Based on Christopher Priest's book, Nolan describes his film as a "pretty free and loose adaptation of a tremendously exciting book that had many ideas, more than you can get into a screenplay. The challenge really was to try to keep the essence of what we thought were the most interesting elements of a large book, with a lot going on. I think Priest liked the screenplay, and we got his blessing, but he understood that we had to take some liberties in order to make it work as a film."
The Prestige reunites Christopher Nolan with Christian Bale and Michael Caine, both of whom he directed in Batman Begins. "Christian and Michael came in quite late in the day," admits Nolan. "Originally we were going to make this film before Batman, with a different cast, and then realized that we didn't have enough time to do it justice, so we put it off."
"Christian found out about it and read the script, called me up and said he was interested in playing the magician Alfred Borden, which seemed exactly right. In the case of Michael Caine, his character feels like it was written for him; but the truth is that it wasn't. But it fits him like a glove."
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