Warner Bros. had reportedly planned to adapt the new Dark Knight story across two animated movies. The studio was initially hesitant to commit to three films, even though the filmmakers saw the DC Comics storyline as a natural three-part story.
The filmmakers found that two films would not provide enough room for the Batman: Knightfall story and eventually managed to convince WB. In a new interview with ComingSoon, supervising producer Rick Morales explained the thought process behind the decision and how they convinced the studio for a three-movie deal.
Why a three-film Batman story became non-negotiable
Morales originally pitched Batman: Knightfall as a three-film project. He had a clear idea of what each installment would cover. Morales described the source material as “a fairly obvious three-act structure.” However, Warner Bros. initially asked the filmmakers to see if they could tell the story in two films.
DC Comics’ Mike Carlin supported Morales’ three-film vision. Even so, Morales and writers Jeremy Adams and Jim Krieg tried to make the two-movie plan work. The team broke down the story during the COVID-19 years to determine whether its major events could fit into two films.
The experiment did not work. Morales said, “We tried. And it didn’t work.” The producer explained that the team did not have enough space to include all the story’s necessary beats without cutting material that was important to the adaptation.
Morales also did not want to rush or remove important parts of the storyline just to make the shorter format possible. He said, “I didn’t want to shortchange it in that way.” He noted that fitting Knightfall’s story into three films was already difficult, making a two-film version even harder.
After realizing that the two-movie plan would not work, the filmmakers returned to Warner Bros. with their conclusion. “Hey, look, we tried, but it ain’t going to work. We need it to be three movies,” Morales recalled. Warner Bros. ultimately accepted the argument without much resistance. The producer said, “They didn’t push back real hard on that, they were just like, ‘Okay.’”
Batman: Knightfall Part 1 is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD.
