Charles Roven, producer of the upcoming Batman Begins movie, told SCI FI Wire that the fifth movie in the franchise returns the story to its roots and bases it in reality. "The whole concept of this Batman is that it ... will be different from the other Batmans, because it's going to be much more reality-based," Roven said in an interview while promoting his next film, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
Roven added, "Everything that the character does, a living person today could evolve to do. And everything—... all of the equipment, the plane, the car, the cape, everything—it's got a real scientific, practical reason for being. ... And you're going, 'Gee, that could happen today.'"
Roven said that he just returned from Iceland, where the film began shooting last week with Christian Bale starring as Bruce Wayne and Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon. Bale has already signed for possible sequels, and Roven added that Batman Begins sets in motion events that could pay off in subsequent installments.
"You've got to see this one to find out what's going to happen possibly in the next one," Roven said. "All of the seeds, if there will be a next one, are there, even though the exact story for what the next one will be hasn't been worked out. But we're doing Batman Begins, so you can imagine that you find out the history of the character, why Bruce Wayne went on the journey to become this character of Batman, how he got there, and also other characters within the story and they embark on their journey to become maybe some of his biggest foes." Batman Begins is eyeing a summer 2005 release.