Originally, Warner planned to shoot The Dark Knight trilogy back-to-back, then release the three parts separately.
As a result, after filming the first two parts, the production immediately ran into trouble.
They had run out of money.
Xu Can had originally thought Nolan, a true practical-shooting fanatic, would be able to save money on special effects.
Unfortunately, Nolan's real shots were not cheap either.
The construction of large-scale sets and physical props was no different from special-effects production. In some areas, it was even more expensive than digital effects.
Warner executives negotiated with Nolan overnight. Some scenes, in their opinion, could be shot in a green-screen studio, then completed through post-production.
As a result, Nolan replied very seriously.
"The current level of special effects cannot meet my requirements. I have a clear vision for the overall film. If you cannot accept that, then replace me."
Nolan had already shot more than half the film. At this point, replacing him would only create even more trouble.
Warner could only bite the bullet and let him continue shooting.
However, the third film, The Dark Knight Rises, had to be suspended until the box-office returns from the first two movies came in.
The first two parts alone had cost a total of 320 million U.S. dollars.
After calculation, Batman Begins cost 130 million, while The Dark Knight cost 190 million.
The Hollywood industry called Warner Bros. crazy.
After seeing the success of Spider-Man, they had actually dared to spend so much money.
In response, Xu Can said in a media interview:
"Pirates of the Caribbean 3 cost 342 million and made nearly 960 million at the box office. Each Batman movie costs less than 200 million. Their box office may be even higher."
Xu Can's remarks were quickly labeled arrogant by Hollywood.
However, after the previous bet made by film critic Howard Newburgh, no one dared to gamble against Xu Can anymore.
Videos of Howard Newburgh swimming were still being turned into all kinds of memes by YouTubers.
Only The New York Times criticized Xu Can in its entertainment column.
"It is said that Nolan's The Dark Knight will explore Batman's character more profoundly, and the two-faced Harvey Dent will become the key to the film.
"He seems to have forgotten what a disaster Two-Face was in Batman Forever. I'm afraid digging deeper into comics is not that simple.
"Xu Can currently only has two successful movies. Perhaps The Dark Knight trilogy will teach him a good lesson."
Amid the controversy, Nolan's first Batman film, Batman Begins, officially premiered.
As one of the film's screenwriters and producers, Xu Can did not attend the premiere because he was busy filming Iron Man.
Nolan attended with Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and many other major names.
Fans and media gathered together to enjoy this Batman reboot.
[Produced by Warner Films]
[DC Comics]
[Co-produced by Galaxy Entertainment]
[Co-producer: Xu Can]
[Directed by Christopher Nolan]
[Co-screenwriters: Jonathan Nolan / Xu Can]
"What is your fear?"
"Take out all the money and jewelry."
"Don't be impulsive."
Bang.
The origin story familiar to all Batman fans began with Bruce Wayne's parents being shot dead by robbers in a dark alley.
Nolan used his familiar fragmented narrative style, starting from Bruce Wayne's encounter with the ninja master, then flashing back to his childhood nightmare.
In order to understand the psychology of criminals and eliminate crime from its roots, Bruce Wayne gave up his life as a billionaire and traveled around the world, mingling with criminal organizations in different countries.
Finally, in an Asian prison, he met the ninja master, Ra's al Ghul, and completed his training with the League of Assassins.
However, because of their different philosophies, Bruce Wayne refused to kill. He chose to leave and return to Gotham City.
At this time, Gotham had already fallen into hell.
The underworld forces had eyes and hands everywhere. Crime lord Falcone could do almost anything he wanted.
After returning, Bruce Wayne used simple methods to eliminate the dissidents within his company and regain control of it.
At the same time, he discovered Fox, the technology leader played by Morgan Freeman, in the Applied Technology Department.
Fox provided Bruce Wayne with the latest equipment, including Kevlar body armor, fabric that could glide through the air, and a redesigned Batmobile with a shockingly cool appearance.
"Wow."
The moment the audience saw the Batmobile, the entire theater burst into exclamations.
It completely overturned the public's perception of the Batmobile.
Compared with the sleek, traditional Batmobile, Nolan's version carried a much stronger sense of real-world wildness.
This was a car built by the "practical-shooting maniac" in real life. Its style was based on a combination of Hummer and Lamborghini.
Originally, Nolan had only a rough idea.
It was Xu Can who casually pulled out a tissue, drew a detailed Batmobile design on it, and handed it over.
Then, the car was actually built and driven on the road.
Later, in an interview, Nolan revealed Xu Can's design to the media.
"To be honest, I didn't expect Xu Can to draw it in such detail. I framed that tissue, and it has become one of my precious collections."
As for the Batmobile that was built, Christian Bale especially wanted it.
He kept begging Nolan to give it to him, but Nolan decisively refused.
"I'm sorry. Xu is one of the investors, and I already promised to give it to him."
Once Bale heard Xu Can wanted it, he had no choice but to give up.
After The Dark Knight Rises, the Batmobile would officially be given to Xu Can.
Back in the movie, Bruce Wayne used Kevlar body armor to create the Batsuit.
This Batsuit also included some of Xu Can's design ideas.
Unlike previous Batman films, Nolan's Batman had a strong sense of realism from beginning to end.
Both Batman's appearance and his car felt close to real life.
This created a strong sense of reality for the live audience.
After Batman was born, he captured the gangster Falcone in his first attack, tied him to a searchlight, and handed the evidence to prosecutor Rachel.
He wanted to further eradicate crime in Gotham, but was stopped by another villain, Scarecrow.
Later, in order to rescue Rachel after she was affected by Scarecrow, Batman struck again.
Scarecrow confessed that his superior was the League of Assassins.
The police arrived late, and Batman quickly took Rachel away in the Batmobile.
Gordon's eyes lit up the moment he saw the Batmobile.
"Sooner or later, I'm going to get one to play with."
What followed was the most exciting car-chase scene in the entire film.
Batman drove the Batmobile through Gotham's streets, shaking off the district police in a wild chase.
All the car-chase scenes were practical shots.
Although there were no flashy special effects, the tension and excitement were high.
Batman escaped the police pursuit, but Scarecrow had already injected the fear toxin into the city's water pipes in advance.
The entire Gotham City might inhale the fear gas and be frightened to death by the terror buried deep in their hearts.
At the same time, Ra's al Ghul found Bruce Wayne, defeated him, and burned down Wayne Manor.
Bruce was rescued by Alfred and survived.
Despite the danger, he dressed as Batman and went to face the ninja master in a decisive battle.
"It doesn't matter who is behind my mask. What matters is what I do."
In the final battle, Gordon and Batman worked together to save Gotham City from crisis.
On the light rail, Batman and the ninja master fought an intense final duel. In the end, Batman escaped successfully.
The ninja master crashed and exploded along with the light rail.
At the end of the film, everything settled down. Bruce Wayne believed Gotham City would finally regain its vitality.
However, Gordon's words made his heart tremble.
"Armed robbery, arson… many serious crimes. The key is, this guy likes theatricality just like you."
"After every crime he commits, he leaves a playing card behind."
Bruce Wayne took the card and turned it over.
It was a black Joker card.
The film ended.
The movie fans, who had just recovered from a wonderful and thrilling story, immediately became excited again.
In the sequel, they would finally see the clown played by Xu Can.
At that moment, the audience's expectations shot up sharply.
The overall quality of Batman Begins was considered good, so everyone had the patience to sit through the long ending credits.
However, after the credits finished and the screen went dark…
A pale, strange face appeared on the big screen.
A bloody mouth slowly curved into an evil smile.
Through the white makeup, Xu Can's handsome features could still vaguely be recognized.
"The clown."
"Wow."
"Jesus, what did I just see?"
The entire theater erupted once again, followed by thunderous applause.
The creative team stood up and bowed to the audience.
Nolan smiled helplessly.
He knew very well that Batman Begins had earned about seventy percent of the applause.
The remaining thirty percent belonged to the post-credits Easter egg.
Xu Can's Joker had already raised the audience's expectations to an explosive level.
They could hardly wait for The Dark Knight to be released.
Sure enough, during the media interview session after the screening, reporters from the Los Santos Times immediately asked questions about the next Dark Knight film.
"Is it confirmed that The Dark Knight will be released this Christmas? Is there any possibility of postponement?"
"How long will the clown played by Xu Can appear in the sequel?"
"Will the Joker appear in the third film?"
Nolan's entire body went numb.
"The following questions involve spoilers, so I won't answer them. I can only say that the Christmas release of The Dark Knight will not be postponed."
The audience gave another round of warm applause.
After watching Batman Begins, everyone felt relieved.
This was the best live-action American comic-book movie after Spider-Man.
Everyone had reason to look forward to the kind of collision Xu Can's Joker would have with Batman.
The next Dark Knight would definitely be even better.
After the premiere, lead actor Christian Bale called Xu Can to share the good news.
"Xu, it seems we don't have to worry anymore. The movie is quite successful."
"Well, I wasn't worried. You were the one worrying."
"Listen to the cheers outside the theater. They're all talking about you. You kid, you stole all our limelight."
Bale was clearly the male protagonist, Batman.
So why was everyone looking forward to the Joker?
"Don't worry," Xu Can comforted him. "You won't have to worry about that until the third part."
"It'll be Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy who steal the spotlight then."
"Please spare me."
Bale did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Where was his dignity as Batman?
Batman Begins opened with 52 million dollars at the box office.
In the 2007 first-weekend box-office rankings, it lagged behind Pirates of the Caribbean 3, John Wick, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Transformers, and The Twilight Saga.
It was roughly ranked sixth.
Judging from its IMDb score, Batman Begins opened at 8.7 out of 10, surpassing Tim Burton's older Batman version.
Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it an 84 percent fresh rating.
In terms of box office and reputation, Batman Begins was not the best or most popular movie of the year.
But as a Batman reboot, it had achieved initial success.
It was expected to earn about 400 million dollars at the global box office, which basically meant recovering its investment and even making a small profit.
Of course, internally, it did not matter much whether the first film made money.
Everyone's focus was on the second film, The Dark Knight.
Batman Begins was now in theaters.
It was sandwiched between Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Paramount's Transformers, stealing a piece of meat from the mouths of giants.
At this time, Xu Can was already more than halfway through filming Iron Man.
Unexpectedly, after becoming a director and entering his "god-level director" state, he greatly sped up the filming process.
Many times, a director repeatedly shouts "cut" or "NG" not because the actors are terrible, but because the director himself has not clearly figured out the shot he wants.
Wong Kar-wai was a typical example.
When filming, he often did not know exactly what he wanted. He would simply ask actors to perform again and again until he finally found the shot he needed.
Many famous actors had suffered under him.
Xu Can, on the other hand, could accurately grasp subtle reasons like a computer, analyze them, and convey them clearly to the actors.
Downey, Pepper, and the others performed with ease.
After Xu Can explained a scene once, their performances improved dramatically.
Camera scheduling, actor scheduling, scene scheduling, and rhythm control were all at his fingertips.
If post-production moved fast enough, Iron Man could even be released in 2007.
At this time, Taylor Swift's North American tour had ended, and she finally returned to Los Santos, dragging her exhausted body back with her.
She was a young woman who had only recently stepped into adulthood. Such high-intensity performances had made her seriously ill by the time she returned.
During a break from filming Iron Man, Xu Can specifically gave the crew half a day off and made a special trip to visit her.
"Xu, you're here."
When Taylor opened the apartment door, she looked so pale and weak that Xu Can felt distressed.
After not seeing each other for more than two months, Xu Can could not bear it anymore and stepped forward to support her.
Taylor was already thin, but now she felt as light as paper, leaning weakly against him.
She was tall, and her chin rested lightly near his shoulder.
The next second, Taylor felt dizzy and was suddenly lifted into the air.
She was so startled that she became energetic for a moment.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
With her height of 1.8 meters, she was being carried by Xu Can as if she weighed nothing.
This was an experience Taylor had never had before.
Xu Can carried her straight to the bedroom.
For a brief moment, Taylor wondered if he was going to do something inappropriate.
But Xu only gently placed her on the bed and covered her with the quilt.
"Lie down. Have you eaten today?"
Taylor shook her head slightly like a little girl.
"I'll get you something to eat."
At this moment, Xu Can leaned closer. Taylor subconsciously thought he was going to kiss her, so she quickly closed her eyes.
Unexpectedly, Xu Can only pressed his forehead lightly against hers.
"You're still a little hot. The fever hasn't gone away."
The kiss Taylor had expected did not come, and she felt a little disappointed.
"Get some sleep. You need rest."
"Mm."
The weak Taylor was indeed sleepy. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.
Xu Can went to the kitchen and found that there was nothing in the refrigerator.
He could only call Vanessa and ask her to go to the Huxia supermarket to buy ingredients.
"Boss, you asked for millet, red dates, pumpkin, eggs, and chicken…"
Vanessa could not figure out what her boss was trying to do.
These ingredients did not look like they belonged together.
"Come help me wash the red dates."
Xu Can asked Vanessa to help, and soon, a hot pot of red date, millet, and pumpkin porridge was cooked.
There was also chicken soup simmering in another pot, filling the kitchen with a warm fragrance.
"If you're hungry, eat some too. There's a lot of porridge."
Watching the familiar scene of Xu Can serving millet porridge and preparing to take care of Taylor, Vanessa's usually calm mood suddenly became a little unstable.
For a moment, she envied Taylor.
Not because Taylor's album sales had exceeded 4.5 million.
But because she had met this man.
Through the crack in the door, Vanessa saw Taylor's surprised smile when she woke up and drank the porridge.
She also saw the admiration in Taylor's eyes as she looked at Xu Can.
The porridge in Vanessa's hand suddenly seemed a little less sweet.
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