Posted in: Batman, Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: Batman, christian bale, christopher nolan, Ford v. Ferrari, The Dark Knight Trilogy

"Batman": Christian Bale Turned Down Fourth Film Because of Nolan

Christian Bale once considered reprising the role of Bruce Wayne for a fourth Batman film. Out of respect for director Christopher Nolan, the actor turned down the offer from Warner Bros.

Bale spoke with the Toronto Sun while promoting his latest film, Ford v. Ferrari when the questions eventually turned to his time shooting The Dark Knight trilogy and its cultural impact reinventing the comic book film genre.

"We knew we had to reinvent it. I literally had people laugh at me when I told them we were doing a new kind of Batman. I think that the reason it worked was first and foremost Chris' take on it. But also we never were arrogant to assume that we had an opportunity beyond one film at a time. That's something that Chris always would talk about. He'd say, 'This is it. We're making one film. That's all we've got.'"

A Fourth Batman? What Could Have Been

The trilogy grossed a combined $2.45 billion globally in the box office. Naturally, Warner Bros. felt the need to ask.

"Then when they came and said, 'You want to go make another?' It was fantastic, but we still said, 'This is it. We will not get another opportunity.' Then they came and they said, 'OK, let's do a third one.' Chris had always said to me that if we were fortunate to be able to make three we would stop. 'Let's walk away after that,' he said. Then when they inevitably came to us and said, 'How about a No. 4?' I said, 'No. We have to stick to Chris' dream, which was always to, hopefully, do a trilogy. Let's not stretch too far and become overindulgent and go for a fourth.' That's why we, well Chris, stepped away. After that I was informed my services were no longer required (laughs)."

Did The Dark Knight trilogy have a satisfying ending? Do you think Bale needed to do a fourth film?

Ford V. Ferrari is in theaters.

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