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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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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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Monday, October 12
Writer-director, and genuine comic book geek, Kevin Smith told MTV that he thinks actor Jon Hamm has serious superhero potential.
That dude could play Batman and Superman."That's the weird thing. You look at him and he's got a f---ing Superman look, but he's got a Batman thing going on, too.
A few years ago, they were like, "Let's do that Batman/Superman movie." Do it. Hire that motherf***er to play both roles.... He could pull it off. I'd buy it.
Smith was convinced of Hamm's superhero quality by watching Hamm's work as ad executive Don Draper on Mad Men.
He's always brooding on that show. He comes off like Bruce Wayne. That voice of his — the Don Draper voice — that's f***ing Batman! If you were in an alley and that motherf***er Jon Hamm was wearing that outfit and came up to you and he was like, "Gimme a cigarette," you'd be like, "Oh my god, I'm going to give up crime ... and living!"
Sadly, for Smith at least, Christian Bale will be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman 3, should it ever get made . Smith can keep his fingers crossed for Hamm to play Superman. Warner Bros. has "no current plans" to make one, though.
Posted 10/12/2009 by Ryan
Related: Christian Bale | Kevin Smith | Jon Hamm | Batman 3
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Thursday, September 24
Michael Caine may be in hot water again. He got in trouble when he confirmed rumors with MTV that Johnny Depp would play The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman would play The Penguin in Batman 3. At the time, Caine said:
When Christopher [Nolan] said we were going to do The Dark Knight next, I didn't [know] what that meant in Batman terms. I said, "What's the story?" and he said The Joker. I said, "Oh, s**t! How are you going to top Jack [Nicholson]?" He said, "Well, I've cast Heath Ledger. And I went "Ha! I couldn't top Jack, but if anyone could, maybe Heath could." And he did.
I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, "Are we going to make another one?" They said yeah. I said, "How the hell are we going to top Heath?" And he says "I'll tell you how you top Heath — Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin." I said, "S**t, they've done it again!" [Laughs]
A year later, Caine is trying to do damage control, speaking with MTV again, and refuting those same newspaper rumors he was so quick to confirm.
Johnny Depp is great in anything, but there is no Johnny Depp in this Batman. They tell me in no uncertain terms.
Depp has claimed he'd "juggle" his schedule for the chance to appear in Batman 3, though there's little reason to worry about that now, since Caine says there's little chance that Batman 3 will see the light of day soon.
There is nobody, there's no script, there's nothing. It can't possibly be made before 2011 because [Nolan's upcoming thriller] Inception is such a big picture.
Of course, after all the trouble he made last year, Caine is currently the last man to know anything about Batman 3.
[They] won't tell me anything because I said this before. No one will tell me anything now. They say, "Don't tell Michael, he'll tell everybody."
Posted 9/24/2009 by Ryan
Related: Johnny Depp | Michael Caine | Christopher Nolan | Philip Seymour Hoffman | 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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Friday, August 21
Christopher Nolan was set to direct a big-screen adaptation of the British TV series The Prisoner back in 2006, and it was believed that he would start work on The Prisoner after finishing The Dark Knight. When Nolan chose to direct Inception after Dark Knight, it was assumed that The Prisoner would be next, except that Prisoner producer Barry Mendel told CineFOOLS that Nolan has dropped out:
Chris Nolan has dropped out of it, but we have a first draft by David and Janet Peoples who wrote Twelve Monkeys and David wrote Unforgiven and it's a good draft and we're working on the script right now.
Could Nolan be clearing his schedule for Batman 3? Fans are hoping so, though Nolan isn't saying a word. The director is hard at work on his extremely secret Inception, for which so little is known that some Paris-set photos and discovering the characters' names are the only revealing items outside of a curious synopsis that describes the movie as "a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind."
More will hopefully be revealed about Inception when the trailer plays before Inglourious Basterds, but Nolan's involvement in Batman 3 will remain a secret.
Posted 8/21/2009 by Ryan
Related: Barry Mendel | Christopher Nolan | David Peoples | Janet Peoples | Batman 3 | Inception
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Friday, July 24
Gary Oldman dropped a bomb on the crowd in attendance at SDCC during a panel discussing for the upcoming Book of Eli. According to IGN Oldman announced that a third Batman is in the works and will start filming next year. He said the movie will be released in two years.
"But you didn't hear that from me," said Oldman some guy.
Next Showing: Batman 3 opens in two years, or so we've heard
Posted 7/24/2009 by Ryan
Related: Gary Oldman | The Book of Eli | Batman 3
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Monday, June 22
We've got a curious case of mixed messages. While on the junket promoting their mobster flick Public Enemies, mega-stars Christian "Batman" Bale and Johnny "Rumored Riddler" Depp were asked about their participation in the continuing Batman movie franchise.
Bale seemed oddly down on doing a third flick — especially without director Christopher Nolan at the helm.
Johnny Depp, who is the number one fan favorite to play villain The Riddler, showed interest, saying, "I'd definitely juggle it."
Posted 6/22/2009 by Jim
Related: Christian Bale | Johnny Depp | Public Enemies | Batman 3