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An interview with Nolan where he finally opens up (a bit) about the new projects. Linky
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Nolan on Batman/Superman
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Posted 13 March 2010 - 11:54 PM
The other bombshell in the interview is that Nolan intends for his follow-up for the hugely successful "The Dark Knight" to be his last Batman film. He says that his brother Jonathan, who co-wrote the last movie, is currently at work on the screenplay. Nolan says that finding an ending to Batman's story is the main appeal for him to return to Gotham City.
"I'm very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we've done with the characters," Nolan tells the Times. "Unlike the comics, these things don't go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful."
"I'm very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we've done with the characters," Nolan tells the Times. "Unlike the comics, these things don't go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful."
I respectfully disagree. Sure, even the old man, Bob Kane, said it was a good idea to reinvent Batman every ten years or so. Cool. But I am gawdawful sick of what I feel are forced trilogies, like SPIDER-MAN and X-MEN have been, for instance. Sure, I'm certain that his third Batman film will be awesome and that particular box set of three will stand alone as the best trilogy of super-hero flicks ever. But though a particular director may move on, I don't see why a continuing series of movies wouldn't work just fine.
It can be argued that 20 James Bond movies (with two unofficial ones to boot) were made before the official reboot of the series with the last two. I've not read Ian Fleming's books, but do they really constitute more material that has been produced in the past fifty years with comics for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, HULK, IRON MAN, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers, etc, respectively...? If a continuing series of movies based upon literature should be possible no matter the original source, whether periodicals or novels. If it is possible to have nine seasons of SMALLVILLE (going on TEN), surely it can't be too hard to produce a two-hour movie once every couple of years.
There's no need for someone whose work is obviously superb, indeed superior, to set up his own projects for planned obsolescence. Well, I guess there is the old argument about going out on top, standing alone on Mount Olympus, master of all you survey... But what's the point of greatness without the risk of failure...?* I'll admit that in terms of a specific writing arc, "viewing it as a story with an end is useful", is a true statement. I just really don't like it when the arc is aiming for a pot of gold and ends up in a latrine instead. I'm looking at you, X-Men: The Last Stand. Yeah.
Red Ronin
* Yes, I hope Brett Favre comes back for at least one more year.
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Posted 15 March 2010 - 09:19 AM
I don't think he was saying that there should never be any Batman films after this, just that reality limits things in a way that comics do not. Films need to be more like graphic novels with specific story arcs and a limited scope. In essence he is saying what Bob Kane said, that it be reinvented every so often. This is Nolan's story and take on the character. Whoever gets it next will tell their own Batman story w/o having to try and replicate the previous production. You can make Batman stories forever without them all having to be the same. I wouldn't mind a film of Gotham by Gaslight but since it can't be shoehorned into an arbitrary continuity does that mean it should never be made? Actors age, people tastes change, and what is relevant ebbs and flows and the stories need to be able to do so as well. I'll take a great Batman contained story over trying to pretend that 12 different actors are supposedly the same exact Batman as the one that was in whatever first movie that would be done.
While some can argue that all the Bonds up until Casino Royale were the same, there are many who would argue against it, myself being one of them. The books have a certain continuity that is only in the first few Bond movies but it disappears after that as the books and the movies strayed far from the source material.
While some can argue that all the Bonds up until Casino Royale were the same, there are many who would argue against it, myself being one of them. The books have a certain continuity that is only in the first few Bond movies but it disappears after that as the books and the movies strayed far from the source material.
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Posted 15 March 2010 - 02:44 PM
Ahtman, on 15 March 2010 - 05:19 PM, said:
While some can argue that all the Bonds up until Casino Royale were the same, there are many who would argue against it, myself being one of them.
I was just having this conversation yesterday!
The difference in tone between the Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig movies is huge, but no greater than the jump from Roger Moore to Timothy Dalton. I don't think the audience was expecting the shift back in 1987 though.
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Posted 15 March 2010 - 05:12 PM
The comparison of Bond to Batman is a bit off base because of 1 thing- the Bond films (with exception to Never Say Never Again and the original Casino Royale) all were PRODUCED by the same production company - the Broccoli family/foundation. It's their bankroll/leadership that has kept any consistency- NOT MGM (now Sony- but only theatrical- and Fox handles the back catalog and new home video releases)
Batman, while all under the WB banner died as a franchise w/ the terrible Clooney flop. They realized the different directors/cast etc lacked continuity and the audience responded by the films' dwindling critical and box office draw. The Nolan reboot and script was what brought Batman from the ashes- and if someone takes the initiative to do the same (probably requiring at least a 2-3 film story arc) then WB will back it.
The Brocolli family have Bond rights locked up- they control who gets cast, to the writing- they wanted to reboot Bond after Brosnan's last film didn't meet box office expectations and so they recast and went with the idea (which they always do with a new actor) of rebooting the character- but in this case starting at the beginning- which they never did prior to Craig.
PS: Xmen Last Stand sucked because Brian Singer and his writing team left production of X3 when Brett Ratner couldn't get Superman to work in the dailies for Paramount. Oddly enough- Fox offered Brett - now jobless the job of picking up X3- but without the superb writing / directing team of Brian Singer who did X1 and 2 who WAS SUPPOSED to finish X3- the whole thing was rewritten and rushed. Brett Ratner's previous experience most recently at that time were the Rush Hour films- not exactly superhero plot strength material IMHO.
Batman, while all under the WB banner died as a franchise w/ the terrible Clooney flop. They realized the different directors/cast etc lacked continuity and the audience responded by the films' dwindling critical and box office draw. The Nolan reboot and script was what brought Batman from the ashes- and if someone takes the initiative to do the same (probably requiring at least a 2-3 film story arc) then WB will back it.
The Brocolli family have Bond rights locked up- they control who gets cast, to the writing- they wanted to reboot Bond after Brosnan's last film didn't meet box office expectations and so they recast and went with the idea (which they always do with a new actor) of rebooting the character- but in this case starting at the beginning- which they never did prior to Craig.
PS: Xmen Last Stand sucked because Brian Singer and his writing team left production of X3 when Brett Ratner couldn't get Superman to work in the dailies for Paramount. Oddly enough- Fox offered Brett - now jobless the job of picking up X3- but without the superb writing / directing team of Brian Singer who did X1 and 2 who WAS SUPPOSED to finish X3- the whole thing was rewritten and rushed. Brett Ratner's previous experience most recently at that time were the Rush Hour films- not exactly superhero plot strength material IMHO.
This post has been edited by whippingboy: 15 March 2010 - 05:12 PM
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Posted 18 March 2010 - 10:05 PM
So, you reboot a franchise every ten years in film. Cool, I'm not arguing against that, it could work out wonderfully. My problem is with limiting the franchise to only three flicks per reboot. You shouldn't have to let a franchise sit and molder, stewing about in its own juices for four or five or six years before getting around to thinking about maybe trying to find someone to write a script and stuff.
Damn.
Have some balls. Find a great writer/director combo and lock them into a three picture deal with an option to expand to five if certain success levels are met with the first two. Release a new movie every couple of years, never with more than a three year span in between. Ideally, pre-production would have already begun on the next reboot before the fifth film from the prior series finished post-production.
Give that team the freedom to make a complete story that is told over the length of their own enterprise. if the reality for this version of Batman is that it is all over after three films... if that was the intention of the writer/director from the outset... that's cool. If the studio is forcing their hand though, like the ill-advised notion to introduce Venom in anything earlier than a FIFTH Spidey flick - I'm agin it.
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Damn.
Have some balls. Find a great writer/director combo and lock them into a three picture deal with an option to expand to five if certain success levels are met with the first two. Release a new movie every couple of years, never with more than a three year span in between. Ideally, pre-production would have already begun on the next reboot before the fifth film from the prior series finished post-production.
Give that team the freedom to make a complete story that is told over the length of their own enterprise. if the reality for this version of Batman is that it is all over after three films... if that was the intention of the writer/director from the outset... that's cool. If the studio is forcing their hand though, like the ill-advised notion to introduce Venom in anything earlier than a FIFTH Spidey flick - I'm agin it.
Red Ronin
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Posted 19 March 2010 - 05:56 PM
The only reason Bond has lasted so many films is the EON group made up of the Brocolli/Salzman Production team and I think international rights held by Danjac. They are the drivers of the franchise- NOT a movie distribution house like MGM,Sony,Fox,WB. Even now, Sony does not dictate the next Bond film- EON greenlights the script/actors/etc and looks for a buyer- in recent theatrical cases, Sony. It was they that decided to NOT invite Brosnan back for another film after his last one did so poorly in their eyes.
Since an independent production company CANNOT own all of Batman production as WB has a 1st right of refusal clause to the best of my knoweledge- we're stuck waiting for WB to determine when they want to dump millions into a new franchise- and they don't have someone to carry the torch every 3 years is the problem. Now that Nolan is gone- they need a new talent pool- and WB may not be eager to do the legwork that Eon does to solicit talent to begin anew.
I actually welcome the breaks- I loved Xmen 1 and 2- but it became obvious after 3 - how important that writing/directing team was to that property. I never thought Xmen would ever make a good film- 1&2 proved me wrong- and 3 proved what I expected if anyone made an Xmen film.
There's many directors that would rather create non licensed stories- Fifth Element, Men In Black, PUSH (from last year) and the perhaps the new Repo Men (out this week) are proof you don't need franchises to create great stories of characters that are bigger than life.
Since an independent production company CANNOT own all of Batman production as WB has a 1st right of refusal clause to the best of my knoweledge- we're stuck waiting for WB to determine when they want to dump millions into a new franchise- and they don't have someone to carry the torch every 3 years is the problem. Now that Nolan is gone- they need a new talent pool- and WB may not be eager to do the legwork that Eon does to solicit talent to begin anew.
I actually welcome the breaks- I loved Xmen 1 and 2- but it became obvious after 3 - how important that writing/directing team was to that property. I never thought Xmen would ever make a good film- 1&2 proved me wrong- and 3 proved what I expected if anyone made an Xmen film.
There's many directors that would rather create non licensed stories- Fifth Element, Men In Black, PUSH (from last year) and the perhaps the new Repo Men (out this week) are proof you don't need franchises to create great stories of characters that are bigger than life.
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Posted 20 March 2010 - 09:14 AM
"...we're stuck waiting for WB to determine when they want to dump millions into a new franchise..."
My point is that since Warner Bros knows full well they have the first right to refusal, they should plan ahead to ensure that they something to offer as an alternative. It is rather disappointing that they don't or won't do this. Somehow I doubt that Disney will be so reticent, once the majority of Marvel's heavyweight franchises are free and clear of outstanding contractual obligations.
"...Fifth Element, Men In Black, PUSH..."
Loved all of those!
"...proof you don't need franchises to create great stories of characters that are bigger than life."
True, but you need a good talent pool to make any characters, franchised or not, bigger than life. Studios used to have their ear to the ground, eye on the horizon, beating the bushes, always looking for new talent. It seems they now just wait for someone else to "discover" that talent, then maneuver to out-bid each other for it. In the meantime, those with talent may well just ignore studios altogether, come up with their own financing, create their own production companies and set up their own independent distribution channels.
Red Ronin
My point is that since Warner Bros knows full well they have the first right to refusal, they should plan ahead to ensure that they something to offer as an alternative. It is rather disappointing that they don't or won't do this. Somehow I doubt that Disney will be so reticent, once the majority of Marvel's heavyweight franchises are free and clear of outstanding contractual obligations.
"...Fifth Element, Men In Black, PUSH..."
Loved all of those!
"...proof you don't need franchises to create great stories of characters that are bigger than life."
True, but you need a good talent pool to make any characters, franchised or not, bigger than life. Studios used to have their ear to the ground, eye on the horizon, beating the bushes, always looking for new talent. It seems they now just wait for someone else to "discover" that talent, then maneuver to out-bid each other for it. In the meantime, those with talent may well just ignore studios altogether, come up with their own financing, create their own production companies and set up their own independent distribution channels.
Red Ronin
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Posted 20 March 2010 - 11:25 PM
Red Ronin, on 20 March 2010 - 01:14 PM, said:
My point is that since Warner Bros knows full well they have the first right to refusal, they should plan ahead to ensure that they something to offer as an alternative.
They do. I'm fairly certain WB releases more then one Batman movie every few years.
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Posted 22 March 2010 - 10:26 AM
FYI: GREAT NEWS! Just read an article in Sunday's LA Times that Bryan Singer- Director of Xmen 1 and 2 and Superman Returns is in talks with producers to COME BACK to work on Fox's next 2 Xmen films! an Xmen 4 of sorts- and a prequel to his Xmen 1 that would cover what divided Xavier and Magneto as well as the formation of the school and the early members. They mentioned recasting some characters due to the younger ages.
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Posted 02 April 2010 - 07:18 PM
I think Bamtan Begins Sucked.
I think Dark Knight is probably the best "pound for pound" live action attempt of my favorite character of all time. And My heart smiled seeing it outgross anything Star Wars, LOTR of Speilberg related.
Nolan gets my approval and I trust him. End it now. I dont like his tone, like there is an end to Batman, but Yes id like this current run to End. I Totally agree. "The Nolan collection". End it Kill it now. He is a clear pioneer of the live action Batman, and things that he didnt have the scope to bring to screen, the next guy will. And the sooner they start the new run, the better.
With as many things TDK does right, I can name a million things that are just wrong for Batman in general.
I also think apart of him ending this run is partially because WB has never synced successful DC movies at one time, MArvel ALMOST did it (LoL @ marvel), but Hulk Dropped the ball. I think the next effort from DC will be to establish successful main characters like GL, WW, Flash (OMG why haven't they done a FLash movie yet...wtf)and establish a universe, once those are out of the way, by the time they get to JLA, it probably wont even be necessary to revamp a new solo Batman or Superman run, they will just debut as the Anchors in a JL movie. Obviously recast, duh if you dont know thier origin, and their time away from the big screen individually will make that team movie even stronger.
But now is the time. Hopefully Marvel and Sony wont own the Rights to superman by then.
I think Dark Knight is probably the best "pound for pound" live action attempt of my favorite character of all time. And My heart smiled seeing it outgross anything Star Wars, LOTR of Speilberg related.
Nolan gets my approval and I trust him. End it now. I dont like his tone, like there is an end to Batman, but Yes id like this current run to End. I Totally agree. "The Nolan collection". End it Kill it now. He is a clear pioneer of the live action Batman, and things that he didnt have the scope to bring to screen, the next guy will. And the sooner they start the new run, the better.
With as many things TDK does right, I can name a million things that are just wrong for Batman in general.
I also think apart of him ending this run is partially because WB has never synced successful DC movies at one time, MArvel ALMOST did it (LoL @ marvel), but Hulk Dropped the ball. I think the next effort from DC will be to establish successful main characters like GL, WW, Flash (OMG why haven't they done a FLash movie yet...wtf)and establish a universe, once those are out of the way, by the time they get to JLA, it probably wont even be necessary to revamp a new solo Batman or Superman run, they will just debut as the Anchors in a JL movie. Obviously recast, duh if you dont know thier origin, and their time away from the big screen individually will make that team movie even stronger.
But now is the time. Hopefully Marvel and Sony wont own the Rights to superman by then.
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Posted 03 April 2010 - 11:26 PM
"Obviously recast, duh if you dont know thier origin, and their time away from the big screen individually will make that team movie even stronger."
I'm Red Ronin and I agree wholeheartedly with this statement.
This is the main point of my problem with the "reboot" concept. Ya wanna do it? Fine. Ya wanna have a nice, neat, trilogy box set? Fine. But please, for the love of Jiminy Christmas with Jack Daniels on the side, stop making the first of those three flicks a friggin ORIGIN tale for a character that is already fully ingrained in the pop culture of the WORLD, let alone North America.
Why can't someone just have the balls to drop three new Batman flicks or three new Superman flicks or three new Spider-Man flicks, etc.... With NONE of them being yet another friggin introductory tale of origin? Just make three movies about the same primary comic book character that kick all ass in sight.
Thank you for your time, attention and support.
Red Ronin
I'm Red Ronin and I agree wholeheartedly with this statement.
This is the main point of my problem with the "reboot" concept. Ya wanna do it? Fine. Ya wanna have a nice, neat, trilogy box set? Fine. But please, for the love of Jiminy Christmas with Jack Daniels on the side, stop making the first of those three flicks a friggin ORIGIN tale for a character that is already fully ingrained in the pop culture of the WORLD, let alone North America.
Why can't someone just have the balls to drop three new Batman flicks or three new Superman flicks or three new Spider-Man flicks, etc.... With NONE of them being yet another friggin introductory tale of origin? Just make three movies about the same primary comic book character that kick all ass in sight.
Thank you for your time, attention and support.
Red Ronin
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