Batman Begins Part III (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

Um, okay.

That's an....interesting casting choice...I guess.

I need time with this one lol.

 

[TerryRL]

Expect to hear some pretty crazy rumors until WB makes an official statement on the progress of the next movie. Given how much heat the movie is already generating in Tinseltown (everybody wants a role in this thing because of how massive TDK turned out), expect to hear some pretty wild rumors all the way up until the studio and Chris Nolan make their announcements on who the new villain(s) will be and who nabbed said role(s).

The next movie won't start shooting until sometime in 2010 and Nolan will most likely make another movie before then. It could be quite some time before we hear any real news on who the Dark Knight will be taking on in the third movie. Hell, Nolan has yet to even ink his new deal for the next movie. A deal that will in all likelihood be the richest he's ever had.

 

[Michael:M]

Cher? No effin' way. I don't believe it for a second.

A couple of things to note with the third Nolan-helmed Batman film...

First, if you've noticed, WB has been utterly silent on the DVD release for TDK. Understandable and smart, since they don't want to do anything to discourage people from seeing it in the theaters as it chugs its way towards $500M domestic BO.

And along those same lines...I have an MP3 interview with Jonah Nolan where he says the first draft of TDK was done in November of 2005, a bare five months after the release of Begins. So despite C Nolan's vagueness for a long while after Begins, both Nolans and Goyer had a very specific idea of where they were going with the second film. And remember everyone around Nolan (Chris) says he remains very tight-lipped about ideas until he's ready to move on them.

Unless WB leadership completely loses its collective mind - and/or Nolan, for whatever reason, just decides to not do a third Batman film - don't look for any official announcement for quite a while. WB wants to (justifiably) get every cent it can from TDK, and Nolan has a penchant for playing it close to the vest. Just reread threads on all the crazy-ass rumors about TDK that didn't come true as you read things like Cher being cast (I mean, come on).

Given what the result was for TDK, I'm happy to simply speculate as a fan and let the creative powers involved take their time to come up with a really strong third film.

 

[TerryRL]

Nolan could be looking at one of the richest (if not the richest) deals a director has ever inked for the next Batman movie. He'll once again have creative control and a blank check from the studio, which won't be a problem for WB since he brought both BB and TDK in on schedule and under-budget. Nolan will do at least one more Batman movie, but he will be holding his cards very close to his chest until he's ready to focus his full attention on the project.

From what I understand, he's currently taking a much deserved break. Rumor has it that he will begin prepping another movie "soon". Most expect it to be the big screen adaptation of "The Prisoner". If this turns out to be the case, he'll probably start filming sometime next spring ('09).

As for the next Batman, I wouldn't be at all surprised if work on the script is well under way.

 

[JonZ]

"As for the next Batman, I wouldn't be at all surprised if work on the script is well under way."

Gary Oldman made that Riddler comment during a interview awhile back and he would be someone in the know - so I believe we're getting Riddler (and Catwoman) in the third film.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Have I not been paying attention, but this article says Johnny Depp is the Riddler and it begins filming early 2009? Did I miss something here? This seems like complete BS to me.

 

[TravisR]

I'll say it isn't so. And I'll say it's a crock.

I'm sure that Nolan has a lot of say in the casting but if Catwoman is in the movie, the studio will not let the role be played by a woman in her 60's.

 

[DavidPla]

There are just so many things wrong in that article.

#1. Cher (doesn't even need to be discussed)
#2. Confirmed cast member Johnny Depp as The Riddler (was and is only a rumour to begin with)
#3. Title is The Caped Crusader (yeah, whatever)
#4. Filming begins 2009 in VANCOUVER? (yup.. total bullshit)

 

[TerryRL]

Steve, the Depp news was and still is only a rumor, but make no mistake, a lot of Hollywood A-listers are going to want to be in the next Batman movie in the wake of the huge success of TDK.

If Nolan does intend to shoot another movie next year, than filming for the next Batman flick won't commence until the spring/summer of 2010 for a summer 2011 release. And if Nolan does return, it'll be a major surprise if he shoots anywhere other than Chicago again. The city has turned out to be the perfect setting for his vision of Gotham City.

Concerning the villains. There were two rumored pairs that Nolan and co. were going to choose from. Riddler and Catwoman (who the vast majority of both the media and the industry believe will be used), and Penguin and Talia al Ghul. Again, we probably won't have official confirmation either way until sometime next year.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Though I would poo-poo on the idea of having Talia come to Gotham specifically looking for Bruce, I could see the possibility of having her show up covertly to try to get at the men behind the death of her mother...which could be tied in with the Penguin. So that would place Batman in the middle of a quasi-gang war between Talia and her little band of whatever vs the Penguin and his network of thugs. I could see that working and offering some interesting story advantages.
I still think Riddler/Catwoman offers up the possibilities of things we haven't seen before (I can envision a good chase over the rooftops between the Bat and the Cat as she tries to get away after a high rise heist)- The Riddler also plays to Nolans apparent affinity for puzzles and game playing via plotting.
Either way, I'm sure he'll put more thought into the endevour than the studio head seems to be with the entire DC roster at his disposal. In fact, I think Nolan could set them straight on the proper approach to many of these in a 30 minute sit down. Wb should be looking to counter program its superhero properties to make sure they all distinguish themselves rather than mining the same tone and having them blur into each other. Batman 3 might end up a great movie, but it will underperform if the audience has been over-saturated with 'dark and gritty' before it even shows up.

 

[Malcolm R]

I hope they use some villains we haven't seen before. Joker is iconic, but one of the things I really liked about BB was that they used villains I'd never seen before in the films (I don't read the comics). I hope Nolan chooses a lesser-known villain in the next film (and he seems to be really trying to avoid what's already been done). I think Two-Face will probably be back, too.

 

[Brian Borst]

I hope you're right. They shouldn't keep reusing the villains they already had in the previous films. Batman has a huge rogues gallery. Some must fit in with the Nolanverse?
Two-Face's arc ended in The Dark Knight, so I hope they're not going to continue with him.