The Dark Knight Rises!

[roshiq]

Originally Posted by neverending

Where's all the brouhaha over Ledger's win at the Golden Globes? I expected all you Batman fans to be all over this.

We would... if there was no award for him!

That was mostly expected & more or less all fans were sure enough that he'd going to win that.

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Yes, we know that the rumor mill is churning out of control on all things related to Batman 3, but this report was just too juicy not to tell you about.

Although it appeared unlikely that we'd ever see the Joker in another Christopher Nolan-directed Batman film after Heath Ledger died, a Warner Bros. source for Moviehole suggests that the Clown Prince of Crime just might end up being part of a third Bat-film after all.

Moviehole's Clint Morris claims to have "heard from someone at the WB that The Joker may be a part of the next Batman film -- if even in a minor capacity. I believe 'It's definitely possible; ya never know. Heard some things' were his exact words."

The Joker, you may recall, was literally left hanging at the end of The Dark Knight. According to Moviehole, the Joker's inclusion in Batman 3 would be "merely for storytelling reasons -- they want to tie-up the character's storyline -- not because they wanna keep selling the Joker T-Shirt (which, of course, they do)."

While for many it's unthinkable to even ponder anyone else but Ledger as The Joker (especially given all the awards the actor has posthumously received), the site points out that producer Charles Roven recently suggested to MTV that the role is more important than the actor playing it.

So might the Joker be recast? Or, if it's just a small role, could Ledger's Clown Prince be digitally recreated a la Oliver Reed in Gladiator or Brandon Lee in The Crow in order to have the character make an appearance? Given today's special effects, that's certainly possible. But, as Moviehole stresses, right now the studio and filmmakers are simply tossing around ideas for a third Bat-film so this is all just rumor, so take all stuff like this with big grains of salt.

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Warner Bros. really wants Christopher Nolan to direct Batman 3. That much is obvious, but a new report suggests that the studio already has a replacement in mind just in case Nolan should pass on helming a third installment.

Batman-on-Film reports that when "Nolan came to an agreement to helm Inception for Warner Bros., there is at least some sort of understanding between him and the studio that he'll do a third Batman -- though his reps won't confirm or deny it."

In case Nolan decides to pass on directing Batman 3 -- we already know he's working on the script for it -- then BoF claims that Warners "might" have considered its Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder as a possible replacement or as a successor once Nolan completes his trilogy.

While we fully expect Nolan to return to direct Batman 3, let's at least wonder what a Snyder-directed Bat flick would be like. Hmm...what say, Leonidas?

[Doc Faustus]

Too flashy by half.

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MTV News caught up with Michael Caine at the Toronto film festival yesterday, and quizzed the British star (who played Alfred in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) about the future of Batman 3.

"There is nobody, there's no script, there's nothing," he told them. "It can't possibly be made before 2011 because Inception [director Chris Nolan's next film] is such a big picture."

Caine said the studio weren't giving him any updates because he kept spilling the beans, then promptly revealed that as far as he knew, the rumour linking Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp to the role of The Riddler was false.

He said: "Johnny Depp is great in anything, but there is no Johnny Depp in this Batman. They tell me in no uncertain terms."

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Some news that we missed last week about a little-known comic book movie franchise called Batman.

Batman On Film reports that director Christopher Nolan and studio Warner Bros. will officially announce their plans for Batman 3 in January.

Their scooper told the site: "The longer we don't hear a Nolan/B3 announcement in 2010, the less likely it is that the director will return."

We've heard so many rumours and counter-rumours about Batman 3 over the past year, so here's hoping BOF's source is true, and that 2010 brings some kind of official news about the project.

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Some fresh Batman 3 rumours have hit the Net today, with a scooper – apparently from Warner Bros. – giving Comic Book Movies the lowdown on the plot for Christopher Nolan's sequel.

First up, we have to reiterate that – as with so much The Dark Knight sequel gossip we've heard in the last couple of years – this is unverified by the studio and thus should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The source claims that, with screenwriting beginning this month, the plot is already in place. We heard last week that David Goyer and Jonah Nolan might have already actually finished a first draft.

Furthermore, they claim that the villain of the piece is The Riddler and that Arkham Asylum will feature heavily in the story. Apparently several other classic Bat-villains will cameo – including The Penguin and Mr. Freeze (although only in his Dr. Fries incarnation).

According to the source, Barbara Gordon's role will be beefed up and Dick Grayson may also make an appearance, though probably not as Robin.

Finally and potentially most excitingly, Commissioner Gordon could name-check the Superman universe in the film, with Metropolis and Lex Luthor getting a mention. (You'll remember that only last week TDK director Christopher Nolan was hired by WB to "godfather" new Superman films.)

So there you go; some pretty juicy Bat-gossip, but we stress again that it should be treated as mere conjecture at this stage.

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Despite the fevered speculation about the future of Batman in the wake of the spectacular success of The Dark Knight two years ago, we've been given very little in the way of hard facts about the future of the series.

That is, until now.

A new interview with director Christopher Nolan, in which he talks about his plans for the third film, as well as his overseeing role on Superman, appears to outline where the man who brought Batman back from the horrors of the Joel Schumacher years sees the character going.

And it may not make comfortable reading for execs at studio Warner Brothers.

Nolan, while characteristically tight-lipped, confirms that the third episode of his Batman series will be the final instalment, and will mostly feature the characters and actors who appeared in the first two films. "We have a great ensemble, that's one of the attractions of doing another film, since we've been having a great time for years," he told the LA Times.

Nolan refused to confirm whether there would be another main villain for the third film, saying only that Mr Freeze would not be appearing. But his comments over the returning cast make me wonder whether he and screenwriting brother Jonathan Nolan might have plumped for a scenario in which the story continues straight on from the end of The Dark Knight, in which Batman was left running for his life with the forces of Gotham at his heels, rather than a distinct new episode with a new bad guy to be outwitted.

"I'm very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we've done with the characters," Nolan said. "My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these things don't go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we're telling. And it harkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That's what we do."

Ending it at the trilogy point will certainly help give the series a cohesive form (provided the film-makers get the final episode right). But one wonders what the reaction will be at Warner Bros, where that could presumably be read as shutting down a successful franchise just as it has got going. One can only assume that the movie would end with Batman either dead (unlikely, even in Nolan's dark universe) or retired. But even if Nolan does bring his tale to a satisfactory conclusion, who's to say that the studio won't attempt to revive the character in some form of continuation of the story, with a new director at the reins?

Short of saying that he will definitely be directing Batman 3, Nolan did admit that his brother, Jonathan Nolan, was currently working on the Batman 3 script for him.

"My brother is writing a script for me and we'll wait to see how it turns out.... He's struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be. Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third movie a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story," he concluded.

[roshiq]

Final part of Nolan's Dark Knight tale & their take on Superman reboot...things getting pretty exciting. :cool:

And yes, may be that's kinda sad & warning part for the studio but I think they'll continue to making Batman films years after that but probably keep Nolan's trilogy stand alone. They can go for a big budget alternate world of Cape Crusader where he may again find his side kick Robin & get the chance to fight against villain like Mr. Freeze or unwanted alliance like Bat woman:p.

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Same bat channel, new bat time.

Warner Bros. isn't about to let little details like no title, no production start date and no locked-down plot stop it from setting up a tentpole, as the studio today announced a July 20, 2012, release date for the third installment of the rebooted Batman franchise.

Christian Bale will be back in the cowl under the direction of Christopher Nolan.

With the release date now set, Nolan is currently hashing out a story for the Dark Knight followup, which already faces some steep competition.

Also headed to the big screen in 2012: The Avengers (May 4), Battleship (May 25), Star Trek 2 (June 29), and what will likely be the Bat's biggest competition: the Spider-Man reboot's reboot (July 3).

Comic geeks, get ready.