Filmonic » Christopher Nolan

Cillian Murphy says Inception “doesn’t fit into any genre”

Liam — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:59:28 +0000

Even though we got a teaser trailer for Inception two months ago we still know next to nothing about what the film involves. One thing we do know is that Warner Bros. has given Christopher Nolan around $200 million to create something original, which is usually unheard of unless you’re James Cameron. But then again Nolan did make them $1 billion with The Dark Knight so they’ll give him what he wants as long as he returns to complete his Batman trilogy.

Actor Cillian Murphy was in Batman Begins as Scarecrow and he appeared in The Dark Knight briefly. Nolan also signed him up for Inception and he recently spoke to MTV about the film:

“This is my third film with Chris,” Murphy said. “He showed me the whole script. It’s very very complex and amazing. I’m hugely excited for next year when it comes out.”
We’re glad that you think the script is great and everything, but how about the story? Care to share any details, Mr. Murphy?
“It’s conceptual. It doesn’t fit into any genre,” he explained. “There are elements of different types of things in it but it is all from Chris’ imagination. I’ve never read anything close to it before.”

As well as Murphy the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine and it will be released next July. I hope we don’t learn anything too revealing as it will be cool to go into a film knowing it will be amazing, but knowing nothing about it.

Got spare cash and want to visit the Inception set?

Liam — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:01:59 +0000

Christopher Nolan is auctioning off a visit to the set of Inception, which is currently filming with Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy and Marion Cotillard. The aim is to help raise funds for the nonprofit Pablove Foundation, which supports pediatric cancer research and treatment.

From eBay:

The ultimate experience for fans of the Batman movies, aspiring actors, film buffs and film students! Join accomplished director Christopher Nolan (Batman: ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘Batman Begins’ Memento, and The Prestige) on set of his upcoming feature production and watch him in action.
From Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking murder mystery Memento and The Prestige, his romantic pyscho-drama set in the world of 19th century magic to his Batman films The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan explores the dark side of the human psyche, combining stunning visual effects and heart-stopping action with compelling characters.
As the winner of this auction, you and a guest will have a VIP visit to the set of Christopher’s newest production and experience the thrill of how a director works seeing his vision come to life amid the excitement of a working film set!
You and your guest’s (2)-hour set visit will also include lunch with Christopher where you will be able to ask him questions about his career and work as a screenwriter and director, and get tips from one of the best in the business.
The set is located in Los Angeles and the location will be revealed to the auction winner only, The set visit will take place week of Oct 12, 2009. Exact date the week of Oct 12, 2009 is TBD. No other dates are available for this visit.
You and your guest will also have an opportunity to take a picture with Christopher. Plus you may bring three items each for Christopher to sign as well. No cameras are allowed on set, but a representative will take your picture with Christopher to capture the memories to share with your friends and family.

As I type this the bid currently stands at $1,025, so it ain’t cheap. I’m going to bet the winner is an obsessive Batman fan who will use his 2 hours to probe Nolan about Batman 3.

You can watch the auction (and bid) by clicking here!

Inception teaser trailer

Liam — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:28:15 +0000

The teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Inception is now online. It doesn’t reveal much although we do see people fighting on the walls and ceilings of a hallway, and the music also sounds like something we’d hear from The Dark Knight. I’ll guess Hans Zimmer is behind it. Watch the teaser below!

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy and Michael Caine.

Inception teaser trailer coming soon

Liam — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:47:50 +0000

August 21st will be one hell of a day for trailers (if they all appear online that it). Firstly it’s Avatar Day and our eyeballs will finally be able to see a trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar. We will also be getting a trailer for The Wolfman, and now according to JoBlo we will be getting a trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Inception.

On August 21st the first teaser trailer for INCEPTION will debut in theaters despite only about a month of filming having been completed. The teaser will debut in front of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, just another reason to see Tarantino’s latest. I’m still trying to lock down an exact runtime (is it a :20 logo teaser or something more substantial?) but we know we’re getting something.

In the past Christopher Nolan has released short teaser trailers with little or no footage. Here’s the teaser for The Dark Knight as an example (and for old times sake):

We will probably get something equally short and mysterious for Inception. The cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine.

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.

Nolan’s Inception starts filming

Liam — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:36:54 +0000

NolanFans.com found the above picture of Leonardo DiCaprio, Christopher Nolan and Ken Watanabe in a Japanese publication.

The photo containing the Inception director, and two of its stars, was taken on June 15th in Tokyo, Japan (one of the reported filming locations of Inception). According to reports, filming is already underway in that country, which is only one of six reported countries the film is scheduled to shoot in.

As well as Japan Inception will apparently film in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Morocco, Tangiers and Canada so it’s safe to assume the film will be a global affair. A few reports have said that the budget for Inception is around $200 million, which is hard to believe, but we know so little about the film that it could very well cost $200 million. It has been described as “a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind” and as as well as Leo and Watanabe the cast includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy.

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.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt joins Inception

Liam — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:40:46 +0000

According to The Hollywood Reporter Joseph Gordon-Levitt has joined Christopher Nolan’s Inception and will be playing the role James Franco was originally set to play.

It is known that Gordon-Levitt is taking the role to have been played by James Franco, who bowed out over scheduling issues. He would play an associate of DiCaprio’s character, a CEO-type.
Marion Cotillard is already on board as DiCaprio’s wife, while Ellen Page is playing a grad student and DiCaprio’s sidekick. Cillian Murphy is also in the cast.
Nolan and the studio are aiming for a summer shoot ahead of a 2010 release.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt will next be seen in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in August.

Michael Caine may be in Christopher Nolan’s Inception

Liam — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:26:25 +0000

Michael Caine has been in every movie Christopher Nolan has directed since 2005 (by ‘every movie’ I mean Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight), so one would assume that he would turn up in Inception, which Nolan will start filming later this year. So far Leonardo DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard have all been announced, but what about Caine?

“I think there might be a part for me,” Caine told MTV News. Asked if he thought he would be cast in Nolan’s latest movie, described by Warner Bros. only as “a contemporary sci-fi thriller set within the architecture of the mind,” Caine gleamed with optimism.
“I could well be, yes,” the Academy Award-winning actor stated. “I don’t think [Nolan]’s going to make a picture without me.”
“I will know this week if I’m going to be in it,” Cain said.

Recently Michael Caine revealed that he hasn’t accepted a role since completing Harry Brown last year, and then he mentioned the word “retirement”. The thought of Michael Caine no longer appearing in movies is something I’d rather not think about, so Nolan better find a role for him in Inception!