Chapter 517: Reshaping Gotham

"Reboot Batman?"

In the press room of the Warner Building, a reporter looked up at Duke and the Warner press officer, then turned to another reporter. "This really isn't a good choice. Right, Tony?"

"For any other director, it would be a terrible decision. But he's different, Jarvis."

The reporter named Tony said, "He's Duke Rosenberg, after all!"

'He's Duke Rosenberg, after all!'

Hearing the two reporters in front of her, Sarah from the Los Angeles Times sighed inwardly.

Rumors had been circulating in Hollywood for a while that Duke Rosenberg wanted to reboot Batman with Warner Brothers. When Sarah first heard the news, she had been surprised. He had so many options, yet he chose the hardest one.

Superhero movies had been steadily rising in popularity over the last few years. It was an unprecedented golden age for superheroes, but the successful films all had one thing in common—they came from Marvel!

When was the last time a DC superhero swept the silver screen? You had to go all the way back to Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, widely recognized as the best Batman movie ever made. Could Duke surpass it?

If it were any other director, Sarah would definitely give a negative answer, but looking at the familiar face at the front, she believed it wouldn't be difficult at all.

Duke Rosenberg could absolutely save Batman! That was what Sarah truly believed, a faith born from his countless past successes.

Hollywood was a highly formulaic place. Take this press conference, for example; after going through the routine motions, it arrived at the most important segment: the reporter Q&A session.

As a well-known supporter of Duke, Sarah was the first to be called on by the press officer. She stood up and asked, "Director Rosenberg, could you reveal the general plot and theme of the new Batman?"

The microphone had already been moved in front of Duke. He gave a slight nod and said, "The new film is temporarily titled Batman Begins. It follows Bruce Wayne as he travels the globe to find a way to eradicate the evil forces in Gotham City, and his journey to becoming Batman. It is the first film about the Dark Knight to view the city from the outside. Audiences will see how the rest of the world perceives Gotham, and I will integrate that into this city, putting it on par with London, New York, and Paris."

Jarvis was the second reporter to ask a question. "Duke, as everyone knows, Gotham is a fictional city, and every director depicts it differently. How do you plan to shape Gotham City?"

"An exaggerated version of modern New York, an oppressive metropolis that suffocates you and traps you within its endless sprawl." Duke shared his vision for Gotham City. "I want the audience to feel that Gotham City is a place both familiar and dangerous."

He thought for a moment before emphasizing, "My definition of Gotham City is 'New York cubed.' To capture this essential nature, the film will utilize location shooting as much as possible."

Duke had already selected the filming location for Gotham's exteriors. It wasn't New York, as he had just described, but another famous American city of sin—Chicago!

The city's exteriors would be shot on location as much as possible, but where computer-generated imagery was needed, Duke wouldn't hesitate. He wasn't Christopher Nolan; he wouldn't insist that every shot be practical or use miniatures. In today's highly advanced digital era, the cost of CG was constantly dropping, making it cheaper, faster, and more efficient than shooting with physical props and models.

As for the actual filming, Duke had been familiarizing himself with digital equipment since last year. Starting with the Batman Trilogy, he was prepared to abandon film stock and fully transition to digital technology. This wouldn't just be for shooting; post-production editing and visual effects would also be entirely digital.

He had never been a film purist, nor had he ever rejected advanced technology.

Just as "talkies" had replaced silent films and color movies had replaced black-and-white, digital technology replacing film was an inevitable trend. It wasn't something a few stubborn directors could change.

Similar to James Cameron, Duke mostly preferred new cinematic technologies. A person with his personality would never wallow in past glories.

The replacement of the old by the new was the unchanging theme of the world.

Shortly after the press conference concluded, major media news sites updated their content. Most outlets held a wait-and-see attitude toward Duke's new film.

"Given Duke Rosenberg's inherently commercial filmmaking style, choosing an even more commercial movie isn't surprising, but isn't the risk of rebooting the Batman Series a bit too great?"

—New York Times

"Rather than choosing Batman, he would be better off taking over a Marvel superhero movie. That would be much easier to succeed with!"

—Hollywood Reporter

Compared to the media, Duke's fans were generally supportive. They took to Instant Sharing to voice their opinions.

"If there's any director who can save Batman, it has to be Duke!"

"I'm really looking forward to seeing what Duke's Batman will look like!"

"In Duke's hands, the new Batman is bound to be an epic film!"

Regardless of what the fans and media thought, it wouldn't stop Duke from carrying out his pre-production plans step by step.

Charles Roven continued to serve as his production manager, Anna Printz was the assistant director responsible for script scheduling and shooting assistance, and John Schwartzman—who had grown into a massive heavyweight—handled the camera on set for Duke. Jimmy Carter was in charge of training the actors, choreographing routines, and shooting the action sequences. Hannah Serena was tasked with recreating the sin and grandeur of Gotham City, and Joss William oversaw the design and execution of all explosion scenes.

A mature and well-coordinated team made things much easier for Duke, serving as a crucial factor behind his continuous success over the years.

"I need actors, Duke."

In the conference room of Duke Studio, Jimmy Carter looked at Duke and said, "I need time to train them to look like highly skilled martial artists. Right now, the only confirmed actor is Liam Neeson, and ironically, he's the one who needs training the least."

Since Taken last year, Liam Neeson had been consistently working out and keeping himself in excellent shape.

"We'll have them confirmed soon." Duke turned toward Charles Roven. "How are the talks with Christian Bale going?"

"He's still considering it," Charles Roven said. "He hasn't explicitly agreed to an audition yet."

Duke said without hesitation, "If he's still like this in a week, drop him!"

No one was indispensable in Hollywood. In superhero movies especially, the character always made the actor.

"Anna..." Duke turned to his assistant. "Send audition invitations to Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Laurence Fishburne."

Although Morgan Freeman had gradually recovered from an incest scandal in recent years, Duke had no intention of casting him, and the man likely wouldn't want to work with him anyway. So, he simply opted for Morpheus from The Matrix. Besides, he vaguely remembered that Laurence Fishburne had actually been the top choice for Lucius Fox originally, with Morgan Freeman merely serving as a backup.

"There's also the female lead," Anna Printz reminded him.

"Yeah, I know." Duke turned back to Charles Roven. "Put the word out. We're holding a widespread open casting call for the female lead."

Rachel Dawes was indeed just eye candy, but the role would require a certain level of acting skill in the sequel. Katie Holmes wasn't even within Duke's consideration; her acting was simply too terrible. As for Maggie Gyllenhaal, how many people would actually consider her qualified eye candy?

"Charles, you're in charge of the crew for now. Anna, you handle the script and planning matters."

Duke turned to the other side. "Hannah, John, starting tomorrow, we're heading to Chicago and Iceland to scout locations."

The story at the beginning of the film took place in the Himalayas. Duke would have to be crazy to actually go to the Himalayas for location shooting. The thin air and harsh environmental conditions there were completely unsuitable for large-scale filming.

Iceland's Vatnajokull Glacier was the largest glacier in Europe, occupying a tenth of Iceland's total land area. Its undulating, rocky terrain was perfect for portraying the harsh Himalayan environment that served as the backdrop for the film's scenes.

As for Chicago, the close-up city shots would be filmed there, while all the panoramic views of Gotham City would be generated through models and CGI.

With the brief meeting concluded, Duke returned to his office to prepare for the long scouting trip. Before leaving, he made a point to check the box office performance of Taken, which was currently playing in theaters.

It was already early July, and Taken had passed its fourth weekend in North America, accumulating a total box office of 181.06 million dollars. Although the film's theater count and screen share were steadily declining, a final North American box office surpassing 200 million dollars was practically a certainty.

During its third weekend in North America, the film opened successively in 88 countries and regions worldwide. As of now, including Britain and China—two markets that had premiered simultaneously with North America—the overseas box office for Taken had reached 172.66 million dollars, bringing its global total to a massive 353.72 million dollars.

Expecting a film like this to generate the kind of box office numbers seen by The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was completely unrealistic. Yet based on its current momentum, the global box office could easily exceed 400 million dollars, and it might even make a run for 500 million dollars.

After checking in on Taken's box office and communicating with Warner Brothers, Duke took his director of photography and art director and flew first to Chicago. The filming conditions in the city weren't complicated. After staying for just four days, Duke and his team bid farewell to the North American Continent and flew to Iceland.

Within Hollywood, news that Duke's crew was casting suitable actors for various roles had also spread like wildfire, leaving many actors eager to give it a try.