I Am Legend performed quite well, earning a North American opening-weekend box office of 77.5 million dollars—enough to rank among the top releases of this year's summer season.
This film also saved Nicolas Cage, pulling him back from the brink of sliding off the A-list.
So when Gilbert extended an olive branch, Nicolas Cage had no reason to refuse and directly accepted the role of Two-Face.
Christian Bale was no exception. After all, he played Bruce Wayne, Batman. But this time, his salary rose to 15 million dollars—much higher than what he earned when he shot the first Batman film.
On the Monday following the release of I Am Legend, Warner Bros. officially announced Batman: The Dark Knight.
Rumors outside claimed that Gilbert planned to end his partnership with Warner, but Warner Bros. still confirmed that Gilbert would remain the director.
"Gilbert is the core of the new Batman trilogy. Without him, Batman cannot achieve redemption. Therefore, we believe Gilbert is still the most suitable person to direct the Batman films.
At the same time, the movie will meet audiences in next year's summer season."
This statement made Batman fans cheer. If the best director in the world didn't come to direct the Batman movie, fans couldn't imagine what it would become.
Afterward, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Connelly, and the other cast members from the first film all announced their return. Christian Bale also confirmed he would continue portraying Batman.
During I Am Legend's promotional campaign, Nicolas Cage even revealed a little: "Yes, I'm sure I will appear in the Batman film. Director Gilbert already talked to me.
I can't say specifics yet. I can only say this is a role that makes me extremely excited."
In fact, Nicolas Cage had already received the script for The Dark Knight. After reading it, he immediately called Gilbert.
"Can I play the Joker? The character's design is incredible—I want to play the Joker."
Gilbert laughed. "Nicolas, your role is already set. I have someone else in mind for the Joker."
"Who? I'll switch with him. Can we renegotiate the pay?"
Although Nicolas Cage repeatedly pleaded to play the Joker, Gilbert still refused him. The script had already been sent to Heath Ledger, and they were only waiting for his reply.
In an apartment in North Los Angeles, Heath Ledger was reading The Dark Knight script with great interest. The character called the Joker deeply fascinated him.
It was worth noting that, in 1992, Heath Ledger had debuted in an Australian TV movie called Clowning Around, and his role there was also a clown.
But that clown was the circus kind—completely different from the Joker in The Dark Knight.
Over the years, Heath Ledger's career had developed well. His performance in Brokeback Mountain earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and made him widely known.
Heath Ledger was a devoted actor. Whenever he encountered a good role, he would start contemplating it, imitating the character's behavior patterns, and even analyzing the character's inner world.
Without a doubt, the Joker in The Dark Knight was a role that moved him deeply. He didn't hesitate and told his agent directly that he would take the role.
After signing the contract, Heath Ledger approached Gilbert.
"Director Gilbert, I hope you can give me one month."
Gilbert asked in confusion, "Why? Do you have something to take care of?"
"No, no," the somewhat introverted actor replied. "I want to spend a month studying the Joker, so I can portray him better."
An actor's self-discipline was not a problem, and Gilbert had no reason to refuse, so he agreed.
After gaining Gilbert's approval, Heath Ledger locked himself in the bedroom of his apartment. He did not step outside, devoting himself entirely to studying and embodying the Joker, forcing himself into the same frequency as the character.
Michelle Williams once visited Heath Ledger during his seclusion, and she was shocked.
Ledger's tone of voice, gait, and the way he moved were already completely aligned with the Joker in The Dark Knight. He looked like someone who had walked straight out of Arkham Asylum.
Michelle Williams later recalled: "It was truly terrifying. Matilda and I were both frightened. He pushed himself so hard for the role. When I saw him again, he was the Joker."
Without a doubt, Jack Nicholson's Joker was long considered the best. But Heath Ledger's goal was to surpass Nicholson's version.
Seeing his state, no one would believe he couldn't surpass it.
After returning to the film market a year later, Gilbert planned to deliver a blockbuster-level film.
The Dark Knight was the only Batman movie that did not carry the "Batman" prefix. Gilbert did this to weaken the Batman label and move the film closer to the essence of a crime thriller.
At the same time, Gilbert emphasized to the team that The Dark Knight would be a full upgrade of Batman Begins.
Since it was an upgrade, the budget could not be small. Warner gave a grand gesture, allocating a total of 200 million dollars in production funds into a third-party insurance account.
In this film, Gilbert would continue using IMAX cameras to shoot.
This time, the IMAX 70mm film stock had an area nine times larger than ordinary 35mm film, bringing a broader image scale and higher image brightness.
But the pursuit of extreme visuals meant exhausting the cinematographers, because the IMAX camera was extremely large and heavy. Director of photography John Schwartzman had to work out and build stamina, or else he wouldn't be able to lift the IMAX camera.
Gilbert was the earliest director to use the IMAX format. After him, many films attempted IMAX, but many gave up due to the difficulty of shooting.
Yet Gilbert used IMAX for the most difficult scenes—action sequences—ensuring the IMAX format delivered the most immersive viewing experience.
Meanwhile, green-screen filmmaking technology was already very advanced. Many shots in the in-production Avatar were completed with green screens.
But Gilbert insisted on practical filming. If it could be shot practically, it must be shot practically. If it couldn't be shot practically, he would find a way to still shoot it practically.
Especially one sequence involving blowing up a hospital. During the planning meeting, Gilbert asked Charles Roven: "Can we find a hospital somewhere and blow it up?"
Charles Roven looked at Gilbert as if he were insane. "Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious. Please go find one, all right?"
Gilbert only needed to say the words; Charles Roven had to run himself ragged. He finally found an abandoned hospital in Billings, Montana. Local state senator Peter Rock was a Batman fan and helped the production obtain the permit to blow up the hospital.
As a return favor, Gilbert invited Peter Rock to make a cameo in The Dark Knight to satisfy his fan dreams.
The remaining filming locations were mostly concentrated in Chicago and New York.
There were also exterior shoots in Tokyo. In the story, the Chinese money-laundering character was changed to a Japanese one, and they also filmed several famous Tokyo landmarks.
Although Edison Chen couldn't appear in this version—though in the previous life he had a cameo in The Dark Knight—Gilbert could arrange for Noriko Sakai and others to make cameo appearances instead.
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