Batman: Christian Bale $50 Million Offer, Was It Or Wasn’t It?

Christian Bale said he has retired from playing Batman, don’t tell that to those who don’t want to give him up. But did the studio really offered $50 million to lure him back?

The headline is all over the internet, but it appears there is no back bone to it, just wishful thinking on the part of Bale’s fans. He would play opposite Henry Cavill as Superman, who is confirmed to be returning to his Man Of Steel role.

The buzz originated when the London Sun reported Bale was facing “extraordinary pressure” to return for a fourth time to reprise the Dark Knight/Bruce Wayne role.

Christopher Nolan and Bale’s fans jumped for joy at the news, but it wasn’t all true or at least not confirmed, and still isn’t.

Christian Bale stated that he would not return to play the dark caped hero, ever again and he also said he would be happy to pass the torch to the new Batman.

According to the Sun, Bale was considering returning to the film for a huge pay day, but who are the tabloid’s sources?

Well, there lies the problem, they are not insiders or those close to Bale, apparently the Sun ran away with information found on a new book titled, Beyond Batman:The Unauthorized True Story Of Christian Bale And His Dark Knight Dilemma.

According to EW, author Vincent Russel writes of a conversation, which took place at a New Year’s Eve party in 2012, about a potential Justice League movie with a friend who worked at Legendary Pictures during the shooting of the Dark Knight films.

“Why would Christian Bale walk away from what is certainly going to be the first or second grossing movie in the history of cinema…He could probably make $50 million for being in the movie 20 minutes.” the friend observed, “and it would be worth every penny to the studio.”

The book goes on to make several assumptions about how Bale is being pressured by not only the studio, but managers, friends, and family.

In summary, the book stated, it seems highly unlikely that Christian Bale would skip such a lucrative opportunity.

So, apparently there is no $50 million offer or Bale considering going back on his word that the third installment was his last.

We can’t put all the blame on Russel, who’s only fault is to have written the book, but on the many outlets that ran with the story because they were really hoping for Bale’s return themselves or didn’t bother to double check the original source.

This proves once more the point that you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet, just because several sources say something, doesn’t make it a fact.

Which gives pause, since this reporter relies on several sources when writing articles.These days it’s hard to tell what’s truth and what’s fiction at times.

Just to play devil’s advocate, Christian Bale is getting ready to film Ridley Scott’s Exodus this fall, but is not booked (that we know of) for anything for early next year when the Superman/Batman movie is set to start production.

We also have to consider that in the past, Zack Snyder who will direct the film, has used unknown or relatively unknown actors for his films, as was the case with Henry Cavill for Superman.

There has been no comment from Warner Bros. or Bale’s reps about this or any of the other rumors.

Do you think Christian Bale will change his mind about playing Batman? It wouldn’t be the first time…