Filmonic » Batman 3

Gary Oldman says Batman 3 will start filming next year (but we didn’t hear it from him)

Liam — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:54:56 +0000

While on The Book of Eli panel at Comic-Con today Gary Oldman, who played Commissioner Gordon in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, said something that he probably shouldn’t have.

From SHH:

Gary Oldman just announced at the Warner Bros. Book of Eli panel that a third Batman film will go into production next year.
“I think the next Batman is next year,” he told a fan who asked about when the long-awaited “Dark Knight” follow-up would hit, “We start shooting next year. You didn’t hear that from me.”

Christopher Nolan, while he hasn’t committed to the third film, is expected to return to direct after he has finished Inception which will be released next July. If Warner Bros. give Nolan a few months break and time to write the script then they could very well be filming by the end of 2010.

Bale doesn’t know if we’re ever going to see another Batman movie

Liam — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:15:15 +0000

Last week we got a rather pessimistic article regarding Christopher Nolan’s return to the Batman franchise to direct Batman 3, and now Christian Bale has just given an interview that could cause some fanboys to leap head first off the nearest cliff. From Splash Page:

“I truly don’t know that we’re ever going to see another Batman movie,” Bale told MTV News.
“It would be purely that he would need to find a story that was good enough,” said Bale, “and if he couldn’t find that it wouldn’t happen.”
As it is, Bale said the idea of a Batman movie without Nolan wasn’t something he was willing to consider at this point, but reiterated that he wasn’t sure if audiences should ever expect a third film in the current franchise.
“I don’t even want to think about that,” said Bale. “I don’t know if there will be a third.”

Nolan has just started filming his next film, Inception, so I suppose Bale’s doubts are reasonable in a way as there has been very little movement on Batman 3 and there probably won’t be for a while. But saying that he doesn’t know that we’re ever going to see another Batman movie is a little dramatic. Warner Bros. have made 6 Batman films in the past 20 years with a variety of actors and directors. While the most recent adaptations have been most successful, I can see Warner Bros. making more Batman films in the future if Batman 3 never gets made.

Christopher Nolan/Batman 3 talk

Liam — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:45:48 +0000

Over the past few months we got the impression that Christopher Nolan wanted a break from the Batman world following The Dark Knight, which is why he is now working on Inception. Warner Bros. have agreed to finance and distribute the film, which apparently Nolan has been wanting to make for years. There have been hints that both parties came to some sort of informal agreement that after Inception Christopher Nolan would return to direct Batman 3. However, an article on Batman on Film has got fanboys in a spin as they cast a small shadow of doubt over Nolan’s return. Here is what a source told them:

* The death of Heath Ledger in January of 2008 rocked Mr. Nolan hard. So hard that Chris was convinced that TDK was going to be it for him and Batman on film.
* The Joker was going to return in BATMAN 3.
* “You are correct in reporting that he is developing story ideas with [Jonathan Nolan] and David Goyer, but it will be until AT LEAST 2012 before we see the Caped Crusader back [in theaters]. And that is only an EARLY ESTIMATE at best right now. They are even saying it might not be until 2013.”
* Basically, the BATMAN film franchise is back to square one. As far as a story or a BATMAN 3, “Right now, there is none,” says our guy.

They also say that it took a lot to convince Nolan to come back for The Dark Knight, so it will probably be even harder to get him back for Batman 3 considering it will be an uphill battle to reach the same heights The Dark Knight reached. I have no doubt Nolan can make another great Batman film, however there were a number of factors which made The Dark Knight what it was, mainly the death of Health Ledger. I firmly believe that if Heath Ledger were alive today The Dark Knight would have done well, but it wouldn’t have crossed the $1 billion mark. Ledger’s death created a buzz that will be hard to replicate for a sequel, and usually for a sequel to be considered a ’success’ compared to it’s predecessor it needs to make more money and be overall a better film. Personally, I think Nolan will be back, however I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes at all.

Bale wants to prove it is possible to make a good third movie

Liam — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:14:51 +0000

Christian Bale recently spoke to TotalFilm and suggested that he wants to break the trend of third movies not living up to expectations (Spider-Man 3, X-Men 3).

“Will we do a third movie? It’s got to be the right story. You can’t make something like The Dark Knight and then come out with something disappointing.
“I would like it if people say, ‘You’ll never make a good third movie.’ I say, ‘OK, let’s make a third movie in that case, let’s prove them wrong. But that’s just me. The fact is, I have to! I’ve signed up! Chris doesn’t. So I’m in a bit of a fix if he says he doesn’t want to!”

With The Dark Knight getting universal praise and earning over $1 billion worldwide, making a better third film will be a huge challenge. I wouldn’t want to be in Christopher Nolan this time next year when the Batman 3 cogs start turning.

Bale also spoke about Heath Ledger’s Oscar win and the technology used in The Dark Knight. Read the whole interview here!

Michael Caine talks Batman 3 and retirement

Liam — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:19:35 +0000

We probably won’t be hearing anything exciting about Batman 3 for a while, considering director Christopher Nolan is busy. But that doesn’t stop the cast from commenting on it now and again. From Splashpage:

Michael Caine was asked if Christopher Nolan would return for a third “Batman” film. “I would imagine so,” he said, adding, “That would be probably The Riddler [as the villain].
“…if they do another one, I’ll probably be the butler,” he said. “I hope I’m still alive. Michael Goth, who played [Alfred in] Batman before me, the last time he played in Batman he was 84.

Caine then made a rather touching comment about retirement (he is 76):

You don’t know when your time is up so to speak. There just goes a period of time when the right scripts don’t arrive. And it hasn’t happened to me yet. It might have happened now. I finished this last picture, as I said. I don’t have another picture to do. If a script doesn’t come, then I won’t do anything and I’ll be retired. There won’t be any announcement or anything. I remember MacArthur saying “Old soldiers don’t die. They fade away.” Well, old actors don’t die. They fade away.

And without getting too sombre, Caine commented on Christian Bale’s outburst on the Terminator Salvation set:

I haven’t seen him since. No. When I speak to him, I’m going to say, “What the fuck are you doing?!”

Christopher Nolan to direct ‘Inception’

Liam — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:19:15 +0000

Christopher Nolan’s next project after the mammoth that was The Dark Knight will be a sci-fi action film called Inception. According to THR Nolan wants to start shooting this summer for a 2010 release, which means it is unlikely the next Batman film will begin shooting anytime soon (although that wasn’t expected anyway).

Given the billion-dollar bonanza Nolan delivered with “Knight,” one would suppose a treatment based on some poems he wrote in his fifth-grade journal would have gotten the green light. The writer-director-producer has done well by the studio, with “Insomnia,” “Batman Begins” and “The Prestige” bringing in close to half a billion in additional theatrical revenue.
“Inception” is described as “a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.”

Nolan directed The Prestige in between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, so Nolan obviously likes to get his head out of Gotham for while, which is healthy. Hopefully he will get started on Batman 3 after Inception.

Batman 3 in 2011?

Liam — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:29:12 +0000

The Dark Knight producer Michael Uslan spoke to Courier Post Online and hinted that we could be seeing the next Batman film in 2011.

“It’s not just a great comic book film, it’s a great film,” says Uslan who also produced “The Spirit” and has three more films in various stages of development, “When I first saw “The Dark Knight,’ I was so happy I wanted to cry.”
Uslan will be onboard as executive producer for the “Dark Knight” sequel, which he estimates will be theaters by 2011. As for the identity of the next round of Batman’s supervillains and love interests, Uslan remains tight-lipped. “It’s one of those deals where if I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he says with a chuckle.

That would make it 3 years after The Dark Knight, which was 3 years after Batman Begins. Makes scense.

Two-Face might not be dead. Mickey Rourke bringing everything to Iron Man 2

Liam — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:18:12 +0000

On the red carpet for the Golden Globes last night both Aaron Eckhart and Mickey Rourke gave MTV some short but intriguing quotes about Batman 3 and Iron Man 2.

Those who have seen The Dark Knight (everyone I suspect) will know what happens to Two-Face at the end of the film, and Aaron Eckhart confirmed to SHH last September that his character was “dead as a doornail.” However, last night he told MTV:

“I think Harvey — if he’s not dead — is in a serious coma,” stated Eckhart, “and I’m not sure he’s coming out. They might pull the plug on him.”

So Two-Face has gone from being completely dead to being semi-alive. Does Aaron know something we don’t?

Now for Iron Man 2. Last week is was revealed that Mickey Rourke was in talks to play a villain in the sequel, and MTV had the chance to ask him about it before he won best actor award for his role in The Wrestler.

Rourke said he’d bring “everything I can bring” to a role in the eagerly anticipated film. “I’ll bring it all,” added Rourke.

Well that’s good to know.

Christopher Nolan and David Goyer are ‘talking and thinking’ about Batman 3

Liam — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:06:21 +0000

When previously asked about a follow up to The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has said that he would only do it if there was a story to tell. And the only real way of finding that out is to think about it, and then talk about that with other people. Luckily for Batman fans Nolan and writer David Goyer have been doing just that…talking and thinking!

The Dark Knight producer Chuck Roven told MTV:

“I know that Chris [Nolan] and [writer] David Goyer are talking and thinking,” Roven said. “We’re hoping, of course, that they find and rest on something that they’ll find is worthy to do, but we don’t know anything more than you do right now.”
“All I can say — because I really don’t know more than you do — is that I see no reason why, tonally, Chris would do anything different than he’s done in the first two films,” the producer said.

If Nolan is thinking about ideas for the sequel then that means there is a good chance he will return as director. We don’t want him doing a ‘Bryan Singer’ on us and leaving the franchise after two good movies, only for the third film to be directed by the man behind Rush Hour 2 and Jessica Simpson music videos. *shivers*

Alan Horn Talks Batman 3, Superman and Green Lantern

Liam — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:56:55 +0000

Alan Horn, the President of Warner Bros, was on a casual walk down the red carpet minding his own business, when the guys from Collider got a hold of him and repeatedly asked him questions about future superhero movies.

On a sequel to The Dark Knight:

“We’ve been talking to Chris Nolan and what we have to do is get him in the right place and have him tell us what he thinks the notion might be for a great story, but Chris did a great job and we’d love to have him come back and do another one.”
As far as the timing of the project, he went onto say: “The story is everything and we are very respectful of Chris. We have a wonderful relationship with him and we are going to be respectful of his timing and we want to get it right. Also, I think the fans expect that – they want us to make a terrific movie – we have to give them another great movie.”

On when we’ll see another Superman movie:

“Probably in the next couple of years. We’re very anxious to bring Superman back also.”

And finally, on Green Lantern:

“Also on the board. On the runway. Hasn’t taken off yet, but we’re close.”