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When it comes to Batman, the future of the franchise is in Christopher Nolan's hands. That's what a successful reboot with "Batman Begins" and breaking records with "The Dark Knight" will do.

There's a deal for the director to helm a third pic, but he has yet to decide on whether to tackle it yet.

"We have no idea where Chris is going with this," Horn says. "We haven't had any conversations with him about it."

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Recent words coming from the possible follow-up of "Batman" movie stated that everything about "Batman 3" depends on director Christopher Nolan. Hence, though Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures are keen to move on, they have to wait for Nolan's decision, especially since he has yet to sign in for this next Batman project.

In the recent Hollywood Reporter article discussing in details about "The Dark Knight", that fact is exposed through producer Chuck Roven's remarks. "There are a lot of us who emotionally would love to do it," Roven confessed. "But it's really Chris' call. Chris is the kind of filmmaker who just doesn't think about the next movie before he has completely finished the movie he is working on."

Furthermore, noting that Nolan is taking a vacation, he stated that everything concerning the third movie of the series that was begun with "Batman Begins" will be unraveled following Nolan's return. "When he comes back, we will see how he feels," explained the film producer.

Following the massive success of "Dark Knight" on retaining the second slot of highest grossing movie of all time with $490.6 million nationwide, speculations about the possible sequel has been streaming in, especially from the possible casting of the villains. Earlier, it has been rumored that singer Cher has been considered to be depicting Catwoman, while Johnny Depp is eyed to be The Riddler.

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Angelina Jolie may get a competition for the Catwoman role in "Batman 3" as Cher is reported to be in negotiations for the part. Though the "Wanted (2008)" star has been linked to the feline villain for quite sometime now, latest report from British's Telegraph indicates that director Christopher Nolan prefers to give the part to the pop singer/actress instead.

According to the publication, the 62-year-old Cher has become Nolan's prime choice for the character whose alter ego is known as Selina Kyle. "Cher is Nolan's first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years," claimed a studio executive. "The new Catwoman will be the absolute opposite of Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry's purring creations."

Though Cher started off her stardom through music business, she is also praised for her acting performances earning her an Academy Award for 1987 "Moonstruck". Her latest feature film credits include 1999 "Tea With Mussolini" in which she played Elsa Morganthal Strauss-Armistan and 2003 "Stuck on You" where she appears as herself.

"Batman 3", the sequel to the record-breaking "The Dark Knight", is said to be temporarily entitled "The Caped Crusade". The filming is scheduled to begin in Vancouver early 2009 and may get Johnny Depp as The Riddler

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In an interview with MTV News, Michael Caine seemed to confirm rumors that the next installment of the “Batman” film franchise will feature two very well-known names playing the roles of The Riddler and the Bumbershoot Bandit, The Penguin. “They’ve already got them in mind,” said Caine, when asked who he’d like to see take up arms against the Caped Crusader. “It’s Johnny Depp as The Riddler. And The Penguin is Philip Seymour Hoffman. I read it in the paper.”

So Caine is like the rest of us, reading gossip in the tabloids, right? Except for one thing…according to the actor, he confirmed the news through the studio itself.

“When Christopher [Nolan] said we were going to do ‘The Dark Knight’ next, I didn’t what that meant in Batman terms,” related Caine, who plays Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth. “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!’”

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