Comic book movies have been dominating the box office for years now, and many people point to 2008 as being a huge turning point for the genre. That year, the MCU officially kicked off with Iron Man, changing movies forever. DC, meanwhile, released The Dark Knight, which could very well be the best comic book movie ever made.
Prior to the release of The Dark Knight, Katie Holmes bowed out of the project. She appeared in Batman Begins as Rachel Dawes, and she was subsequently replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. The real interesting fact here stems from Holmes choosing to do another movie instead of The Dark Knight.
Let’s take a look back at what happened here.
Holmes Starred In Batman Begins
To get the full picture here, we need to take things back to the beginning of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and see how things got rolling. It is important to keep in mind that the Batman movies of the 90s put a sour note on things and that Nolan was having to take a much different approach than fans had seen.
Nolan’s first film, Batman Begins, was going to change things for the character, making the world around him feel realer than ever. Gone was the campiness and the over-the-top nature of the Schumacher films. For Nolan’s vision to come to life, he needed the perfect cast, and he tabbed Christian Bale and Katie Holmes to star in Batman Begins.
Both Bale and Holmes has been successful performers by that point, and fans were genuinely curious to see how this film would turn out. It looked great from the outside, but previews can often be deceiving. Thankfully, this movie wound up delivering the goods and becoming a hit at the box office. In the blink of an eye, Batman was a box office force once again.
At the end of Batman Begins, there is a tease for the Joker causing trouble in Gotham, and this clued the fans on the Clown Prince of Crime being the villain in the next film. Most assumed that the primary cast would be back, but Holmes would be noticeably absent from the sequel.
She Passed On The Dark Knight For Mad Money
Much was made about The Dark Knight prior to its release, though the majority of coverage focused on the untimely passing and incredible performance of Heath Ledger. Because of this, some may have overlooked the fact that Katie Holmes was nowhere to be found in The Dark Knight.
Instead of coming back for the sequel, Holmes opted to go another route and chose to do a movie called Mad Money with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah. This drew the ire of Christopher Nolan, who wound up casting Maggie Gyllenhaal in Holmes’ place.
Per Nolan, “Katie wasn't available for the role, which I wasn't very happy about, but these things happen, and I was very, very fortunate that Maggie [Gyllenhaal] was able to take it over."
“You know, I really enjoyed working on the first one and I wish I could have worked with Chris Nolan again and I hope to work with him again. It was a decision that I made at that time and it was right for me at that moment, so I don't have any regrets. I think that Maggie did a wonderful job. But I really hope that I get to work with Chris some day,” said Holmes.
Whether this decision came down to scheduling or simply choosing the wrong lane, Katie Holmes’ decision to not participate in The Dark Knight was not the best move.
Mad Money Was A Flop
Mad Money, the movie that Katie Holmes left The Dark Knight for, would go on to make $26 million at the box office. Since then, it has basically been forgotten about, and is mainly just a film that pops up in Holmes’ filmography.
The Dark Knight, however, is considered perhaps the greatest superhero movie ever made and went on to gross over $1 billion at the box office. The film maintains an incredible legacy in the business, and it was also the precursor to the successful sequel, The Dark Knight Rises.
Through the years, Holmes has continued to work steadily in film and has even done some television work. Though she has had success as an actress, nothing has come close to matching what she could have achieved with The Dark Knight.
It’s not always easy choosing the right film in Hollywood, but this seemed like a pretty simple choice that Holmes simply got wrong.