46 Things You Probably Don’t Know About the Batman Films

http://www.vulture.com/2012/07/46-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-batman-films.html

A very good article for all you Bat-fans out there. Some interesting tidbits and somethings we already new. Here are some hi-lights;

1. Michael Uslan — who, in 1971, convinced Indiana University to let him teach the first ever college-accredited course on comic books — bought the film rights for Batman in 1979. (By that time, Uslan had scored a job at DC Comics.) 
2.  Jack Nicholson was always the first choice to play the Joker, though others were considered, including Tim Curry, Willem Dafoe, David Bowie, Robin Williams, and James Woods.
3.  When Billy Dee Williams accepted the role of Harvey Dent in Batman, it was so he could play Two-Face in a future film. But when Schumacher took over the franchise, he had different plans. Tommy Lee Jones was offered the role and took it in part because his son Austin, 11 at the time, said Two-Face was his favorite character.
4.  Schumacher's most controversial changes in Batman Forever was adding nipples to the Batsuit, an idea he got from statues of Greek gods. The nipples went over poorly with many Batfans. More important, Jim Carrey says the nipples "pissed off Bob Kane," 
5.  Two weeks after wrapping Batman & Robin, Schumacher began work on a sequel entitled Batman Triumphant. There was a writer, a villain (Scarecrow), and a mid-1999 release date. 
6.  Nolan shied away from using CGI whenever possible, even attempting to use real bats on the set. That lasted one day.
7.  Heath Ledger directed both videos sent to the news network GCN by the Joker. Nolan supervised the direction of the first and gave the actor full autonomy to direct the second.
8.  Hans Zimmer set out to create the Joker's signature sound without retreading stock villain music. He started experimenting with razor blades on piano wire and pencils tapping on the floor. Ultimately the sound he settled on hinged on playing two conflicting notes on a cello then adding in a guitar part played with a piece of metal.