Hero Complex managed to score an interview with Christopher Nolan where the director spills quite a few things about the third Batman movie. First, the title. Are you ready? The third movie will be titled ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘.

Also, contrary to the countless rumors we’ve heard for years now, Nolan says that the movie will not feature ‘The Riddler’ at all:

“We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones.”

But be relieved – he also confirms Mr. Freeze won’t be the villain either.

We also find out that the movie will not be shot in 3-D nor will it get hasty post-conversion to 3-D. Instead, Nolan is pushing for it to be shot in IMAX instead. Here is his reasoning to why not 3-D:

“There’s an intimacy at times [with spatial illusion of the 3D effect] and we want didn’t want to lose scale… our ambitions for the third movie is to complete a story that has begun. This is not starting over, this not rebooting… We’re looking to do something technologically that’s never been done before… Our ambitions are to make a great movie.”

That’s all the info. For my comments, read on after the jump.

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is a good title as far as contuinity goes but I’d have preferred something more subtle. Still a worth title, though.

Though Riddler would have been a great villain for the film and one that would most suit the dark Gotham City Nolan has created, it would also play too close to the Joker and bring out unfair comparisons so it makes sense for Nolan not wanting to do that. But who could be the new villain? Your guess is as good as mine.

The fact that Nolan doesn’t want to go for 3-D makes full sense and is much appreciated. The entire look of Gotham City will be altered if he goes full digital and uses 3-D cameras and that’s the last thing he would want. It’s a bold move that can only be expected from a director of such caliber. In contrast, The IMAX scenes in TDK were brilliant and shooting the movie fully in that format would only give us more of the epic scope he achieved in the previous film.

What are your thoughts?

]]> http://tbreak.com/movies/13258/blog/nolan-speaks-batman-3-titled-the-dark-knight-rises-wont-be-in-3-d-wont-feature-the-riddler-more.html/feed 0 http://tbreak.com/movies/10198/blog/crank-directing-duo-in-talks-to-direct-nicolas-cage-in-ghost-rider-2.html http://tbreak.com/movies/10198/blog/crank-directing-duo-in-talks-to-direct-nicolas-cage-in-ghost-rider-2.html#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:27:57 +0000 Faisal Hashmi http://movies.tbreak.com/?p=10198 Sometimes, studios only move forward on a project so they don’t lose rights to the franchise. The first ‘Ghost Rider’ film was awful and got a critical beating. Yet, Sony is rushing forward with a sequel written by David Goyer. Earlier, they were so rushed that they were willing to move forward without Nicolas Cage if needed. Now, seems like Nicolas Cage is back and an odd yet potentially great directing choice is being made.

THR reports that directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are in negotiations to direct ‘Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance’ with Nicolas Cage likely to star. The duo is responsible for the insanely crazy “Crank’ movies as well as last year’s ‘Gamer’. There’s no denying that their ADD-ridden directing style is energetic and unique and it’s odd that Sony is considering the duo for a major tentpole movie, but I think this is best for the franchise. A normal directing style failed with the first film, and the only way audiences will give it another chance is if it’s a totally different movie than the first. What better way to do that than give an insane crazy actioner about a bike riding demon starring Nicolas Cage of all people?

We’ll keep you updated about the project.

The choices are definitely varied and include familiar names as well as total newcomers. Read all about them in detail one by one after the jump.

1) Jamie Bell

Definitely the most known actor from the list, Jamie Bell was seen in 2008′s ‘Jumper’ as well as ‘Defiance’ later that year. He has the right kind of attidude to him that would bring something fresh to the role. But I don’t see him as the nerdy Peter Parker.

2) Alden Ehrenreich

Total unknown that only has Francis Ford Coppolas little-seen ‘Tetro’ as his film role to boast. But Coppola is a classic director that probably hired him after he saw something in him, but again, he doesn’t pull off the nerdy Parker for me. Could redefine himself for the role, though.

3) Andrew Garfield

Garfield is the mid-range one of them all. He had a minor role in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and has done a few indie movies that lend credibility to his resume, but nothing really major to date. Maybe that’s a good thing? He’ll be on screen again in the upcoming Facebook movie ‘The Social Network’. He has the looks to play the part as well. My second choice to play Peter Parker.

4) Frank Dillane

Another unknown for the most part, Dillane was seen as Tom Riddle in ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ last year and pretty much nothing else. He arguably looks closest to Peter Parker. But doesn’t he look a little too evil for the smart? I fail to see the charisma required, but you never know.

5) Josh Hutcherson

Now this is the guy who will probably end up as the new Peter Parker, and probably should too. He’s no newcomer to the industry and has roles from films like ‘Bridge to Terabithia’, ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’, and ‘Zathura’ under his belt. He’ll also be seen in the upcoming ‘Red Dawn’. Although I can’t see him playing a geek for now, he has the looks and the charisma needed to carry off such an iconic role. My number 1 choice for the new Parker.

Sony is of course silent about it, but THR reports that director Marc Webb has been secretly looking for candidates and may make the decision soon. I’ve given my opinion, but who do you think should be the new ‘Spider-Man’?

Warner Bros. have locked in a July 20, 2012 release date for the third installment in the hit franchise, where ‘The Dark Knight’ from 2008 still stands tall as the biggest opening weekend of all time. There’s no word on the plot, casting, the return of Nolan, or even if the film will be in 3-D (I think it won’t). But we do know that it’ll be coming in IMAX thanks to a 20 film deal between WB and IMAX.
But this release puts it on a competitive slate, as it opens shortly after the ‘Spider-Man’ reboot and ‘Star Trek 2′. Still, Batman will stand tall at the end of the day if all elements fall into place.

What are you expecting from ‘Batman 3′

This could be a reality, although with a lot less explosions.

CHUD reports that after ‘The Avengers’ (possibly the biggest superhero film ever) is released, Marvel will bring out its lesser known characters out of their vaults and give them movie adaptations of a lower budget. Marvel’s talking to various writers and directors right now to bring these characters to life in movies costing between $20 million to $40 million. To the naked eye, this might seem like a fortune. But in reality, Spider-Man 3 cost more than $250 million. Marvel could make twelve small movies instead of one big film.

And that’s a good thing actually. This will allow them to take more creative risks and not try to please everyone with their films. The smaller characters being discussed right now are Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, Dazzler and Power Pack among others, and have their own cult following behind them. Aiming to please these fans could result in an all-around better movie.

Your thoughts on low budget superhero movies?

HeatVision reports that Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, The Wolfman, LOTR) is in final negotiations to join the film as the villain Red Skull. Actually named Johann Shmidt, he is appointed by Adolf Hitler himself for dirty deeds. From Marvel itself:

“Hitler gave Schmidt an unique uniform with a grotesque red skull mask, and he emerged as the Red Skull. His role was the embodiment of Nazi intimidation, while Hitler could remain the popular leader of Germany. … He was spectacularly successful, wreaking havoc throughout Europe in the early stages of World War II. The propaganda effect was so great that the United States government decided to counter it by creating their own equivalent using the recipient of the lost Project Rebirth, Steve Rogers, Captain America. The two counterparts soon clashed in what would be a series of engagements throughout the war, ending with a final battle that left the Skull buried under the rubble of a bombed building. Because he was immediately exposed to an experimental gas there, he remained in suspended animation for decades. Johann was eventually rescued in modern times by the terrorist organization, HYDRA. The Skull quickly subverted a cell to his own ambitions of world conquest and the death of Captain America. “

No word as to who can play Captain America. Will it be John Krasinski (The Office)? Or Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy)? Or someone totally out of the blue? Keanu Reeves, maybe? (A stretch, I know).

Deadline Hollywood got the scoop which says that Nolan had an idea for the third Batman installment and got Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer to work on it. David Goyer recently left his show ‘FlashForward’ to work on the film. There are no other details, but since Nolan has ‘Inception’ coming out in July (which looks amazing), it will be some time before he is active with this.

But a more surprised report says that Warner Bros. are so impressed with his unique take on ‘Batman’ that they want him to oversee the production of their long in production ‘Superman’ reboot. After failing to revive the franchise with 2006′s ‘Superman Returns’, the studio was frantic to give it a reboot before their rights to the character expire in 2012. Note that Nolan will most probably not write or direct but give creative input to the film.

This is big news for all comic book fans and I personally believe Nolan involved with both productions means we are sure to see a quality product whenever it releases.

Deadline Hollywood reports that a writer has been hired to write the reboot of the series. Too bad the writer in question is David Scarpa, who wrote ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ which was another failure from Fox. The aim here is to make it something dark and gritty like Batman but then again that was the aim the first time and look how that turned out. I really hope they can get the character right this time as he is a unique hero and this could become their very own ‘Batman’.

P.S. – Please don’t try to reboot ‘Electra’. Just, don’t.

The film is an adaptation of the DC-Vertigo comic book about a band of black ops commandos who are set up to be killed by their own government. They barely survive and set out to get even.

Zoe Saldana looks sexy, there’s high flying action and Chris Evans looks great as always. This could be the sleeper hit of the year considering how late they released the trailer for a movie opening in April.

Watch the trailer after the jump.

Kick-Ass tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name — Kick-Ass — assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. There’s only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers.

All the characters fit nicely and it breaks the mold of other superhero film posters with a unique color design. The trailer also shows that this is going to be one wild ride this April.

Trailer after the jump.