The Dark Knight Rises!

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Congrats, you Bat nuts finally have an actual day to obsess over for months and months.

Warner Bros. has officially announced the release date of Christopher Nolan's third Batman film: July 20th, 2012.

All signs have been pointing toward the third Bat installment arriving in 2012, and you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to guess Warners would stick the flick on the same weekend as its closest sibling (especially since it shattered records), but it's still nice to know for sure that we'll be getting a new Batman movie from Nolan on a specific date in the future. It's all set in stone -- we can change the pencil to pen, make the invitations and start looking for a florist and photographer. This deal is done.

Now comes the fun part:

1. Who are the villains?

2. Which actors and actresses are playing those villains?

Who else will Nolan add to his delightful, ever-growing ensemble cast?

Which actress will replace Maggie Gyllenhaal as the girl Bruce Wayne wants to sleep with?

Will Christian Bale lessen the growl a little bit so we don't immediately make fun of him after the credits roll?

Can anyone top Ledger?

Will this new film forever live in the shadow of its predecessor no matter what they do?

How do you make a follow up to one of greatest superhero films of all time?


Those questions -- and many more -- will be answered one by one over the next several months.

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Director Christopher Nolan says that he won’t bring back The Joker in Batman 3 or in any installment of the franchise while he’s in charge. From the latest issue of Empire Magazine [via Obsessed with Film, emphasis their's]:

“No”, says Nolan emphatically and unhesitatingly. He resists elaborating simply because, quite understandably, he says, “I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it”.

It’s good to know that Nolan is choosing not to make the crassest decision of all-time.

Besides, who could you recast? Heath Ledger’s Joker is a singular performance, and while it can be impersonated, it can never be replicated. So let us simply resume speculation over who will be the villain of the next Batman movie.

Batman 3 (tentative title) is slated to hit theaters on July 20, 2012.

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Batman 3 rumours are escalating, with further indication The Riddler may feature, and that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is interested in the role.

FirstShowing.net got their hands on a casting grid for Batman 3, a document which lays out the roles in the movie and actors available to play them.

For Bat-fans, this is as close to confirmation that The Riddler will be appearing as you can get without hearing it from Nolan himself.

Perhaps even more exciting is the mention of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is listed next to The Riddler as 'interested'.

JGL has been touted for the role in fan circles for some time, and thanks to his high-profile performance in Inception is now well known to the general public.

We already know that Nolan likes to work with the same trusted actors in his film projects, so it is easy to see the director offering the versatile young actor the part.

The problem with the slow leak of rumours like these is that it always leaves us wanting more... it's going to be a long wait.

We'd like to point out that this news should be considered confirmation that The Riddler is the villain in Batman 3 and less confirmation of the recent suggestions/rumors regarding Gordon-Levitt's casting as the enigmatic villain. A casting grid is used in the industry to keep production companies, agencies, etc. in the loop on a project's progress and the roles available for actors to potentially take. These documents are used for business planning in the industry and by no means would use internet speculation to list a character that may not even appear in the film. But when it comes to listing actors, this is info that can change at anytime, and just because an actor or studio is interested in one or the other, does not mean it will actually happen.

We're also cautious because the age range listed for the character is 35 to 45, and with Gordon-Levitt being 29 years old falls a little short of the mark. Of course, this wouldn't really be a reason for him to be excluded as characters can be modified in the script to accommodate a favored actor. On the lighter side though, the actor is fresh off working with Nolan on the brilliant Inception, so they've surely developed quite a working relationship as Gordon-Levitt called him "the genuine article… a real artist" and "a unique voice." For now we'll consider Gordon-Levitt's involvement a rumor, but seeing The Riddler in a studio casting grid is solid confirmation of Nolan's villain for Batman 3. Hopefully we'll get an official confirmation sooner than later.

Batman is due to begin filming next year, and is set for release July 2012.

[cheebacheeba]

If I haven't said this already - He ought to consider Greg Kinnear as the riddler...I honestly cannot think of another actor who could look/play/sound the part as well as I envision him.
As for Johnny Depp rumours, I wish that guy would stop with the over the top shit and get back into something remotely serious...that would *almost* make me not want to see it.

I maintain, Hush would be the shit...perfect for the Nolan universe.

[roshiq]

what if JGL may get the chance to appear in the last-quarter of the next film as a sidekick wannabe for BatMan!?!:eek:

:D:D

[Doc Faustus]

JGL would work great if the Riddler was used the way Paul Dini and Grant Morrison have been using him in the past few years, as a consulting detective and a foil to Batman. Particularly if he starts getting a good reputation while Batman's in the shadows.Supplemented by another villain with whom he could form an alliance after being revealed for the lunatic that he is, he would be a great character. My picks would be: William H. Macy as The Ventriloquist, James Spader as The Mad Hatter, Sam Rockwell as Hush or Black Mask, Antonio Banderas as Bane.

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Given how great he was in Inception, this doesn’t exactly count as surprising news, but it’s still very welcome: according to Deadline, Christopher Nolan has recruited Tom Hardy for a major role in the next Batman film.

Before anyone hits the ‘net to scream “TOM HARDY IS THE RIDDLER!!!1!!” A WORD OF… Sorry, left the caps lock on there. A word of caution: there is zero information as to what his role might be, and only an insinuation that he’s playing a villain.

But while there’s zero confirmation on his part, feel free to go nuts with your guesses – would he make a good Riddler?
Is he taking on one of the other iconic characters from Bats’ rogues’ gallery?

Or could he be Robin? Kidding on that one. We hope…

Hardy, of course, has been shooting Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for Thomas Alfredson and he also has McG’s action comedy This Means War, alongside Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine, on his schedule. While we thought Nolan might try to factor him into the Bat-universe, there was always the lingering spectre of Mad Max: Fury Road in his future, but thanks to rain and a lot of flowers, that one has been pushed back.

As for Batman 3, all that we really know for sure is that Chris Nolan is definitely making the film (he told us himself) and that Jonah Nolan and David Goyer have been hard at work cranking out another script.

Batman is due to hit theaters in July 2012.

[benny02]

Originally Posted by roshiq

Nolan unsure about the sequel of TDK!?!

It's frustrating...:(

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/chri...olan_blog.html

I have no doubt the Batman will come up with it's 3rd version sooner or later. All they are looking for a killer script for they don't want the classic series getting disreputed for any lacking.

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Big news from the Batman camp in today’s L.A. Times: Christopher Nolan has revealed the name of the third film in his Gotham City trilogy.

In July 2012, we’ll be queuing for The Dark Knight Rises.

Not only that, but in something of a bombshell, Nolan went on to dispell what many had begun to assume to be a given – “It won’t be the Riddler,” reports L.A.T.’s blog Hero Complex, effectively pulling the leading villain candidate completely out of the pool.

So easy to get ahead of yourself, isn't it? Of course, true to form, the director wouldn’t reveal who it would be.

What Nolan seemed most interested in imparting was that he’s convinced Warner Bros. to keep telling his story in 2D, and to continue down the path of hi-def IMAX sequences.

And he’ll get no argument from us on the subject – if it ain't broke, etc.

The post contains one other potentially juicy, enigmatic Nolan quote: “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones.” From here, you can go down two schools of thought – 1) This is a straightforward, non-commital comment. 2) You can subscribe to the oft-chanted mantra that "In comic books, no-one is ever really dead" – and we lost two big characters in The Dark Knight.

But then again, of course, that doesn’t – to date – really wash with the realistic leanings of the first two films. What was that about getting ahead of ourselves? Exactly.

So, who will be the next "Batman" villain, and what do you think of the title?

[phantomstranger]

I suppose if he "rises" for more than four hours he'll have to see his doctor