Batman reboot already planned at Warner Bros.

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Christopher Nolan’s decision to draw his Batman trilogy to a close next year is a problem for Warner Bros. The studio is already losing Harry Potter this summer, and with their only proven DC franchise on its final stretch they need to plan ahead for 2013 and beyond.

Warner Bros. President Alan Horn is retiring this week, and will be replaced by Jeff Robinov. In a new interview on the future of the studio Robinov said he plans to fill the void with more DC characters, including a Justice Leage movie, and he also intends to reboot the Batman franchise.

From Hero Complex:

“We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is.”

The world was given Batman movies before Batman Begins, so it is was inevitable that we would get more after The Dark Knight Rises. Nolan staying on as producer will be encouraging to some fans, but I think they should leave it a few years before giving us another Batman with a new director and new actor in the role.

There is a possibility that the Batman reboot could have connections to other plans by the studio:

Robinov said a new Justice League script is in the works. Also being written for Warner are scripts featuring the Flash and Wonder Woman, who could be spun off into their own movies after Justice League.

Warner Bros. tried making a Justice League movie in 2007/08 but it was hindered by the Writers Guild of America strike, tax credit issues in Australia, and concerns about having a new incarnation of Batman running alongside Nolan’s. Perhaps the end of Christian Bale’s run will allow Warner Bros. to introduce a new Batman that has connections with the Justice League.

What do you think about Warner Bros’ plans for a Batman reboot with Nolan involved, and the possibility of a Justice League movie?

  • ShaynBintheplacetoB

    I like the idea of having the Justice League movie first, then having spin offs from that

  • http://twitter.com/Bantam5553 Marcus Anthony

    no other batman movie will ever top Nolan’s, it’s stupid to make a new one. Nolan’s version is obviously the best and cannot be topped without using the exact style he did

    • http://twitter.com/hdtrailers HD-Trailers.net

      I’d tend to agree with you, but I thought the same thing in regards to Tim Burton’s Batman films for a very long time. And then Chris Nolan came along and blew my mind.

    • Jimbo

      Yeah you’re right. It’d be ridiculous for anyone to attempt to reboot this after Nolan is finished. I don’t think it should be tried again in our generation. That might seem over the top but he has raised the bar so high that any attempt after this would be awful. I seriously hope he doesn’t make a fourth just for cash. Hopefully he leaves Batman alone after three movies because he’ll only taint what I hope will be a perfect trilogy. I really don’t want his name associated with a Batman reboot either! It would damage his image a bit I think.

      • anonymous

        you three nolan fanboys are morons. those movies were complete garbage.
        the only good batman movies were ‘batman’ and ‘batman returns’.
        ledger and bale can suck it. heck ‘catwoman’ was better than the current two.

        • Jimbo

          Wow, you make such a valid point! I feel so stupid now that you’ve highlighted the ridiculousness of my comment….idiot. I never said anything about the Burton movies. I think they’re brilliant as well. Batman and Batman Returns were made in 1989 and 1992 and they were both great. They ‘rebooted’ it three years later with a new director and it was awful. THIRTEEN years after the Tim Burton movies, Nolan reinvented Batman. They’re both brilliant in their own ways. If it’s rebooted under a new director, I’m afraid that we’ll have another Batman Forever and Batman and Robin travesty on our hands. It shouldn’t be redone for a good few years. Whoever you are, you’re just an idiot and, ironically, an even bigger ‘moron fanboy’ than us. Get lost.

          • keimosabe

            OK, while I agree with you about your opinion of the movies, Nolan didn’t reinvent anything. He took parts of the Frank Miller take on Batman:Year One comic book and bits from his other The Dark Knight Returns to come up with the current movie settings.

          • natefunk

             Batman and robin and batman forever were good if you liked adam west’s batman. Especially the riddler. He was exactly the same personality. However for those that didn’t I can see your point.
            I couldn’t stand tim burton’s batman because it was sickeningly dark to me, almost morbid as much of burton’s movies are. Nolan was a nice balance. Dark but not morbid and grotesque.

          • Alfred

            Nolan’s films were dark, but realistic; Burton’s films are like, well . . .all other Burton films! The same weird, strange, somewhat cartoonish environment and take on characters. Nolan didn’t “invent” this take, but he is the first to bring it to the big screen. I have read several Batman graphic novels, and could pick out which ones that Nolan referenced in his scripts. I know that Batman will be reinvented on the big screen again, and all I ask is that it doesn’t revert to the cartoon style of character.

        • http://twitter.com/Bantam5553 Marcus Anthony

          Nolans movies are great, look at the reviews on them. Burtons movies are good, but no batman tops Nolans

        • Trento965465

          Dude, you know nothing about movies.

        • Alfred

          You REALLy think the Tim Burton movies were good? I wouldn’t want to look at your sorry excuse for a movie collection!

      • natefunk

         We still didn’t get the batman that we, the major fans want. A super genius as smart, maybe smarter than tony stark with the martial arts skills to be listed in the worlds top ten. And if you don’t think a 6 foot 4 inch guy can be that agile, watch the ultimate ninja challenge sometime. It will blow your mind.

        • natefunk

           And this doesn’t mean i didn’t like nolan’s batman it was still freakin awesome.

    • Dragonark11003

      Are you serious? Batman is a legacy character…hell more of a brand than a character. Thinking it was going to end with Nolan’s films is just being naive and a bad business move. Obviously it won’t happen in 2 or even 3 years maybe it’ll be 5 or 10 but more Batman and Superman movies are going to come out just like Spider man movies or James Bond movies and pretty much any franchise character (there will be a day when someone revisits stuff like Back to the Future and Indiana Jones,etc)

  • http://twitter.com/ShadowSauce Nick Hart

    im becoming really sick of reboots, especially characters we’ve already seen many different incarnations of. i agree that a justice movie first would probably be the best way to go, because honestly any new sort of take on the batman origin story would just feel tired

  • http://blog.deadlycomputer.com lord xeon

    This tied with Sony’s decision to reboot Spiderman is ridiculous. I hardly justify 4 years as enough time between one version of the film, and another.
    You should only reboot a film franchise under 2 conditions.
    1. A new generation (or 2) have come to movie viewing age and can appreciate the new universe
    2. The previous films (plural) were so bad people strike them from cannon

    Superman Returns was 20 years after the previous Superman, that was a reboot.
    Batman Begins was 12 years after the previous Batman, that was a reboot (Also, the previous 2, 2! films were horrible in the Batman franchise)

    Sure, Spiderman 3 wasn’t great, but compared with Batman & Robin, and Batman Forever, it was Oscar material.

    It looks like Fox is the only one that’s sticking to their franchise – X-Men, couple more sequels to the original X-Men films lined up, with the original cast. Granted, it helps when the cast (Hugh Jackman anyway), loves their roles and actually want’s to do more.

    • Alfred

      Bravo. I couldn’t agree more, especially with the comments about “Batman & Robin” and “Batman Forever”: two atrocities on film.

  • M Colinanderson

    There really is no need for a reboot the story is so inpressive that it’s not need. Yes spin off after JLA would be cool but batman and superman green laturn and by that time possibly flash and would be spoken for

  • M Colinanderson

    There really is no need for a reboot the story is so inpressive that it’s not need. Yes spin off after JLA would be cool but batman and superman green laturn and by that time possibly flash and would be spoken for

  • Zachman_95531

    a batman reboot could be good if they did it right. Tim burtons batman was a reboot of the adam west batman and so on. Nolan’s Batman serise is great but not the final word in all things batman. His idea to bring Batman into reality was bad ass and was a difforent take on Burton’s 1930’s future. If they get a better batman then Bale that would be good. I like Bale’s take on the Bruce Wayne character but his Batman needs work, and its not the death metal voice. Im down for a Frank miler style batman, or something classic…but I hated ledger’s Joker…sorry Mark Hamill is the only Joker.

  • Joe Lovestich

    Well where would Christian Bale go from here? He was great in The role. It change him from that Nasty Villian he was in The American Phoyco & Racist in Shaft.

  • Joe Diesel

    so nolans reboot then another reboot? are DC execs asleep. No other batman will compair to nolans! So i guess nolans will be the last good batman just like keatons in the 80’s

    • Greg

      How can there be two last good movies? That doesn’t make any sense.

      Anyway, I really like Nolan’s films but they’re grounded in reality.

      If they’re going to reboot Batman after Nolan’s done, they can do it in a way that is more comic-booky. That way we can have Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Lazarus pits and all the other really good characters and plot elements that are too sci-fi and far-out for the Nolan universe.

    • Alfred

      I don’t think it is a matter of being asleep: they just haven’t found a way to sell any other character except Batman.

  • Jay

    If we are in the new world of movie making and bringing the classic comics to life, then why should we be cementing ourselves to trilogy franchises? Have you lived only three chapters of your life? I think we should stop thinking 3 movie franchise then reboot. Rebooting is crap from the start. Keep Mr Bale as Bruce and Batman. In my mind he is the only actor in all the movies prior that has encompassed both charactures perfectly. Build off of what is already perfect. You know, don’t fix what isn’t broken.

  • cristofer

    on batman? reboot i like to see jensen ackles as batman alyssa milano as catwoman and michael c hall as the riddler.

  • TheRigsB

    Dude I don’t care! I am a Bat-Fan! More movies=more Awesome!!!

  • david berens

    If they’re going to do this movie get Nolan or whoever, then cast for the characters that will be believable as the charcters thy’re portraying . But DC needs to think of new stories to tell with Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman etc. If they go with JLA fine then go with the individuals or vice versa.

  • http://twitter.com/UnManuel UnMAnU (????)

    Nolan’s Batman is overblown ad nauseam, My favorite is Begins because at least it does have tolerable pacing, and Batman is a Ninja with Bat-shurikens, no less. I really don’t enjoy enduring 3 hours of horrible editing to half-see the punches of a pseudo-realistic Batman at a rate of 15 minutes per movie. These movies are frustrating, exhausting entertainment, and I’m glad to be an adult to appreciate this to some extent, but my inner child is still with Burton. And Inception kind of sucked because of the same reasons, too.

  • Julian gardea

    I could live with nolan involved but no new batman!!

  • sally

    They should bring Batman back …. into another movie he has to fight alongside other villains with Robin. to save Gotham once again. and Btw Christian Bale is the best Batman ever it would be disappointing for audiences to see another Batman especially for the much anticipated Justice League.
    If The Avengers can pull it off having all the same and original superheroes except. Hulk The Justice League can do it too.
    But please no new actor for Batman he is one of the most important superheroes to the Justice League as Bruce Wayne so don’t replace Christian Bale.

  • http://www.facebook.com/luthaneal Luthaneal Adams

    I’m surprised that they’re planning on rebooting so soon. I think that they should leave it a few more years and then reboot with new actors, new cast and without Nolan having any involvement.
    Nolan’s Batman movie were okay. But that’s it, just okay. The setting had a great feel and Ledger’s Joker was legendary. Indeed, Ledger made The Dark Knight what it was and was so goo that he reduced Batman to a secondary character. The character of Batman gets worse as the three movies go on. He’s good in Batman Begins and pretty good in The Dark Knight, though seriously overshadowed by the quality of the Joker, but in Dark Knight rises, he was pretty boring, as was much of the film itself. In fact, Batman was hardly in the film. That’s without going into Christian Bale’s hugely annoying Batman voice. I mean, if I had encountered Bale’s Batman on the streets of Gotham, I would have suspected that he was some dude with throat cancer, trying to give some meaning to his few remaining days.
    Michael Keaton was definitely a much better Batman (hell, I’d say that the only Batman worse than Bale, was George Clooney!), in my opinion and Burton’s movies much better than Nolan’s.
    I seriously hope that Nolan’s involvement in the reboot doesn’t mean that the new Batman will be like that which he has already given us. Nolan’s Batman was terribly far from the Batman of the comics and almost completely rewrote several other major characters to the point where they were nothing like their comic-book namesakes. If we’re going to have a new Batman that will be folded into the Justice League, then it needs to be a Batman of the comics and not a Nolanesque re-imagining of Batman and his universe.

  • http://twitter.com/CrumbyCupid Devon Terry

    MAD

  • http://www.facebook.com/DARKGMINO Giovanni Beyond Mino

    What then need to is let batman story ride out as well of man of steel,to make the justiceleague work,it could take many years to make just to make the story fit right its the only way,no need to reboot the batman,introduce batmanbeyond to the justiceleague now that could work,just like the cartoons,i know the old batman is in it but its to late for that……..we are in the future now its going to be 2013 soon,we still need to introduce all the character’s one at a time.