The latest trailer from the upcoming Dark Knight Rises promises a whole lot more than just action from the final installment of the Christopher Nolan Batman saga.
Beyond the confirmation that Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) is definitely teaming up with Batman (Christian Bale), we finally get a bit more of a look at John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). It’s obvious he’s a cop, but we see what appears to be him talking with Selina, and we see him drawing chalk bat symbols on wallas along with apparently lamenting the fact that Batman is gone. My suspicions that he is taken on as a protege by Batman are growing, but I still won’t go as far as to say that he becomes Robin.
Thankfully it also appears Bane (Tom Hardy) will be a bit easier to understand. Yay!
Nolan has a lot to live up to following on the brilliance of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but the atmospheric nature of this trailer leads me to believe he will once again succeed. It’s just sad knowing this is the end of this brilliant run of films.
The Dark Knight Rises opens in theaters on July 20.
At long last a full trailer has been released for The Dark Knight Rises, and it’s everything we hoped for.
We haven’t seen a trailer since the teaser was released last July, and since then it has been dozens of leaked set videos. While the trailer still gives us next to no hints to the overall storyline, and it sure shows you enough to whet your appetite for the full release next July. Anne Hathaway looks fantastic as Selina Kyle (though no hints to her as Catwoman), we only get a few glimpses of Tom Hardy as Bane and we’re left wondering why Christian Bale has a beard as Bruce Wayne again and appears to be in a prison. (I’m calling that one right now as a flashback to when he was training during Batman Begins.)
Again it appears that Christopher Nolan has done a superb job with Batman, it’s just sad to know this is the last one for him and his team.
This is currently an unofficial copy of the trailer, so don’t be surprised if it gets pulled. I’ll replace it with an official copy as soon as it’s released. UPDATE: Higher resolution copy now replacing the original.
Filming on The Dark Knight Rises has moved to New York City and it looks like it wil again be focused around the citizens of Gotham taking to the streets in protest of something.
All of the filming that was seen involved the three desert camo Tumblers we’ve seen showing up all over the place, and at least some scenes did involve Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy). The primary focus seems to be on a confrontation between the Gotham City police and a huge group of rioters, but whatever is firing them up is unclear.
All I can say is thank goodness Christopher Nolan doesn’t like to shoot indoor on soundstages because it gives us just that much more to speculate about what is happening in these scenes.
In this take, it appears the cops run past the rioters more than actually fight with them.
In this version you can hear a bit of the dialog of the police saying “Disperse … disperse now or you will be fired upon … this is your last warning … disperse now …” and then the fight happens.
Filming on The Dark Knight Rises continues in Los Angeles, and with that comes outdoor shooting that gives photographers a chance to catch shots of the actors in costume. And, yes, that includes full shots of Anne Hathaway in the Catwoman costume.
Although Warner Brothers released one official image of Anne Hathaway in the Catwoman costume, the fact that she was riding the Batpod (I die a little every time I write that name) concealed the majority of it. The new shots obtained by JustJared, Splash News Online and Celebrity-Gossip show a very 1960′s Batman television series inspired outfit, somewhat reminiscent of the one worn by Eartha Kitt in the series. It isn’t campy mind you, just skin tight and very much a catsuit. Director Christopher Nolan is known to try to cement these films in reality, but I think he may have gone slightly off target with this one.
Oh, and countdown to this being a top Halloween costume in 2012 begins now.
Oh yes, those heels are sensible when fighting crime or being a burglar. As for the “cat ears” on her head, reportedly that is the googles we’ve seen her wearing in other shots, and when pushed up they give the impression of ears.
Warner Brothers chief Jeff Robinov said in a recent interview that after Nolan’s third film, the Batman franchise will reboot, marking the third film series based around the character. “We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman.” He was then asked if he meant a reboot for the series, he replied, “I do. 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.”
Apparently some of this is hinged on the fact that Warner Brothers has decided to go ahead with a Justice League movie in the summer of 2013, the year after The Dark Knight Rises and Superman: Man of Steel are due for release. While it is expected Henry Cavill, who was recently cast as Superman, is expected to appear in the team film, it is doubtful Christian Bale will show up as Batman. With this in mind, it appears that Warner Brothers may use this as the launchpad for yet another series of Bat-films.
I’ve spoken many times about my disdain for reboots of films, but to start discussing a reboot before you even finish the previous series? I think we’ve set a new record with this one. I can understand Nolan wanting to take on more of an overseer role as I’m sure there films aren’t easy to make, but why not just continue where he left off? For that matter, why not just have some standalone stories like the James Bond series? They could use the same mythos as the current films, but not be entirely reliant upon them.
The issue with rebooting superhero films is that each filmmaker feels they must put their own spin on the origin story, forcing the audience go slog through the same material yet again. Do we really need to see Superman’s spaceship crash in Kansas yet again? Do we need to see Peter Parker get bit by the spider? And for crying out loud, do we really have to go through the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne in that alley yet again? No, we don’t. When you’re dealing with iconic characters such as these, assume we know the origin, or play it in the background underneath the credits.
To ask us to pony up the money every so many years to watch the same blasted “This is where it all began story …” is just getting to the point of angering me. Yes, Batman Begins was a brilliant origin movie, how about we just leave it at that and call it a day?
Can you imagine another Batman film that doesn’t involve director Christopher Nolan? Well, if Christian Bale is right, you might have to.
In a new interview with MTV to promote his new movie, Public Enemies, Christian Bale was asked about the status of a third Batman film with director Christopher Nolan.
I truly don’t know that we’re ever going to see another Batman movie. It would be purely that [Christopher Nolan] would need to find a story that was good enough. and if he couldn’t find that it wouldn’t happen.
The prevailing rumor has been that Nolan’s original plan called for The Joker to feature heavily in a third film’s plot, but with the passing of Heath Ledger, whom won an Academy Award for the role, those plans came to a halt. Nolan is reluctant to recast the role, understandably, and so he is left without a story idea he likes.
While Bale is under contract for a third film, Nolan is not. So I hate to break the news to Bale, but, yes, we will indeed see a third film. As Box Office Mojo shows, The Dark Knight grossed $533,345,358 domestic, and $468,576,467 internationally for a total of $1,001,921,825 on a $185 million dollar budget. There is no way there will not be a third Batman film, and it will indeed star Bale unless he finds a way to weasel out of his contract. The only reason I don’t think there has been any official word on it yet is that Warner Brothers wants to have an official refusal from Nolan as there is no reason to break up a successful team if they don’t have to.
The only other problem right now is Nolan’s latest project, Inception, which is due for release on July 16, 2010. With pre-production time, there is no way Nolan would be ready to shoot a third Batman until 2011, meaning that the film would be released in summer 2012 at the earliest, a full 4 years since The Dark Knight.
This is an interesting parallel between the last series of Batman films and this one. After Batman Returns, both Michael Keaton and Tim Burton walked away from the series, and we were award with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin being directed by Joel Schumacher. I don’t think I have to remind any one just how badly that turned out. So there is a definite precedent with this character of the fact you shouldn’t mess with success.
I think there are a ton of story ideas that could work for the third film, and they could fit in perfectly with what we were left with at the end of The Dark Knight, as weall as the more realistic world Batman inhabits in these films. One of my regular readers named Jack made an excellent argument in the comments of my post about The Dark Knight passing $1 billion box office for a “Hunt the Batman” motif. He was a fugitive at the end of the third film, why not make the Batman himself the “villain” of the third film even as he attempts to save the city from itself? Could Bruce Wayne continue to reason that saving a city that wants his head is really worth it?
Another friend of mine even suggested how they could use the well-known villain The Penguin without it being over the top. These films have set up a large mob syndicate operates in Gotham, why not make him the new mob guy who moves in to town and just happens to like wearing tuxedos? This would lead to him being called “The Penguin” in crime circles, and you could keep the bird motif of the character. No need for him to be the mutated freak he is usually shown as.
There are a lot of possabilities still out there, and hopefully Nolan will reconsider once he has some more space between himself and the second film.
It may be hard to believe, but there was once a time where a movie based on a comic book being released was like some sort of weird dream. It was rare, and it was even rarer that they were actually good. Luckily all of that has changed over the years, and the rule of thumb now seems to be more towards actual quality and care being put into the productions based on the comic book art form.
With the new Watchmen movie being talked about by every one, it seems like a good time to discuss what some of the best comic book movies are up until now. The question is do you judge them solely as a movie or how faithful they are to the source material? I think this is one of those instances where you have to do a little bit of both. Some succeed as movies in spite of a total difference from the books that spawned them, and others are so dead on faithful that it almost feels like you watched the artwork come to life.
In case you were wondering what qualifies me to speak on this subject the answer is 33 years of comic book collecting, 15 & 1/2 years managing a comic shop and a well-known harsh eye for movies. So go ahead and click to find a list of what I find to be the best movies based on comic books, and then let me know what your top choices are. Continue Reading ->
For only the fourth time in movie history, a movie has surpassed the $1 billion mark in box office receipts.
According to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood, The Dark Knight surpassed the $1 billion dollar in box office take on Friday. This is only the fourth movie to ever do so, sharing the honors with Titanic ($1.8 billion), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.1 billion), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.066 billion). None of these numbers are adjusted for inflation, but it is still an impressive haul for any film to make.
This will surely add to Warner Brothers, the studio behind the franchise, to want director Christopher Nolan and actor Christian Bale to return for a third film. For now Mr. Nolan has been hesitant to confirm his attachment to a third outing in Gotham City due to his claim that he is lacking in story ideas at this point in time. He has not completely ruled out doing another, but he wants to be sure it is a story worth doing.
I have to agree with him at this point that while Batman has interesting villains, very few of them are capable of carrying a movie like the Joker could. The only other one who I would immediately say could would be Two-Face, but that is no longer an option after the events of the last film.
Clayface – Interesting idea, but hard to pull off in the “realistic” world setting these films have established.
Harley Quinn – While she’s fun, she’s second fiddle to the Joker, and it would be hard to introduce her without the Joker around.
Man-Bat – Again, hard to pull off in the setting they have introduced in the films.
Mr. Freeze – Hard to forget how badly he was handled in the Batman & Robin movie, but Batman:The Animated Series handled him with a lot more class. He could possibly work.
Penguin – Nolan has expressed his dislike for this villain, and I tend to agree with him. He is too absurd to be believable as an actual threat.
Poison Ivy – Good grief no. The crazy plant lady never thrilled me.
Ra’s ah Ghul – Could return possibly from his seeming death in the first one, but I doubt it.
Riddler – I’ve never cared for the Riddler. He leaves a trail of evidence behind him a mile wide, and he just has always struck me as silly.
Talia ah Ghul – The daughter of Ra’s, not sure she could support a movie on her own, plus she has that “love of Batman” thing going on.
As you can see, not many more of his core villains would work, but you can take a look through his Rogue’s Gallery and see if there any that you think would work in the inevitable third film. Who would like to see? Who do you think would work? And will a third film make as much, or was it Heath Ledger’s doing?
I’m not one usually for posting celebrity gossip, but this has to be heard to be believed.
Christian Bale, star of The Dark Knight, has long been rumored to have a temper, and on July 17th, 2008, while filming Terminator Salvation, it got caught on audio just how much of a temper he has. As he blows up at a crew member, the audio team had not stopped recording, and the tape has now been “leaked” to the press. Please note there is a large amount of cursing in this audio clip, and it is distinctly not safe for work or children.
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I hate to say it, but I kinda see his point. Yes, he could have handled it better, but as someone who isn’t big on being taken “out of the zone” while writing, I get it. Have I ever gone off to this degree? No, but I have been close a few times, and it’s why I tend to isolate myself when I write. While my father was laid up for 6 weeks from his knee surgery, I exiled myself back to my fairly cold office to write at night, though I would have much rather been at home in my comfy chair, I did this for fear of snapping at someone for trying to talk to me while I worked.
Now, if the directory of photography (the “DP” he refered to in the clip) truly did wander in to his eye line during the filming of the scene, then, yes, the DP messed up. And if, as Mr. Bale said, this wasn’t the first time he had done it, then, yes, he needed to be talked to… though a bit more calm might have been called for. The director should have stepped in and taken care of it, but apparently he didn’t, or maybe Mr. Bale was just a bit quicker on the draw.
However, defend him as one might, this was also within days of when he was accused of getting violent with his mother and sister in London, so I think it is fairly safe to say he has some anger management issues. It’s unfortunate that such a talented actor has these issues, and maybe this will be the catalyst for him finally getting some help.
As seems to be a trend with any celeb freak out, someone has made an angry dance remix of the audio. I’ve embedded it below, and, yes, very not safe for work, you have been warned.
After the third 
Can you imagine another Batman film that doesn’t involve director 
It may be hard to believe, but there was once a time where a movie based on a comic book being released was like some sort of weird dream. It was rare, and it was even rarer that they were actually good. Luckily all of that has changed over the years, and the rule of thumb now seems to be more towards actual quality and care being put into the productions based on the comic book art form.
For only the fourth time in movie history, a movie has surpassed the $1 billion mark in box office receipts.
I’m not one usually for posting celebrity gossip, but this has to be heard to be believed.
