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Wednesday, November 18
Ever since Christopher Nolan finished The Dark Knight, speculation has lingered over whether he will return for a third installment. Batman-on-Film reports that there is "scuttlebutt" that Warner Bros. may be finalizing their plans on Batman 3 in January of next year. Whether or not their announcement will include Nolan is unknown, but it appears that Warners wants kick off the year by clearing up the mystery over who will be directing the movie.
As the site points out, this may work in Nolan's favor, since it would quiet down the speculation about Nolan's participation in Batman 3 before he begins to do press for his upcoming feature Inception. However, the source providing the story also claims that Warner Bros. is planning to make the sequel with or without Nolan.
Posted 11/18/2009 by Ryan
Related: Christopher Nolan | The Dark Knight | Batman 3
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Friday, November 13
Batman's faithful butler, Alfred, has dropped bad news ... again.
Batman fans everywhere have been furiously blogging and discussing the twists and turns in the will-they-or-won't-they debate over a third installment of Christopher Nolan's revamped Batman franchise. Early on it was announced that, although lead actor Christian Bale was contractually obligated to appear in Batman 3, Nolan had no such obligation and might decide not to direct another one.
Screenwriter David S. Goyer gave fans some hope when he said that he believed Nolan would return if he could "find the story that he's happy with." Then, Gary Oldman got everyone excited when he announced that filming would begin in 2010, only to recant his statement a couple days later.
Actor Cillian Murphy, who played The Scarecrow in the first two films, is hopeful that another film will be made, and Aaron Eckhart, said that he "would do anything" Nolan asked of him, including reprise his TDK role of Two-Face.
Michael Caine, who plays butler Alfred in both Batman films, initially gave fans some intriguing news when he announced that Johnny Depp and Philip Seymor Hoffman had been cast respectively as The Riddler and The Joker in Batman 3. However, a year later he retracted his statement saying that Depp was not involved and that there was "nobody ... no script, there's nothing."
Now, Caine is at it again, this time announcing that fans shouldn't hold their breath for another installment of bat-justice.
As for the future... if they ever make another Batman, I will be in, I will be the butler...
But I don't know if they are ever going to make another Batman. If they do it won't be for quite a while."
Posted 11/13/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Aaron Eckhart | Christian Bale | Gary Oldman | Michael Caine | Christopher Nolan | Batman Begins | Cillian Murphy | The Dark Knight | David Goyer
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Wednesday, November 11
It's still unclear whether director Christopher Nolan will be returning for a third chapter in the Batman revamp, let alone what villain(s) will square off against the Dark Knight. Still, there have been rumors for months now that The Riddler will make a return appearance some fifteen years after Jim Carrey portrayed the character in Batman Forever.
Everyone from Eddie Murphy, to Johnny Depp to Curb Your Enthusiasm funnyman Larry David have been mentioned in connection to the roll of Edward Nigma, the villain who compulsively confesses to his crimes in riddle form. So when MTV recently sat down with actor and comedian Dane Cook (My Best Friend's Girl), they asked him if he would be interested in the part.
If they brought back The Riddler — a new Riddler the way they did with The Joker — that would be badass. I would do that.
When they were making the new one and they were doing The Joker, I always thought it [should be] kind of like The Crow — having that dark element but still comedic. It would probably have to be something in that vein, even though I think what Heath Ledger did with the Joker was the greatest comic book villain ever.
Cook also said that he would like to star in "anything sci-fi or comic book related," but that he hasn't been auditioning because he has been on tour.
Posted 11/11/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Christopher Nolan | Batman Begins | Dane Cook | The Dark Knight | Batman 3
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Friday, October 23
Cillian Murphy recently told MTV that he hopes "they make a third [Batman]." The actor portrayed the villain Scarecrow in both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
[The Dark Knight is] one of the greatest blockbuster mainstream movies. If anyone can match that or top that it's [director] Chris [Nolan]. Fingers crossed.
Murphy is currently working with Nolan on his mysterious thriller, Inception. However, that doesn't mean Murphy has heard anything about Nolan's return for Batman 3.
We don't talk about those things. It's out of my control.
Posted 10/23/2009 by Ryan
Related: Christopher Nolan | Cillian Murphy | The Dark Knight | Batman 3 | Inception
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Friday, September 11
While Batman 3 still technically lives in limbo, The Dark Knight's Aaron Eckhart wouldn't object to a return to the franchise, should Christopher Nolan officially decide to make it. There's only one issue: Eckhart's character, Harvey Dent a.k.a Two-Face, fell off a construction site, and, sort of, well, died. Eckhart explained to MTV that Two-Face's death complicates his return.
As far as I'm concerned, my character's dead. I've sort of just gone on with my life. I don't have any expectations of being in the next Dark Knight, if there is a Dark Knight.
Still, Eckhart would return, if Nolan wanted him to.
If Chris called me, I would certainly do it. I would do anything for Chris. If Chris wanted me to ... I don't know, bring his tea or something like that, I would do it. I had such a good time making that movie, and he's such a great filmmaker.
It isn't too hard to see how Eckhart could return. Considering Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon fakes his death in The Dark Knight, Eckhart's Two-Face could do the same, opening up the possibility of a return. However, Eckhart thinks that Batman 3 may focus instead on new villains.
I think [Dark Knight] was always Heath [Ledger]'s movie, and Heath wasdefinitely the motor and the vehicle that was to continue on. I'm not sure that it's not better just to start all over and find different characters for the [next] movie.
Posted 9/11/2009 by Ryan
Related: Aaron Eckhart | Christopher Nolan | Heath Ledger | The Dark Knight | Batman 3
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Thursday, August 27
AICN reports that should Christopher Nolan return to direct the third installment of the Batman series, which is becoming closer to reality, that Nolan may shoot the entire movie in IMAX.
This, of course, is merely rumor. However, in the past Nolan admitted to USA Today that he has a deep, burgeoning love for IMAX, even shooting four action sequences in The Dark Knight in the complicated format.
There's simply nothing like seeing a movie that way. It's more immersive for the audience. I wish I could shoot the entire thing this way.
Nolan has wanted to shoot an entire movie in the format for some time, but hasn't done so yet because of the difficultly and expense of the IMAX process, not to mention the "loud" volume of the cameras which makes shooting dialogue scenes complicated. Nolan has described a plan where he would shoot action scenes in the IMAX format and dialogue scenes in the traditional, 65mm format as a solution. Yet, besides the four scenes in Dark Knight, he has yet to carry out that plan.
For now, Nolan is immersed in working on his mysterious thriller Inception, a movie that AICN speculates Nolan chose to do before Batman 3 for a good, IMAX-specific, reason.
Part of the reason that Nolan went forward with Inception first — besides taking a creative break from the cape and cowl adventures ... was possibly to create a few new IMAX cameras made to his specs. Once again — the cost of shooting an entire feature film on IMAX ... the stock, the time it takes to reset, to load, to move the cameras ... is daunting, but as Nolan proved with Dark Knight — the difference is stunning.
No word on whether Inception will include any use of the IMAX format, or if Nolan will indeed return for Batman 3.
Posted 8/27/2009 by Ryan
Related: Christopher Nolan | The Dark Knight | Batman 3 | Inception
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Monday, July 27
Fans at the San Diego Comic-Con went crazy when Gary Oldman — who played James Gordon in the first two Batman films since the relaunch — dropped the news that Batman 3 would be going into production soon, with an expected 2011 release. Since then, the internet has been abuzz with wild rumors and speculations about the plot of the movie, the villains, and whether or not director Christopher Nolan would be on board.
Now, however, it appears that Oldman's announcement was premature. In a recent interview, Oldman said that it might be a few years before we see another Batman movie. The big question is: was Oldman premature in the announcement or just misinformed? We'll just have to wait and see.
Posted 7/27/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Gary Oldman | Christopher Nolan | Batman Begins | The Dark Knight
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Wednesday, July 15
According to Variety, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince set an all-time record for its midnight opening, which took in an estimated $22.2 million. The movie screened a combined 3,003 times in theaters across the country, which means each screening took in almost $7,400.
This figure puts the sixth Potter movie well ahead of The Dark Knight and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which earned $18 million and $17 million, respectively with their midnight debuts. It also eclipses the $16 million made by last month's midnight screenings of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
In addition, ABC News10 in Sacramento is reporting that Half-Blood Prince has overtaken The Dark Knight as the #2 entry on Fandango's list of Top 10 all-time advance ticket sellers. That puts it ahead of movies like Twilight, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and Spiderman 3. It now trails only Revenge of the Sith.
For some fun accounts of last night's midnight mayhem, check out this article in The New York Daily News and this one from The San Diego News Network.
Also worth a look is this video from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which involves mock protesters marching against the presence of muggles:
Posted 7/15/2009 by Rich Z
Related: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith | The Dark Knight | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
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Thursday, June 25
The Academy Awards will be adopting a part of its past when the show airs March 7, 2010. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis has announced that the Best Picture category will double to include 10 nominations instead of the standard five.
The practice of nominating 10 movies ended in 1943, when Casablanca beat out 9 other movies to win Best Picture. At a press conference, Ganis explained the change:
After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of itsearlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of theyear. Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going to allow Academy voters torecognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show upin the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the racefor the top prize. I can't wait to see what thatlist of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.
Had the Oscars included 10 nominations last year, Slumdog Millionaire might have had some competition from The Dark Knight and Wall-E.
The nominations for the Academy Awards will take place February 2, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA.
Posted 6/25/2009 by Ryan
Related: Casablanca | Wall-E | The Dark Knight | Slumdog Millionaire
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Friday, June 19
The possibility of Christopher Nolan returning for Batman 3 was in question this week when a report revealed that Nolan would need much convincing to come back.
IGN spoke with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight writer David Goyer, who gave a brief and positive disclosure that Nolan would return to the Batman franchise.
Well, I believe he said if we can find the story that he's happy with, that he would return. And unfortunately, respecting Chris... You know, talk to him after he finishes Inception, which he's shooting right now. That just started shooting.
What Goyer means by "unfortunately, respecting Chris..." is anyone's guess. It's best to concentrate on the "he would return" part.
Posted 6/19/2009 by Ryan
Related: Christopher Nolan | Batman Begins | The Dark Knight | Batman 3 | David Goyer