Christian Bale's original screen test for the role of Batman has been released as a box set extra.
The British star's acclaimed portrayal as the caped crusader in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight movies followed an impressive audition opposite Amy Adams - in which he wore Val Kilmer's old Batman costume.

Included on the Blu-Ray version of The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector's Edition, the audition is interspersed with comments from Nolan himself.
"It's not about acting ability or chemistry or any of those things," the director explains.
"It's about being able to project this extraordinary iconography really from the inside, this visual iconography.
"Christian, somehow he'd figured this out before the screen test. That you could not give a normal performance, you could not give an ordinary performance.
"You had to project massive energy through this costume in order to not question the costume."
Ben Affleck has recently [uuid=d6a1c190-19e6-4b47-b4bb-c92516face97]commented on the reaction[/uuid] to his announcement as the next Batman.