The Dark Knight rises begins filming in India!

May kicks off on Sunday, the month that principal photography officially begins on The Dark Knight Rises and perhaps the first frames shot might take place in Jodhpur, India.

Daily Bhaskar reports that The Information and Broadcasting Ministry “has given the nod to US-based Cape Road Productions to lense the next Batman flick” there. What does director Chris Nolan have planned?

I would take a wild stab in the dark that it has something to do with the casting of Josh Pence as the young Ra’s Al Ghul, who we already know will appear in flashback. Though I could be wrong, perhaps this is where we find Tom Hardy’s imprisoned Bane?

Read more of this article »

BOF have a trusted source who says the India shoot comes first, before moving on to L.A., New York, London (and various other U.K. spots), Pittsburgh (though we don’t know in which order these come in). We also don’t know when exactly in May filming will begin. Could it be as early as this Monday? Or is it the Monday after?

I’m sure when we find out for sure, hundreds of spy photographers will be trying to gain exclusive snaps and if it’s anything like the production of The Dark Knight, this process will be everyday.

source: http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/#ixzz1KjZ9loTW

Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt officially join BATMAN 3

Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s involvement in The Dark Knight Rises has been the worst kept secret in Hollywood over the past few months but it’s nice to get official confirmation from Warner Bros today and indeed an official reveal of the roles they are playing.

In an official press release, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is revealed to be playing John Blake, a Gotham cop who is part of Commissioner Gordon’s new task force assigned to take down the Batman – which way back when he was first circling the movie was my first guess and also wish for who he might portray. Since then we’ve heard everything from Alberto Falcone to Black Mask to some people even thinking Robin, but cooler heads prevailed and we got there in the end.

Intriguingly, Marion Cotillard will play Miranda Tate, “a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham”. YEAAAHHHH sure she is. I bet she’s also the sexy and dangerous femme fatale who is revealed to be the daughter of Liam Neeson’s Ra’s Al Ghul by film’s end. Betcha.

The Dark Knight Rises begins filming next month in Pittsburgh for a release July 20th, 2012. Christian Bale (Batman), Gary Oldman (Gordon), Michael Caine (Alfred), Anne Hathaway (Catwoman), Tom Hardy (Bane), Marion Cotillard (Talia Al Ghul), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (?), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Juno Temple (Holly Robinson?), Josh Pence (a young Ra’s in 30 years earlier flashback), Daniel Sunjata (cop for Gordon), Diego Klattenhoff (as a rookie cop) Burn Gorman (?) and Nestor Carbonell (Mayor of Gotham) seems to be how the cast is shaping up.

Here’s the press release;

BURBANK, Calif. – Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Oscar® winner Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have joined the cast of “The Dark Knight Rises,” the epic conclusion to the Dark Knight legend.

“When you collaborate with people as talented as Marion and Joe, it comes as no surprise that you would want to repeat the experience. I immediately thought of them for the roles of Miranda and Blake, and I am looking forward to working with both of them again.” Cotillard will appear as Miranda Tate, a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham.

Gordon-Levitt will play John Blake, a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon.

The film reunites the actors with Christopher Nolan, who recently directed them in the award-winning blockbuster “Inception.”

The director stated, “When you collaborate with people as talented as Marion and Joe, it comes as no surprise that you would want to repeat the experience. I immediately thought of them for the roles of Miranda and Blake, and I am looking forward to working with both of them again.”

Heading the cast of “The Dark Knight Rises,” Christian Bale stars as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The main cast also includes Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle and Tom Hardy as Bane.

Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Christopher Nolan will also produce the film with his longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.



source: http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/tag/batman-3#ixzz1KXzwD2WH

The Dark Knight Rises - BACKGROUNDER

The Dark Knight Rises
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Dark Knight Rises is the title planned for a yet to be produced American superhero film under the development of Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, and Jonathan Nolan.Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film will be the third and final installment in Nolan's Batman film series. The film is scheduled for release in the United States and Canada on July 20, 2012 by Warner Bros.

Development
Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov had hoped a third film would be released in 2011 or 2012.Nolan wanted the story for the third installment to keep him emotionally invested. "On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question," he reasoned, "how many good third movies in a franchise can people name?"He returned out of finding a necessary way to continue the story, but feared midway through filming he would find a sequel redundant. By December 2008, Nolan completed a rough story outline, before he committed himself to Inception. Later in December, Alan F. Horn confirmed that while discussions with Nolan about a third film were ongoing, no casting had been done, and Horn denied all such rumors.

Before Nolan confirmed his involvement, Gary Oldman had said he was confident Nolan would return.Nolan explained that as long as he is directing, Robin will not be appearing in the franchise because Christian Bale is still portraying a "young Batman," which meant "Robin's not for a few films."In addition, Nolan considers the Penguin difficult to portray on film, explaining, "There are certain characters that are easier to mesh with the more real take on Batman we're doing. The Penguin would be tricky."

Oldman, while taking questions from an audience at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, was asked about a third film, to which he replied, "We start shooting next year. You didn't hear that from me." He subsequently clarified his comment, saying, "... well, I'm sure they want to do another one... it might [be] 2 or 3 years."However, in 2009, Michael Caine had told MTV News that the film was not being worked on and he did not know any details.On February 9, 2010, it was announced that Nolan has "cracked" the story of a sequel to The Dark Knight and has committed to return to that project.In February 2010, work on the screenplay was commencing with David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan.

Pre-production
When Goyer left to work on The Man of Steel, Jonathan was writing the script based on the story by his brother and Goyer.On March 10, 2010, Nolan confirmed his involvement in the project and said it will be his last Batman movie and a conclusion to the story: "Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story... I'm very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters. My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these things don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we're telling. And it hearkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories." Nolan confirmed his brother Jonathan is writing the script and that the villain of the film "won't be Mr. Freeze"and "won't be the Riddler."

In April 2010, Warner Bros. announced the film is scheduled to be released July 20, 2012.Nolan said on June 30, 2010 that Jonathan Nolan's script was finished.Nolan confirmed in September 2010 that he will be directing the film, and that he was then polishing his brother's screenplay,which he expected to have finished in January 2011.On October 27, 2010, Nolan confirmed that the title of the film will be The Dark Knight Rises.He confirmed the Joker will not return in the third film, and dismissed rumors that he considered using unused footage of Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight.

Planned cast

Bale said he would return if Nolan did. Aaron Eckhart had expressed his enthusiasm to return for a sequel if asked, although he later stated Nolan verified that his character, Harvey Dent, is dead.Nolan confirmed that the ensemble cast from the first two films will be returning.Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway have been cast as Bane and Selina Kyle.Juno Temple has been cast in a role described as a "street-smart Gotham girl".Josh Pence was cast as a young Ra's al Ghul, with his scenes to take place thirty years before the events of Batman Begins.Nestor Carbonell is in negotiations to reprise his role as Mayor Anthony Garcia.Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been cast as John Blake, "a Gotham City beat cop," along with Marion Cotillard, who will be portraying Miranda Tate, "a board member at Wayne Enterprises who is allied with Bruce Wayne."

Filming

Filming is scheduled to begin in May 2011 and conclude in November,[19] spending four to six weeks in Pittsburgh.Nolan has chosen not to film in 3-D but, by focusing on improving image quality and scale using the IMAX format, hopes to push technological boundaries while nevertheless making the style of the film consistent with the previous two.Nolan has had several meetings with IMAX Vice-President David Keighley to work on the logistics of projecting films in digital IMAX venues.The Dark Knight Rises will feature more scenes shot in IMAX than The Dark Knight.Cinematographer Wally Pfister had expressed interest in shooting the film entirely in IMAX, but because of the considerable noise made by IMAX cameras, 70mm cameras may have to be used for shooting the film's dialogue scenes.

The Dark Knight Rises -BANE

The first leaked photo from the set of The Dark Knight Rises has been uploaded by twitter user Ash Harper who managed to snag a photo of himself alongside the now shaven headed actor Tom Hardy who has bulked up considerably, as we knew he would, for his part as muscle-man villainous genius Bane. From the looks of things he is close to the size he was as Bronson and with filming still some weeks away, perhaps he isn’t finished his preparation yet and is going to get bigger? In any event can’t wait to see him in costume.

Just like his future co-star Christian Bale, Hardy has the dedication to his craft that allows him to transform his body physically from role to role. It doesn’t seem like five minutes ago that he was spotted (actually it was January 31st) at LAX Airport wearing that Junk Food Batman t-shirt where he looked half the size!

The Dark Knight Rises begins shooting in May and with Hardy already on set, presumably they are going through rehearsals, table readings and other such prep work. I’m sure it won’t be long before we see spy photo’s coming through on a daily basis.

source: http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/set-photo-tom-hardys-new-look-as-bane-for-the-dark-knight-rises.php#ixzz1KXpjfP1N

Return of Batman

With the return of Bruce Wayne to DC we thought we'd put up one of our favourite Batman DC Covers over the past 12 months. - Enjoy!

Batman 3 Rumours

A third chapter in the revamped Batman franchise is probably one of the most highly-anticipated films in comic book movie history. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, it is also one of the most discussed, rumored about and debated films, as well. To cut through the confusion (or add to it, depending upon how you look at it), here's a compilation of the news and rumors fanning the debates.

Will Christopher Nolan return to direct?

YES Batman on Film (February 2009)
"According to three separate BOF sources, director Christopher Nolan’s recent deal with Warner Bros. for the film INCEPTION, at least includes an agreement between the studio and the acclaimed director to helm his second sequel to BATMAN BEGINS."

MAYBE Christian "Batman" Bale (April 2009)

"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!"

MAYBE Christopher Nolan Representative (February 2009)

"He is doing Inception next. We haven't announced any deal or anything on the next Batman as that is all speculation."

YES Gary "Commissioner Gordon" Oldman (July 2009)

"[Yes,] but you didn't hear that from me."


YES (SOMEDAY) Gary Oldman (July 2009)

"Well, I'm sure they want to do another one... it might 2 or 3 years..."

YES (MAYBE) David S. Goyer (June 2009)

"Well, I believe he said if we can find the story that he's happy with, that he would return. And unfortunately, respecting Chris… You know, talk to him after he finishes Inception, which he's shooting right now. That just started shooting.

You know, we've been talking [about story ideas]."

NO (MAYBE) Michael "Alfred" Caine (November 2009)

"As for the future... if they ever make another Batman I will be in, I will be the butler..."

"But I don't know if they are ever going to make another Batman. If they do it won't be for quite a while."

YES Morgan "Lucius Fox" Freeman (December 2009)

"I know—I just know—that Chris is working on number three. He couldn't possibly not be."

UPDATE 5: YES (Well, his brother is, so...) Deadline Hollywood (February 2010)

"Now FlashForward showrunner David Goyer has left with 5 episodes still to shoot. Of course, Goyer's feature career is really heating up, since he co-wrote Batman Begins, and penned the story for The Dark Knight, and is now writing the third Batman installment with Chris Nolan's brother Jonah."

UPDATE 6: YES (If he's mentoring Superman, then...) Deadline Hollywood (February 2010)

"Warner Bros is trying to ready its DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a "godfather" role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus... now [Chris Nolan's] brother and frequent collaborator Jonathan "Jonah" Nolan, and David Goyer who co-wrote and penned the story for The Dark Knight, are off scripting it."

UPDATE 7: YES Nestor "Mayor Anthony Garcia" Carbonell (February 2010)

"That was an awesome gig. It was such an incredible experience to work with not only Chris Nolan, but the incredible cast, and, yeah, to be part of the Batman...I guess now it will be a trilogy. It was great to get to put on the suit and represent the city."

UPDATE 8: YES (CONFIRMED) Christopher Nolan (March 2010)

"My brother is writing a script for me and we’ll wait to see how it turns out.... He's struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be.

"Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story.

"We have a great ensemble, that's one of the attractions of doing another film, since we've been having a great time for years."


Will we see Two-Face and The Scarecrow again?

Aaron "Two-Face" Eckhart (September 2009)

"If Chris called me, I would certainly do it.

As far as I'm concerned, my character's dead. I've sort of just gone on with my life. I don't have any expectations of being in the next Dark Knight, if there is a Dark Knight. I have no knowledge of one.

I would do anything for Chris. If Chris wanted me to ... I don't know, bring his tea or something like that, I would do it. I had such a good time making that movie, and he's such a great filmmaker."


Cillian "Scarecrow" Murphy (October 2009)

"I hope they make a third one. I think The Dark Knight was one of the greatest films.

[But, Nolan and I] don’t talk about those things. It's out of my control.

"[The Dark Knight is] one of the greatest blockbuster mainstream movies. If anyone can match that or top that it’s Chris. Fingers crossed."


Who will play the villains?

Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Phillip Seymor Hoffman as The Penguin

Michael Caine (September 2008)

"When Christopher said we were going to do The Dark Knight next, I didn't what that meant in Batman terms. I said, 'What's the story?' and he said The Joker. I said, 'Oh, s--t! How are you going to top Jack [Nicholson]?' He said, 'Well, I've cast Heath Ledger. And I went 'Ha! I couldn't top Jack, but if anyone could, maybe Heath could.' And he did.

"I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, 'Are we going to make another one?' They said yeah. I said, 'How the hell are we going to top Heath? And he says 'I'll tell you how you top Heath -- Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.' I said, 'S--t, they've done it again!'"

Johnny Depp (June 2009)

"I'd definitely juggle it."

Michael Caine (September 2009)

"There is nobody, there's no script, there's nothing. It can't possibly be made before 2011 because Inception is such a big picture.

"Johnny Depp is great in anything, but there is no Johnny Depp in this Batman. They tell me in no uncertain terms."

UPDATE 1: Dane Cook as The Riddler

Dane Cook (November 2009)

"If they brought back The Riddler — a new Riddler the way they did with The Joker — that would be badass. I would do that.

"When they were making the new one and they were doing The Joker, I always thought it [should be] kind of like The Crow — having that dark element but still comedic. It would probably have to be something in that vein, even though I think what Heath Ledger did with the Joker was the greatest comic book villain ever."

UPDATE 2: David Tennant as The Riddler

David Tennant (December 2009)

"I probably should be [playing The Riddler]. But, you'd think my agent would have mentioned something if it was true."

UPDATE 3: Sienna Miller as Catwoman

Sienna Miller (January 2010)

"[I would like to play] Catwoman. I actually love Catwoman. I just think the idea of being half-cat and half-woman is a great kind of villain-esque persona. It's the age-old thing of a femme fatale."


UPDATE 4: Will Batman 3 even happen?

Morgan "Lucius Fox" Freeman (February 2010)

"Well... I always say, now I've been asked this question a number of times, and I don't think that Warner Brothers... the board of directors... the chairman or the president... or any of those people are stupid.

"Which means there's going to be another Batman movie.

"Now, [my involvement is] not carved in stone. We'll only know that when the script is written and the same guy's writing the third script, if there is to be one."

UPDATE 8: YES (CONFIRMED)

See above.

Batman 3 Has An Official Release Date!!

Chris Nolan-directed Batman film, Warner Bros. has set the official release date to July 20, 2012.

The studio is in the very early stages of development, yet Nolan has said this is most likely the last film in the series.