However, Robinov was unequivocal when asked if the rumor is true that Nolan will produce a Justice League movie, and bring Christian Bale back with him: “No, no it’s not.” (Nolan’s reps, who have previously declined to comment on that rumor, also confirmed Robinov’s statement and told EW that he definitely wasn’t involved with Justice League. Nolan is currently busy prepping his sci-fi film Interstellar.)

EW goes on to speculate that Warner Bros. will reboot the Batman franchise and tie those movies into their Justice League project, rather than trying to fit Christopher Nolan’s Batman into their story. That makes a lot more sense now, especially with Nolan distancing himself from Justice League. I have to admit, I was excited when I heard that Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale were in talks to return but it looks like Warner Bros. wasn’t able to get the deal signed.

Check out the full interview with Jeff Robinov at the source link below, it’s very interesting. And as always stay tuned to Batman News for all the latest on the future of Batman on the silver screen.

SOURCE: EW

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Unfortunately in Hollywood, deals don’t always come through. Warner Bros. definitely wanted to bring Christopher Nolan back to produce Justice League and they were trying to get Christian Bale to reprise his role as Batman too. El Mayimbe stopped by the Schmoes Knows Movies podcast this evening to give us an update.

According to El Mayimbe, Warner Bros. is having trouble getting Christopher Nolan on board. Nolan doesn’t want Justice League to mess with the story he created for The Dark Knight trilogy. There’s even some resistance about Superman from this summer’s Man of Steel appearing in Justice League. As it stands now, Warner Bros. is more likely to release a sequel to Man of Steel… Justice League is going to be pushed back a bit. As always, things could change but that’s the latest on Warner Bros. superhero team-up movie.

Update 04/05/13: I’ve embedded the Schmoes Knows Movies podcast below so you can hear it all from El Mayimbe himself. How do you feel about this news? Let me know in the comments below.

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Last May, Bale told Empire Magazine that if Christopher Nolan came to him with a good story, he’d be willing to play Batman again. The plan right now is to have Christian Bale reprise his role as Batman and join Henry Cavill’s Superman. Warner Bros. feels like their back is against the wall… and has to do something huge in order to compete with Marvel’s The Avengers. El Mayimbe suggests that a scene following Man of Steel’s credits could involve Superman finding a “retired” Bruce Wayne, and persuading him to join his “team”. If that happened, El Mayimbe says fanboys would squeal like 13 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert… and I think he might be right!

Check out the video above for all the details and hit up Latino Review at the source link below for the full story. And for those who are skeptical about this report… Latino Review has been a great source of Warner Bros. movie news. They were the first website to report that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker and that Brandon Routh would be Superman in 2006′s Superman Returns. Do you like the idea of Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan teaming up again for Justice League? Or would you prefer Warner Bros. went a different route? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned to Batman News for all the latest Justice League updates.

SOURCE: Latino Review

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If this was just some ridiculous rumor, why wouldn’t Nolan just say “no”? We’ve seen Nolan refute crazy rumors in the past. Back in 2010 it was rumored that a CGI version of Heath Ledger’s Joker would be making a cameo in The Dark Knight Rises. Nolan didn’t act coy when asked about it, and debunked the rumor before it had time to spread any further. In my opinion, Nolan acting coy about a Man of Steel cameo adds fuel to the rumor that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be the next Batman on film.

How did you interpret Christoper Nolan’s answer to Movieline’s question? Do you think we’ll see Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Batman in Man of Steel? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

SOURCE: Movieline [via Comic Book Movie]

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Christopher Nolan has been making the rounds over the past couple of weeks to show off his work and promote The Dark Knight Rises’ Blu-ray release. Nolan spoke with The Playlist recently, and talked about The Dark Knight Rises’ ending — which upset some hardcore Batman fans who feel like Bruce Wayne should never quit being Batman:

The ending is controversial to many, but in retrospect, there are myriad threads planted throughout that reinforce the idea that Bruce Wayne is looking to get out of the game as soon as he can. This isn’t a long term plan and he’s been planning to quit all along.

Very much. I mean everything in the trilogy comes back to the scene of the jet in “Batman Begins” between Bruce and Alfred. It’s a short scene and it’s simple, but it’s got a couple of little nods to this idea. It flies by, but it’s crucial to the trilogy because not all Batman fans agree with this. This is my interpretation of the character.

This is David [Goyer] and my take on it, and Christian [Bale] as well having his input. We said, “Okay, when you look at how you make the incredible extraordinary actions of an individual, who’s going to reinvent themselves in a theatrical persona in order to right the wrongs of the world and exorcise demons”….

The only way to me that made sense was in a more realistic tone, and taking on the idea of symbolism. The take on the idea that [Bruce Wayne] would see himself as a symbol who would motivate the good of Gotham to actually start working on their own, so he would be a catalyst for change, and tip the scales. And that’s always going to be a temporary process. To me it only made sense if you were looking at going okay, “I’m going to do this until the point where it’s not needed. So we followed it through very much into “The Dark Knight.”

I mentioned that Nolan talked a lot about working with Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, and now you can watch Nolan talk about him directly. Check out the video above, and one more longer video which I’ve included after the break.

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Christopher Nolan was at the IFC Center in New York last night to present his first feature film, The Following, in a new 35mm restoration. Thankfully Film Comment was there to type up a transcript of a Q&A session with Mr. Nolan where he talked a lot about his three Batman movies. Here’s an excerpt where Nolan talks about the ending of The Dark Knight Rises:

The Dark Knight Rises leaves the door open at the end for a possible continuation of the Gotham saga, without Batman perhaps, but with these new characters like Catwoman and the young cop played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Do you envision revisiting Gotham?

For me, The Dark Knight Rises is specifically and definitely the end of the Batman story as I wanted to tell it, and the open-ended nature of the film is simply a very important thematic idea that we wanted to get into the movie, which is that Batman is a symbol. He can be anybody, and that was very important to us. Not every Batman fan will necessarily agree with that interpretation of the philosophy of the character, but for me it all comes back to the scene between Bruce Wayne and Alfred in the private jet in Batman Begins, where the only way that I could find to make a credible characterization of a guy transforming himself into Batman is if it was as a necessary symbol, and he saw himself as a catalyst for change and therefore it was a temporary process, maybe a five-year plan that would be enforced for symbolically encouraging the good of Gotham to take back their city. To me, for that mission to succeed, it has to end, so this is the ending for me, and as I say, the open-ended elements are all to do with the thematic idea that Batman was not important as a man, he’s more than that. He’s a symbol, and the symbol lives on.

As a Batman fan, you’ve got to check out the full transcript of the interview. Head on over to Film Comment at the source link below and check it out!

Update 11/29/12: Christopher Nolan presented clips from his movies at another event in NYC last night. HitFix was there to transcribe Nolan’s quotes. He talks about Batman, meeting with Heath Ledger to play Batman, James Bond, and lots more. Click here to check it out!

SOURCE: Film Comment, HitFix

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It looks like we can finally put that crazy rumor about a director’s cut of The Dark Knight Rises to rest! If you didn’t trust Batman-News.com’s sources when I told you that a director’s cut wasn’t happening, perhaps you’ll believe The Playlist’s. The website reports that they spoke to insiders close to Christopher Nolan about this rumor, and they confirmed that “no such plans exist, and reports of an extended cut of the film are completely false.”

The Playlist also points us to an interview Nolan did with MTV this summer, which adds more confirmation that director’s cuts aren’t his thing:

Really, anyone listening to Nolan, who’s never included many deleted scenes on his home video releases, would have known that the chances were very slim — Nolan told MTV shortly after the release of “The Dark Knight Rises” that “I tend to try and weed things out on paper because it’s crazy expensive to shoot things that aren’t going to be in the film. It also takes up a lot of time and energy. Pretty much with all my films, there are very few deleted scenes, which always disappoints the DVD crowd.”

So there you have it. Hopefully we can finally put this rumor to bed now. I’m looking forward to reporting on all the official The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray/DVD news — look for that in the coming months!

SOURCE: The Playlist [via Comic Book Movie]

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Empire Magazine interviewed Christopher Nolan at his home recently, and included it on a recent episode of their podcast. The 22 minute interview is a must listen to any Batman fan… Nolan reflects on when he first got the job back in 2003, touches on various rumors, and talks a lot about The Dark Knight Rises. At the end of the interview Nolan is asked to give advice to the next director. Here’s what he had to say:

The only advice I would have is…when I first met with Paul Levitz of DC prior to Batman Begins, he explained to me very clearly that Batman, of all superheroes, has thrived on reinterpretation and almost being strengthened by it. And I’m talking obviously about over the years in the comic books but then also through the movies. So when the time is right, when somebody does whatever the next iteration of the character is, they simply need to be true to what they really want to see, do something they believe in, not worry too much about what everyone else is telling them it should be.

Christopher Nolan’s interview starts around the 37:10 mark. Check it out!

SOURCE: Empire

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Yesterday Andrew reviewed The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy and noted that the book included a foreword by Christopher Nolan. Superhero Hype forum member kvz5 has typed up Nolan’s heartfelt words for you to read below:

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Director Christopher Nolan has just released a statement on the horrible shooting that took place in a Colorado movie theater during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises:

Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of “The Dark Knight Rises”, I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community. I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.

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