Batman Begins (D: Nolan)
 

From CNN.com

NEW YORK (Variety) -- "Memento" director Chris Nolan has made a deal to revive the "Batman" franchise.

It was unclear whether he would write the script for the Warner Bros. project.

"All I can say is that I grew up with Batman, I've been fascinated by him and I'm excited to contribute to the lore surrounding the character," said Nolan, who last directed the studio's "Insomnia."

"He is the most credible and realistic of the superheroes, and has the most complex human psychology. His superhero qualities come from within. He's not a magical character. I had a fantastic experience with the studio on 'Insomnia,' and I'm keen to repeat that experience."

Nolan's emergence is an unexpected plot twist for the Caped Crusader, since it appeared that the superhero had flagged after four movies that grossed more than $1 billion. Warner Bros. has been trying to exploit the franchise through reinventions and spinoffs. They include "Batman Vs. Superman," "Batman: Year One" and "Catwoman."

"Batman Vs. Superman" nearly went into production with director Wolfgang Petersen and a script by Andrew Kevin Walker ("Seven") until Petersen instead moved to the Greek epic "Troy," set to star Brad Pitt and Eric Bana.

"Batman: Year One," a Gen-X version of the crimefighter, is being developed by Darren Aronofsky ("Requiem for a Dream") and creator Frank Stack. "Catwoman," with Ashley Judd expected to play the title role, is a spinoff of the character introduced in the Tim Burton-directed "Batman Returns."

The WB superhero project closest to the starting line is "Superman," with Brett Ratner directing from a script by J.J. Abrams ("Alias") for producer Jon Peters. The film will reintroduce a franchise that sputtered after four Christopher Reeve films, and WB is currently testing actors for its Man of Steel, with Josh Hartnett, Jude Law, Ashton Kutcher and Brendan Fraser among those rumored as aspirants to be fitted in cape and spandex.

Nolan would not divulge the contents of his Batproject, but he'll undoubtedly bring the wildly inventive style that so quickly brought him to the directing A-list after "Insomnia" and "Memento," whose star Guy Pearce is among the actors who might make an interesting Bruce Wayne.

Nolan recently turned in his script for a Howard Hughes film that he hopes to direct for Castle Rock, with Jim Carrey in the starring role. Timing of that film is unclear, since the Martin Scorsese-Leonardo DiCaprio Hughes rival pic "The Aviator" could be in production first. Nolan wouldn't say what his next feature would be.

Guy Pearce as Bruce Wayne!! OMG!! I haven't been this psyched about a comic book movie since Sam Raimi was announced to do Spiderman.

And Darren Aronofsky is doing Batman: Year One??

Could the movie studios be finally figuring out how to do comic book movies?? X-men and Spidermen were both great. Hulk looks to be great (still not sure about Daredevil).

The only thing that could make all of this perfect is if Terry Gilliam finally makes The Watchmen.

Great news. :up:

I hope this one doesn't fall through after a week like all the other stories tend to do when Batman or Superman is involved. Nolan could bring the dark grittiness that, IMO, every Batman movie so far has been lacking.
And two thumbs up to trying to get Guy Pearce involved. I hope Nolan could persuade him to do it, since he declined doing Daredevil (didn't want to play a character covered in latex).

Sweet!!!!

Guy Pearce would be perfect as Bruce Wayne. Here's to hoping anyway.

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!! I hope I'm still hearing this a week from now.:thumbsup:

I think you are all missing the bigger picture:

Ashley Judd as Catwoman :eek: :hump:

Sounds like some excellent news :up:

I'm not as enthused about Guy Pearce as Batman/Bruce Wayne.

How about Christian Bale?

Guy Pearce as Batman is an excellent idea.

Ashton Kutcher as Superman is not.

http://charliegoose.homestead.com/files/goose.jpg Honk!

Whoah! Can WB finally do Batman Right? I suppose there is not a projected release date? If I would guess I would say summer 05'. What about the Superman release? they said that that was closer to the finish line.

Think it's great but I'm waiting until the movie is actually started to celebrate, after all the false starts the Batman revival has had lately.

Why is it that whenever something is successful, the studios unwaveringly hack open the goose instead of being content with the eggs.

ABC found a hit with "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," and promptly ran it into the ground.

"Survivor" is a hit, so now we have reality TV 24-7 and the only way a show can distinguish itself anymore is by going to outlandish lengths to humiliate its contestants.

Now, after the success of "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" we've got superhero movies coming out of our ears. Somebody's going to end up taking a bath on one of these, and I just hope it's not "The Hulk," because that's the only one I believe would actually be good.

As for Nolan on Batman, I think he paces things too slowly, and if he tried to speed it up to do action, he'd mess up his timing. I'd like to see a different direction for Batman. I've seen Burton's dreary surreal Gotham; now I want to see how Guy Ritchie would tackle the project.

Is Batman going to have memory problems?;)

Come on, Joey Pants as Robin!

maybe he could start batman off in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and have the story work its way backwards into YEAR ONE. All while batman has tatoos that read: DONT TRUST CATWOMAN, THE JOKER IS A LIAR, THE PENGUIN EATS FISH.... ;)

just an idea.

great director choice tho, we shall see if it comes true....

As much as I think Guy Pierce is a great actor I feel he just doesn't have the look for either Bruce Wayne (Pierce isn't exactly all that good looking) or Batman (his frame is way too thin and I doubt working out would help THAT much - but I may be wrong as it worked for Tobey Maguire - and I really hate those molded rubber suits form the previous four films). That said, he does certainly have the edge to pull of the characters dual personas. Still, I'd rather someone like Jim Caviesel in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman (although he'd have to bulk up as well but he has the overall look for Bruce Wayne). Still Christian Bale is hands down the best choice for Batman/Bruce Wayne but he's apparently already expressed a preference for Aronofsky's Year One project over all other Batman-related productions.

Nolan directing sounds great but I hope he doesn't write the script as I found Memento (though entertaining in a watch-once sort of way) way too predictable and I hope this film is a mystery so we can finally see Batman using his detective skills onscreen.

Still, I'm glad to see such good talent being considered for superhero movie franchises.

I second that - Ashton Kutcher as Superman? Sheesh!

Do not get your hopes up, Batfans. This is the great brain-void of the West Coast known as Warner Bros., that we're talking about here. Their 'strategy' in making superhero films is the following: throw a bunch of B- to D-grade writers in a blender, put several "A-list-commercially-viable" directors in a stupid pointless P.R. competition with one another, throw at the wall and see what sticks. If possible, once the movie is actually green-lit, nickel-and-dime the production to whatever possible level you can while hiring an overexposed star du jour.

I'll be amazed if Nolan actually ends up directing this, and even moreso without huge shackles around his legs.

Batman Year One; Batman v. Superman; Superman; Catwoman..... and now ANOTHER movie, directed by Nolan........ dude.... WB needs to get something done, not put another plate on the table. What a complete mess.


Good news if it does come to fruition though.

Fixed it. :)

Aww... no more Schumacher? :D

This is wat would happen if Nolan did Batman:

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/949e8...SE3N.ARiF1Tyc1 http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/949e8...SE3N.AZPmGef1N

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/949e8...SE3N.AAPLGtWYL http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/949e8...SE3N.A1owcD3z7

:D :D :D

Can someone post HougangKid's pics again as all I see are four red X's. :(