Confirmed Cast to date: Christian Bale
Michael Caine
Liam Neeson
Morgan Freeman
Gary Oldman
Ken Watanabe
Katie Holmes
Cillian Murphy
Tom Wilkinson
Rutger Hauer
Behind the camera:
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Plot:
The beginning of the Dark Knight saga. Bruce Wayne (Batman) must do battle with the wicked Ra's Al Ghul, and the infamous Dr. Jonathan Crane, AKA The Scarecrow. The Caped Crusader tracks Al Ghul to the city of London where he must confront the criminal mastermind.
UPDATE:
MovieHeadlines.net (http://www.movieheadlines.net) and Coming Soon! (http://www.comingsoon.net) both reported that John Cusack will possibly be in the next Batman
film.
From Thomas Chau at Cinema Confidential:
I'm not sure if this is old or new news - but thought id tell you anyway. I went to the Lakers Game in Dallas on Wednesday (go go go) and John Cusack (Americas Sweethearts) was there. I managed to ask him a few things interesting near the end. Mostly I asked about musical tastes but then
I got some news out of him about his new projects. He said he's doing another Grosse Pointe Blank but the good news....he's going to be in the next BATMAN movie.
He 'joked/said he's going to get killed if he says much - and said its not confirmed or something but he's negotiating to play a central character. He didn't tell me if it was Batman himself - I doubt it. Unless someone knows something
I don't know. I presume he was referring to the year one 'Batman' project though!
UPDATE:
Producer Michael Uslan on the "Batman: Year One" project recently spoke at the Mega-Con Convention going on in Orlando, Florida, and talked about the Batman sequels, and where "Year One" will be headed.
"Things eventually get to the point where the tail begins to wag the dog," Uslan commented on the three sequels that followed Tim Burton's first. "Too much emphasis is on toys and merchandising, and not enough on story and characters and what your original mission is. It takes a kick in the butt to get back on track and back on statement and back on mission. I think as a result of the progression of the Batman movies, the next one (Batman: Year One) is going to be absolutely, positively spectacular. And it's going to be the true Batman in all senses of the word. And I'm very, very, very much looking forward to that."
"In the comic books, every decade of Batman was starkly different. The interpretations were completely different. To me, the first Batman was the Batman from 1939. Tim's second Batman movie was pretty much the Batman comics of the 1990s, with a dark, cold, almost vampiric Batman. The third Batman movie was very much the Batman comics of the mid-40s to early-50s. Batman and Robin, punning their way through crime against grotesque villains on giant typewriters and lots of action. That was that era. The last one was the Batman era of the 1960s. As much as I don't like that era of Batman, there are an awful lot of people who grew up with that show and those comics at that time, to whom that is the only really valid interpretation of Batman that they've ever known.
"So my point is, alright now, they've been addressed. So now let's go back to the early-40s Batman, or the mid-70s Batman, or the late-80s Batman, with 'Batman: Year One' and Frank Miller's 'Dark Knight Returns.' We still have four or five wonderful comic book interpretations of Batman that have not yet been translated onto the screen."
UPDATE:
According to Ain't it Cool News (http://www.aintitcool.com), producer Michael Uslan on the "Batman: Year One" project recently spoke at Monmouth University and talked about the Batman sequels, and where "Year One" will be headed.
"Things eventually get to the point where the tail begins to wag the dog," Uslan commented on the three sequels that followed Tim Burton's first. "Too much emphasis is on toys and merchandising, and not enough on story and characters and what your original mission is. It takes a kick in the butt to get back on track and back on statement and back on mission. I think as a result of the progression of the Batman movies, the next one (Batman: Year One) is going to be absolutely, positively spectacular. And it's going to be the true Batman in all senses of the word. And I'm very, very, very much looking forward to that."
"In the comic books, every decade of Batman was starkly different. The interpretations were completely different. To me, the first Batman was the Batman from 1939. Tim's second Batman movie was pretty much the Batman comics of the 1990s, with a dark, cold, almost vampiric Batman. The third Batman movie was very much the Batman comics of the mid-40s to early-50s. Batman and Robin, punning their way through crime against grotesque villains on giant typewriters and lots of action. That was that era. The last one was the Batman era of the 1960s. As much as I don't like that era of Batman, there are an awful lot of people who grew up with that show and those comics at that time, to whom that is the only really valid interpretation of Batman that they've ever known.
"So my point is, alright now, they've been addressed. So now let's go back to the early-40s Batman, or the mid-70s Batman, or the late-80s Batman, with 'Batman: Year One' and Frank Miller's 'Dark Knight Returns.' We still have four or five wonderful comic book interpretations of Batman that have not yet been translated onto the screen."
(From Cinema Confidential):
A report on Ain't it Cool News (http://www.aintitcool.com) states that "Batman: Year One" comic series creator Frank Miller was at the Mega-Con 2002 convention in Orlando, Florida, where Frank Miller made a surprise appearance.
The scooper at the site tried scoring some information regarding the long-awaited "Batman: Year One" project, which is anticipated to be the next Batman film from Warner Bros. The project will be directed by Darren Aronofsky ("Requiem for a Dream") and will be co-written by Miller and Aronofsky. Miller revealed, "The film will be dark and very noir like, much more detailed and on a smaller scale than the other films. It will focus more on Batman than (Commissioner) Gordon," which is a departure from the comics. Miller went on to say that the script is in its third draft so a final one has not been done yet.
UPDATE:
Clooney To Return As Batman?
30 April 2001
George Clooney is expected to fulfill a deal with Warner Bros. to portray Batman a second time, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported today. The newspaper quoted Darren Aronofsky, who has been tapped to direct the upcoming Batman: Year One, as saying: "George Clooney is going to be back as Batman in the movie. There are no major casting changes." Clooney was critical of his own performance as Batman in 1997's Batman and Robin, joining many reviewers in rapping the movie, which fell far short of studio expectations at the box office.
UPDATE:
From Greg's Upcoming Movies at Yahoo:
7/06/02 - It appears that Darren Aronofsky's ties with WB may be waning, with dual news from a recent "Variety" article about their schedule for the next few years that a) they have placed The Fountain on the backburner and b) "Batman: Year One", although still a possibility, will probably not be the movie they go with in 2004. That title is likely to be the "Batman and Superman" project that Wolfgang Petersen is attached to direct. So, given these two roadblocks, will Aronofsky just move onto other projects?
7/09/02 - "Variety" reports that the title of that project is actually "Batman Vs. Superman", with filming now scheduled to start in early 2003 to make that 2004 release. Expect some casting news sometime in the next month.
UPDATE:
Sources are saying that these two movies (Batman Year One and Batman Vs. Superman) are still two different movies. But,
we can still expect that Year One will be put on the backburner and most likely not appear until 2004.
UPDATE:
11/2/02: According to Yahoo Movies, the film is "In Development". Stay tuned for more info.
UPDATE:
WB is aiming for this to probably be their next big superhero project after Superman, which suggests a 2005 or 2006 release.
UPDATE:
Aronofsky confirmed that he and Frank Miller are working on Year One in active development at WB.
UPDATE:
Due to Christopher Nolan's (who's signed on to work on the Batman project) next project which is taking precedence over this one, who knows when this one will actually happen. Keep watching for updates.
UPDATE:
There is no word about what the official production start date might be, but it's possible that it could be as early as sometime in the fall of 2003 or the spring of 2004.
UPDATE:
CHRISTIAN BALE CAST AS BRUCE WAYNE IN WARNER BROS. PICTURES' UPCOMING BATMAN MOVIE DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
BURBANK, CA, 11 September 2003 – Christian Bale has been cast in the starring role of Bruce Wayne in Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming Batman movie, to be directed by Christopher Nolan and produced by Emma Thomas. The announcement was made today by Jeff Robinov, President of production for Warner Bros. Pictures.
Principal photography on the film is expected to begin in early 2004. The movie is written by David Goyer and Nolan, and will follow the early career of The Dark Knight.
Said Nolan, "What I see in Christian is the ultimate embodiment of Bruce Wayne. He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for."
Robinov stated, "Now that we've found the best person to play Batman, we are really looking forward to moving ahead with the rest of our casting, and are excited about the exceptional group we are assembling."
UPDATE:
Batman Casting Rumors
Source: Aint it Cool News
The producers are looking at a few high level actors for a few of the supporting roles. It looks like they are focused on Morgan Freeman for a "Dr./Scientist" role. What this role is, I don't know for sure...but it's possibly one of the main villian roles. And get this.....they are considering Anthony Hopkins for "Alfred".
