nicholson's
and his alone.

Me?

Who chose...

The Jack Nicholson Joker
was sort of a fixed grimace.

With Jack's approval,
surely the Joker was finally
ready for camera.

However, Sean Young
wasn't ready to leave London.

Deciding on an age-old approach
to settling her score

with production
over her firing.

A sit-in at her hotel.

She didn't leave London
for like two weeks.
She wanted to stay there.

In the end,
the studio found

an amicable
financial solution for Sean.

Well, sort of amicable.

It left me with
a very unpleasant feeling.

It was a huge loss.

I was going to get paid
a ton of money,
and it was a huge loss.

I was really young.

My mother was my manager.

And she didn't really know
what being a...

that sort of high-powered
manager might have been.

I was a bit naive,
and Jon Peters,

he wasn't thinking
about my feelings.

Okay? That's for sure.

He's really just a fraud.

You know, he's just
this guy who's a fraud.

[Mike] You know,
he did have a kind
of child-like thought process.

I mean,
nothing that came
out of his mouth,

to me anyway,
made any sense.

It was like...
like I'm talking
to my 15-year-old.

With the mess
that was Sean's dismissal

finally having
come to a close,

everyone returned
to thinking solely
about the film.

But just when Nick Dudman
thought he was free
of the Joker,

Jon Peters dropped
the budget bombshell
on him.

Jon Peters said to me,
"Jack has a 10-hour turnaround.

"This makeup
can only take two hours.

"We need him on set.
Not in the makeup chair."

And so,
the team had to rehearse it
like a pit crew.

So we set out
to design the makeup,

and hair and everything,
that would only
take that time.

And we tested it on each other
and everything,

literally with a stopwatch,
you know?

"Okay, guys, we've gotta,
you know, how can we
get to the timing

where this works?"
Which we did.

While
the makeup team
were a finely tuned machine,

in the wardrobe department,

there were
malfunctions aplenty.

The costume designer
for Batman was Bob Ringwood,

and he was
an Academy Award nominee.

[Robert] And a great guy
at the costume fitting.

Kim kept him waiting
three hours.

She reschedules.
He comes back again.

She keeps him waiting again.

He was awfully pissed off.

Burton's leading lady
had gone rogue.

Kim decides she's gonna
design her wardrobe.

And you've got
a wonderful eye.

Yeah, some people
think she has two.

Kim brought in
her own costumer,
Linda Henrikson.

And while she was
up in the hotel
with Jon Peters,

Kim decides to fly over
that famous white dress.

That big white dress
that she wears for the party.

And they had a seat
on the Concorde
for the dress.

Very large bankroll.

Bob sees this and says,
"Oh, no, I quit!"

He says, "I'm not having
my name on this picture
with that."

They talk him into staying.

And if you look
at the credits,

it'll say, "Costume Designer
Bob Ringwood."

Miss Basinger's gowns,
"Designed by Linda Henrikson."

I asked Bob, "Did she use
any of your costumes?"

She goes, "Yes, the one
with the beret
and the black dark outfit,

that is one
of his costumes."

But while Tim could tolerate
a wardrobe malfunction,

- he drew the line when it came
to a malfunctioning Batmobile.
-

It just kept on going sideways
through a shop window.

As second
unit director,

Peter MacDonald
needed a simple, cheap fix.

And that's what I got
racing drivers,
rally drivers,

who were used
to really ungainly cars
in dangerous situations.

And, you know, between that
and a few design changes,
we, we made it work.

Despite Tim
being squeezed
from every angle,

he always gave the actors
the ability to explore.

Jack Nicholson talks about
a lot of the improvisation.

Even Michael Keaton
just recently was talking
about the "Let's get nuts."

You want to get nuts?

Come on! Let's get nuts.

[Robert] And then,
there was me.

Tim let me play, you know,
with the dialogue.

Tim was good about that.

Who else was gonna let me say,

"He must have been king
of the Wicker people."

He must have been the king
of the Wicker people.

Who else is gonna let me say...

What's he pulling down?
After taxes.

Even when I said,
"What a dick."

What a dick.

Interestingly enough,
if you notice,
all of them

are at the end
of scenes that I'm in.

So if he wanted
to get out of the scene
beforehand, he could do that.

Unfortunately,
not all the actors

were getting
the same treatment.

I didn't really spend
a lot of time with Tim Burton.

We never had discussions
about how to do the character.

I know that Jon Peters
wanted me to play
the character.

I wasn't always sure
that Tim Burton was sold
on me being that character.

But Billy
still held out hopes
of being part of any sequel.

Of course, my focus
was getting to a Two-Face.

That was primarily
what I was thinking about.

But a sequel
would depend on profits.

And as production rolled on,
costs continued to mount.

A third of the way
through the shoot,

the production went
millions of dollars over.

And to make matters worse,
debate had continued

about the end of the film,

and it was coming
down to the wire.

Believe it or not,
the ending still
hadn't been resolved.

We were constantly striving
with the producers

to come up
with an ending
that felt satisfying.

We had to figure out
the emotional connection
of the script.

There were a lot of fights.

Now, wait a minute.

Not everyone was fighting
about every script change.

[Robert] In the original script,
Knox died.

That got changed.

To me, I thought, this is great.

That means I'll be
in the sequel, you know?Batman 2, the annuity.

So, I dodged a bullet there.

But there was no such luck
when it came to the ending.

And with the end
of the shooting in sight,

pressure was mounting,

and it seemed no one was happy.

In particular,
Kim Basinger.

[Victoria] She did not
like the ending.

She was supposed to die.

Which possibly
made things a little awkward
for Jon Peters.

Kim and Jon Peters
living together.

So it was back
to the drawing board
as far as the ending went.

[Mark] There were a lot
of very strong-minded,

talented people involved.

By now,
Peter MacDonald,

seeing what Tim Burton
was having to go through,

decided to go all in
with his support
for his director.

Producers, they would
want to change things

which we both
thought were wrong.

He was quite resilient.
It was his vision.

That was always my point
with the studio and producers.

You've, you've
employed the director
for his vision.

Don't try and change
or influence it, you know?

From then on,
Peter vowed to work
as Tim's shield.

If I saw the producers
coming towards him,

I always stood next to him,
so we were a bit
of a double act, you know?

Tim was more polite than I was
because I had nothing to lose.

Meanwhile,
Tim had thrown himself
headfirst into the cool stuff,

like explosions
and Batman's gadgets.

[Julian] He was
very, very hands on.

He was in the art department
all the time.

I did a lot of things
for Batman's utility belt.

There was a decision
made that none of the objects

should be any bigger
than a tape cassette case,

and I thought, I don't know
how you could do
a grappling gun this big?

So then we came up
with the idea of having
more than one piece fit in.

Originally, I had it quite small

and it came apart
and then he got it on his arm

and it all had to happen
much, much quicker
than that.

And I had the idea
that you had the two arrows,

and he pointed them
directly at the Joker,

and then they go
in different directions.

Tim responded
very well to that.

As the saying goes,
"Not all heroes wear capes."

But Julian would soon
be tackling a project

somewhat larger
than a utility belt.

The Batwing.

I found this book
on stealth warplanes.

There was one
particular picture,

which was almost like a disk.

And I thought to myself,
Well, if we just pushed
that cockpit

back into that rear disk,

it's not a massive stretch
to just have it be
the bat symbol.

Tim, he was like,
"Yeah, go for that.
That's a good idea."

The pressure
was on the effects teams
to convince audiences

that it was Michael Keaton
soaring above Gotham.

I was involved in making
the little miniature figure
of Batman

to go in the Batwing as well,

which had head movements
so he could look around.

At least
one Batman could
turn his head.

We actually ended up
using black condoms
for the rubber suit

because it was the only thing
that would flex

and not give
too much resistance.

When it came
to filming the Batwing
in action,

Julian had an idea
that would bring
audiences to their feet.

I can remember
drawing the Batwing
with the moon in the background.

I thought that
"What a great shot
that would make?"

It was Michael White,
the storyboard artist,

who came up with the idea
of having it stall
in front of the moon.

But what goes up
must come down.

When it came time to crash
the Batwing,

effects artist Steve Begg
was quick to volunteer.

I volunteered to fire
all the pyrotechnics

when the Batwing crashes
into the street on Gotham City.

Hours of detailed
work depended on Steve's
steady trigger finger.

And when the moment came...

All my charges
were way too late
or way too early.

Steve's miscalculation

would mean extra work
for the already taxed team.

A fact they were
more than happy
to remind Steve of.

The following day,
we watched over and over again
with my cock-ups.

And everyone
was rolling about,
laughing, apart from me.

I was really embarrassed.

The stakes
were much higher
than personal pride.

Every failed take
had a five digit cost.

And that was something
the production
could not afford.

So I begged them.
I pleaded for them.

Please let me have
one more go.

And they said, "Okay,
if you you screw this up,

you're out.
You're finished. Right?
You're fired."

Now get out of here.

The thing
about explosives,
pressure is key.

So I did it slightly differently

by keeping my eye on the spot

the thing had to come into.

This time,
Steve nailed it.

I got a nice friendly pat
on the back afterwards

and just said,
"Well done, well done."

But it wasn't
pats on the back all around.

There was still shooting
to do, you know.

The ending
still hadn't been finalized.

It would take a trip
to the opera

to find the inspiration
for Batman's ending.

[Robert] One night, Jack and Peters
go to see Phantom of the Opera.

And, of course, the big finale
to the Phantom of the Opera

is him on the chandelier
and him on the tower.

So, Jack, he says,
"That's what we need."

And then suddenly,
they're rewriting this big
tower scene at the end.

I remember Tim getting the word
that they were going to rewrite
the ending.

I remember that.

"What?" You know?

"What are we doing? What?"

What Jon Peters
and Kim Basinger
had decided

was that Vicki Vale
should no longer be dying.

I've got to get you
to the church on time.

Jon commissioned
a $100,000 cathedral tower

where the ending
would take place,
without telling Tim.

Tim and Jon Peters, you know,
butted heads quite a few times.

When the day of shooting
rolled around,

Tim seemed as clueless
as the actors were.

[Julian] As Joker
was climbing up
the cathedral tower,

he asked Tim Burton,
"What happens
when I get to the top?"

And I think
the reply was,
"I don't know."

[Joker] It can be truly said
that I have a bat
in my belfry.

Shooting the finale
came so close to Christmas

that Tim went home to the US,

leaving the bulk
of the sequence

with the second unit
director, Peter MacDonald.

[Peter] We just
had a day off for Christmas,

and then the second unit
carried on working
to do most of that sequence.

People like your Tim Burton,
they are very trusting,

once they realize that,
you know, you weren't going
to let them down.

With
the finishing touches
still to be put on the ending,

the overrun on the budget
had ballooned by $10 million,

and Warner Bros.
was also producing
another $30 million film,

stretching them
to the limit financially.

It was complicated.

It's just we were shooting
Lethal Weapon 2and Batman at the same time.

So basically, I stayed up
24 hours a day,

because I had
to be responsible back here

where we were
filming Lethal.

And perhaps
it's for that reason that
Jon Peters took exception

with Jack Nicholson
on the last day of filming.

[Nick] Jack's last shot

was going to be hanging
from this rope ladder.

It was getting late
and Jon Peters
came over and he said,

"We have to wrap.

He goes into overage
at midnight."

Don't think dollars.

Think real estate.

Now, it's time to retire.

He absolutely intended
to finish at midnight,

but he wound the producers up.

[Peter] He did
tease the producers.

I mean,
he did it with humor.
He wasn't going to screw them.

He's exactly
what you want him to be.

Very professional.
Very funny.

Doesn't suffer fools.

All producers do well.

Jack is Jack,
and Jack was right
in his prime.

With production
wrapping in February of '89,

the film's cost came in
at a whopping $18 million
over budget,

making it the most
expensive movie
ever made at that point.

And at the wrap party,
long-simmering tensions
boiled over.

That's where the fight
between Nicholson
and Peters

about the jackets,
the crew jackets,
took place.

And as it happens,

Jack's generosity
wasn't met halfway
by Jon Peters.

Jack just
turned around, and he said,
"No sooner said than done."

Jon Peters and Jack
were going to split it.

And then Jack told me
Peters tried to bail out
of his half of it.

Peters had chartered a plane
to take him and Jack back

with, like,
two massage therapists
on the plane.

But Jack wouldn't fly
with Peters because
of that incident.

And that buttoned up shooting.

As Tim Burton moved
into post production,

he scored a major win
over his producers.

He had managed to secure
his favorite composer,
Danny Elfman,

to score the movie.

Danny was a lot
of fun for him.

They've always
done stuff together.

Danny had done the music
for Pee-wee Hermanand Beetlejuice,

so Tim never wanted
to do anything
without him.

However,
producers felt
the film could do

with a contemporary
musical twist as well.

At the time, people thought

that Batman needed
a pop culture
vibe and edge to it.

They wanted Batman
to be more modern.

Mark Canton
thought he had the perfect
solution to that problem.

[Victoria] They wanted Prince
to possibly write the score

with Danny Elfman.

'Cause I had the relationship
with Prince from doingPurple Rain and Cherry Moon

and Jon and I thought,
"Wow, this would be great."

And Prince was
completely into it.

However,
Tim wasn't so enthusiastic.

He didn't really want
to use Prince's music.

Prince is obviously
a musical genius,

but he didn't really want
wall-to-wall Prince music.

He should be the one
to have the final decision

about that portion
of the creative process
of a movie.

Danny Elfman
was equally unimpressed.

[Victoria] He refused
to write with Prince.

They were like, we can advertise
that Prince did the score
of Batman,

and Danny Elfman was like,
"It's not gonna happen."

A compromise,
though, was reached.

Danny would score the film,
but Prince would provide
several songs

as features
within the movie.

[Jenna] Prince gave it
a little more cache.

Prince wasn't somebody
who was, you're just
going to call up and say,

"I got a new movie,
you want to do a song?"

And while Prince
went about his princely duties,

Danny Elfman found inspiration

from Batman's first foray
on the screen,
those Columbia serials.

His opening theme
does owe something
to the original serial theme.

Musically,
he was definitely
paying homage.

And then he just went to town
and came up with something

that is as iconic to Batman
as Jon Williams
was for Superman.

It was lovely, very Gothic.

I think that
helped it enormously.

Prince,
as it turned out,

had become quite enamored
with the Batman film.

Prince came up
with a whole album
full of Batman music.

♪ Get the funk up ♪

♪ Batman ♪

Sony, they realized
Prince just made
a Batman concept album,

and we're going
to sell that, too.

I mean, it's pretty amazing,

the confluence
of mostly positivity
towards this film.

This wasn't Tim's vision,
but Tim made it work,

and that's a great director.

Rather
than fight the inevitable,

Tim could at least control
how Prince was used.

Tim is a special director.
He did a great job.

The unexpected cocktail
of Elfman and Prince

turned out to be
lightning in a bottle.

[Jenna] It just fit
this sort of weird
carnival feel to everything

that Danny Elfman
and Prince!

You wouldn't think.
But it worked.

-
-

Was it necessary?

Was it gilding the lily?

That's a matter of opinion.

But the album sold, so clearly,

it was the right decision
for somebody.

It sure worked out,
and it was a gift.

Nobody loved the album
as much as Kim Basinger,

who ended up breaking up
with Jon Peters for Prince.

[Peter] Yes, she did, yes.

She fancied a change.

I must say, you don't meet
many people like him.

There's probably
only a handful of people

in 10 years
who are anything like him.

The album
helped whip up an audience

that by mid-1989
was frothing at the mouth
to get a load of Batman.

Where is the Batman?

And as for young
Michael Uslan,

who through great adversity
had seen the potential
for Batman...

Sequels, animation,
toys, games.

This is gonna be a slam dunk.

Well, he finally saw
the potential for Batman,and it was everywhere.

You could not walk
without seeing someone
wearing a black Batman T-shirt.

It was everywhere.

Where can I get these
fine new items?

There was Batman sneakers
and T-shirts and buttons.

[Michael] All of a sudden,
there were billboards
everywhere you looked,

and for the first time
in history, they did not have
the name of the movie.

[Robert] There was
a big billboard, and all it
was, was the logo.

And people were driving,
"What the hell is that?"

And they could not make out
what it was.

Some people, at first,
thought it was like
the Rolling Stones lips.

- They got confused.
-

It was like a Rorschach test
to other people back then,

- and that, "What is that?"
-

Bus depots were
being broken into.

The glass was being shattered.

People were stealing
those Batman posters.

Batmania
was in full swing.

And while the hype
was undeniable,
many wondered,

"Was it real?"

There was an executive
at Columbia

who had Ghostbusters IIcoming out.

He made a bet with me.

I'll bet you the Ghostbusters
does bigger than Batman.

"I'll bet you $100."
I said, "You're on."

Some of the first eyes to see
the finished cut of the film

were rights-holders
Michael Uslan
and Ben Melniker.

As we're about to go
into the theater to see it,

Ben grabs my hand
and he says,

"Michael, you're going to walk
through these curtains
right now.

Two hours from now,
you're going to walk
through them again

and your life
is going to be changed."

And he was right.
It was incredible.

However,
what would the other
fans think?

On the film's opening night,
executive Mark Canton

had a double reason
to celebrate.

We celebrated with,
I think it was my
40th birthday.

Ironically, was the day
the movie opened.

[Bill] It was
a really special time.

And the premiere in Westwood,
we took over both the Bruin
and the Fox.

But even before
the movie began to play,
it was apparent.

They had a hit.

We knew we had a massive hit
when people were camping out
in Westwood,

dressed as the characters
for two nights before.

I mean, it was out of control.

Whether it was
the visionary direction
of Tim Burton

or out of the box thinking
of Peters and Guber,
one thing was apparent.

We changed the way
people look at movies.

It opened to $42 million
that first weekend.

I mean, it was huge.

By the end
of Batman's theatrical run,

the film had grossed
over $400 million,

well over double
Warner Bros.'

other release,
Lethal Weapon 2.

"Batman did it!"
I said, "It did it!"

I want my $100.

The biggest grossing movie
in the history of Warner Bros.

on opening weekend.

Movies didn't make
that kind of money
in those days.

Sometimes, you just
fucking make history.

I wish I had
a cut of the profit.

To say
that Batman reignited

the public's love affair
with superhero films

is an understatement.

Making 10 times more
than Superman's last outing.

To a nice guy
who's about to finish last.

Adjusting
for inflation, today,
Batman's box office total

would be just shy
of $1 billion.

It was a very strong plot,
really well written.

Tim brilliantly directed it.

And, you know, Guber-Peters
really produced the movie.

I mean, the way it was cast,
from Kim Basinger
to music by Prince, you know.

There I am,
part of one
of the seminal movies.

I was very lucky.
Very spec... very special time.

Fantastic.
I absolutely loved it.

The whole project
was a labor of love.

And we all were in it

to try and do something
good for all the fans,

but was also
something very new.

It was fun to do
and made the studio
a lot of money,

carried a franchise going,

and employed me a bit,
which is much more important,

All of us
had an amazing experience
making the film.

Some more than others.

[Victoria] Jack Nicholson
was only in one Batman film,

but then he ended up
getting a cut of all the other
franchise films.

Those shares are worth
quite a bit of money.

The rumor is,
even Nolan's films.

But don't worry,
we'll get to those.

And as for the man
that risked his livelihood

to bring the world his vision
of his childhood hero...

[Michael] From the day
I bought the rights
to Batman in 1979,

until we finally got
the first Batman
movie made,

I thought maybe
this would take two years.

Ten years is a long time.

Ten years of rejection,
10 years of everyone
telling you,

"You suck.
Your idea stinks."

There are crisis moments
that you have to face.

When you have to look
deep inside and go,

"Okay, is everybody right?

And I'm just being stubborn?

Or do I really,
truly believe in this?"

But at the end,
I was right.

But would
Michael Uslan stay right?

Because keeping
Batman in the dark
would be a constant struggle.

But for now...

[Michael] It's Tim Burton
who deserves all the credit

for coming up
with the big idea.

This was the big idea
that would change the world
culture's perception

of comic books
and superheroes
and super villains.

[Sean Young] I didn't go see the movie
because I just, you know,

I just thought, "Oh, God,
you know. It was...
it was too painful

and I didn't...
I didn't want to...
I didn't want to see it.

I just thought, "Oh, you know,
there could have been me."

I didn't want to do it.

Thanks
to the monumental success
of Burton's Batman...

By that fall, we were
already starting to talk
about the next film.

Warner Bros.'
gamble on the visionary
young director had paid off.

As soon as Batman came out,
Warner Bros. and everybody

wanted Tim
to do the sequel.

But it was
up in the air as to whether
Tim would return.

Tim told me at the time,
"I wouldn't even consider it
if Peters was around."

Because
after all the changes
and interference he faced...

Tim did not feel
that movie was 100%
his own movie.

...something
would have to give.

The outside forces
around Tim really hurt him.