The rumours surrounding the next Batman film are coming in at pace, and once more, we figured it best to round up the latest on The Dark Knight Rises all in one place. Right here, in fact…
Not for the first time, the collective mind of the Internet appears to be filling in some of the gaps where the direction of The Dark Knight Rises is concerned. Christopher Nolan continues to play everything very close to his chest, in his customary fashion, yet details may start seeping through in the next couple of weeks. For reports are that his screenplay is done and dusted, and heading over to Warner Bros today. That news was broken by Variety's David S Cohen, on his Twitter account.
The shoot itself is still set to begin in the spring, meanwhile, and Variety is reporting that the production will be returning to the UK, too. Bedfordshire's Cardington Hangars will be used for some of the shoots of The Dark Knight Rises, as they were for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Much of the rest of the film is pencilled in for filming in Chicago, which has been Nolan's Gotham City for his first two Batman adventures. It won't, as had been reported, be shooting in New Orleans, we understand.
Next? Last week we had the rumours that Heath Ledger would be digitally inserted into The Dark Knight Rises, something that was ruled out by Nolan and producer Emma Thomas. There has been continual chatter, too, that Aaron Eckhart might make a return as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, but that too has now been nixed. Eckhart confirmed to MTV that he had asked Nolan if he would be in The Dark Knight Rises, and Nolan had simply replied, "No". Which should clear that up.
Finally, story rumour of the day is an old one resurfacing: namely that Batman: Prey will form the basis for The Dark Knight Rises' narrative. This first bubbled up a few weeks back, and would point towards the villain of the film being Dr Hugo Strange. That's the current speculation, too, as to the role that Tom Hardy will be playing in the next film.
For now, as usual, we prescribe variable levels of salt, depending on which rumour you're following at the time. And expect some more solid details of the film to start emerging early next year.
David S Cohen
Variety
MTV
AICN
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