BATMAN news in Variety

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

X3?

 

Fantastic Four?

 

Hellboy?

 

Kid stuff.

 

There's only one comic book movie that matters now. And Variety's got the scoop:

 

This time around, it's about the genesis of Batman: How billionaire Bruce Wayne makes a series of decisions that turn him into the Caped Crusader. Batman will be more realistic and less cartoonish. There are no campy villains. Wayne -- younger, more vulnerable, more human -- will be getting as much attention as his masked alter-ego.

 

"I felt like doing the origins story of the character, which is a story that's never been told before," says Chris Nolan ("Insomnia," "Memento"), who takes the reins of "Batman" from Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher.

 

Humanity and realism, says Nolan, is the crux of the new pic.

 

"The world of Batman is that of grounded reality," he says. Burton's and Schumacher's visions were idiosyncratic and unreal. Nolan says, "Ours will be a recognizable, contemporary reality against which an extraordinary heroic figure arises."

 

Nolan, a self-confessed James Bond fan as a child, is keen on reinventing Wayne as more of a modern-day Bond than hapless playboy -- an action-adventure hero who has mythic qualities and battles the odds to save the world.

 

WB Pictures prexy of production Jeff Robinov says, "There's an emotional component to the film which grounds it and really tells us about Bruce Wayne's struggle."

 

While the new Bruce Wayne is getting emphasis, Nolan, scripter David Goyer and WB have focused on fixing problems that plagued the other pics. For example, Bruce Wayne was too dark and impenetrable and had lost the humorous side found in the comics. The character was basically just dead screen time until Batman appears -- which in the new film may not happen until 40 minutes after it begins.

 

"If we're successful, the thing that will be talked about a lot and on what we worked on the hardest is that the audience will really care about Bruce Wayne and not just Batman," Goyer says. It doesn't matter how much you spend on special effects -- if it feels hollow, no one gives a damn."

 

Nolan starts helming the film next month, and its summer 2005 release will prove whether WB has been able to breathe new life into the Caped Crusader -- and to rescue its biggest franchise outside of "Harry Potter."

 

So the new, untitled "Batman" is getting a complete overhaul, backed by a roughly $150 million budget.

 

Rather than pit Batman against a new set of supervillains, the new film focuses on how billionaire Bruce Wayne becomes the Dark Knight.

 

"It's almost impossible to reinvent Batman," says Robinov. "Chris is reintroducing Batman, and it feels smart and cool and fresh. That's no disrespect to the other movies, but it's really Chris' vision of Batman, and that's what we're supporting."

 

There'll be a new Batmobile, a new arsenal of gadgets, a new Batsuit (sans nipples) as well as a new musical theme.

 

Even Gotham City is getting a facelift. Previous pics made the city seem dark and claustrophobic or garishly stylized. Instead of lensing on sets built inside huge soundstages, the new film will be shot on locations in New York, London and Iceland, assembling pieces of each city to recreate Gotham as a modern-day metropolis.

 

"Gotham will seem like this great city in a contemporary world and will be created through various cities," Nolan says. "We are trying to avoid a villagey feel for Gotham, as it starts to get claustrophobic."

 

Goyer -- who penned the successful "Blade" series for New Line and was a former staffer at "Batman" publisher DC Comics -- adds: "As the Batman films progressed, they became increasingly more cartoonish and more like the campy TV show. We think the audience is tired of that, and it's at odds with the way Batman is depicted in the comicbooks over the last decade. Batman is a classic figure whose story is wrapped in tragedy."

 

Nolan jumps on that theme: "Few superheroes have the sense of purpose and destiny that Batman has. He is driven by an incredible sense of rage, sadness and grief because of the tragedy of his parents' murder at an early age. To me, Batman is the most interesting superhero because he doesn't have any superpowers. He is very human."

 

The casting of Bale, Nolan hopes, will not only give audiences a younger Batman to root for but also a weighty sense of his true character.

 

"Bruce Wayne is strong, and the things that are done to him to make him become Batman are all psychological and character-based," Nolan says. "We needed an actor capable of taking us along on this journey and showing the different psychological layers which inspire Bruce to become Batman."

 

In terms of whether the movie will be too dark, Robinov says the film's more about conflict than darkness: about Batman's internal conflict and what drives him to suit up as a superhero.

 

The director's feeling the pressure to succeed. "It's an awesome responsibility," Nolan says, "because the fan base for Batman is extraordinary, and there's a lot of emotional investment in the character."

[2GOLD 0]

As much as I want to get my hopes up for this project...I can't yet. It sounds amazing, I have faith in the director but I have little to no faith in the studio not messing with it when it's done.

 

I hope it gets made, it won't be X3 but that's just because I'm a Marvel old school fan. I think it sounds wonderful but I want to make sure the studio doesn't swing in and screw it over.

[Downhome 0]

Did any of you guys ever read the review for the script, that I posted a link to in the other Batman thread?

[Guest JMA]

Man, this film sounds like it'll be great. Nolan seems to have a genuine love for the character. I'm confident he'll deliver a fantastic movie.

 

And I haven't read any reviews of the script, DH.

[Downhome 0]

In case anyone wants to read it, here it is. I haven't read it, and I'm not going to, but I wish someone would and post what they think about it, heh.

 

http://www.latinoreview.com/scriptreviews/...ipt-review.html

[Mole 0]

Hmm, looks like the Batman franchise is going to be re-lifted.

 

Nolan is the man.,

[2GOLD 0]

The script and direction looks top notch.

But I just cannot trust WB with Batman after Batman and Robin and the plans they have for Catwoman and Superman.

 

If Nolan can get it by them without them screaming "Where are the toy tie-ins?? What about cleavage, where is the cleavage?? What about the slapstick comedy?? How can we turn this into a McDonald's drink cup Nolan!"

 

It sounds great, the script sounds great but until I know the WB is just being quiet then I have small doubts in my mind.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Gotta agree with everybody else, script & Nolan sound great but knowing the history of WB and their fucking with movies, I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

The script and direction looks top notch.

But I just cannot trust WB with Batman after Batman and Robin and the plans they have for Catwoman and Superman.

 

If Nolan can get it by them without them screaming "Where are the toy tie-ins?? What about cleavage, where is the cleavage?? What about the slapstick comedy?? How can we turn this into a McDonald's drink cup Nolan!"

 

It sounds great, the script sounds great but until I know the WB is just being quiet then I have small doubts in my mind.

Katie Holmes is supplying the cleavage.

 

 

Seriously guys, the WB put together one hell of a team for this one.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Sure they put together a hell of a team but they can also tamper with the movie and screw it up in some way too

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Sure they put together a hell of a team but they can also tamper with the movie and screw it up in some way too

So what's mthe upside of endlessly belaboring the negative? Every report about this film so far has been awesome.

[2GOLD 0]

Sure they put together a hell of a team but they can also tamper with the movie and screw it up in some way too

So what's mthe upside of endlessly belaboring the negative? Every report about this film so far has been awesome.

 

Which none of us is denying.

 

HOWEVER, while we all think and hope this will be an awesome film we don't have faith in the track record of WB.

 

That's all we are saying. It's not negative, negative would be saying "WB WILL screw this up! IT'S DOOMED!" and I don't see anyone saying that.

 

We are just saying it LOOKS like everything is going well but it's not done yet so we are waiting to make sure the WB stays out of it.

 

I'm positive about the project, but I'm not positive about the studio behind it.

[Downhome 0]

I haven't seen a single thing that would give an excuse to be negative about this film, not a single thing. With Batman & Robin almost everyone knew it was going to be horrible when the director, cast, and script was revealed. With Catwoman, most people have already wrote it off because of the outfit and the casting, and with Superman it's the same thing so far.

 

But this new Batman film, I haven't read a single thing, like the others, that gives an excuse to be pissed about it. The director is outstanding, the cast it perfect, the script is said to be perfect, so where does the worry come from?

[Guest HungryJack]

Katie Holmes?

 

 

aww yeah.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Sure they put together a hell of a team but they can also tamper with the movie and screw it up in some way too

So what's mthe upside of endlessly belaboring the negative? Every report about this film so far has been awesome.

 

Which none of us is denying.

 

HOWEVER, while we all think and hope this will be an awesome film we don't have faith in the track record of WB.

 

That's all we are saying. It's not negative, negative would be saying "WB WILL screw this up! IT'S DOOMED!" and I don't see anyone saying that.

 

We are just saying it LOOKS like everything is going well but it's not done yet so we are waiting to make sure the WB stays out of it.

 

I'm positive about the project, but I'm not positive about the studio behind it.

Yeah, that'd come across a whole lot better if every one of the posts in this thread didn't mention how they STILL think WB is going to mess it up.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I'm already marking for a lot of this stuff and as the news keeps coming, I'm growing more anticipated for the movie however knowing the WB, I won't start thinking that everything is perfect and that nothing can go wrong here just because the current news is great and there's no mention of the WB at all.

[Tony149 0]

Nolan is said to have WB wrapped around his finger, and WB, even though they fucked up many times, really want this to work. Unlike Superman, Batman has good people onboard. Every once and a while you gets things done right.

 

I'm looking forward to this in 2005.

[Guest EQ]

I can't wait for this movie, but I'll admit... I'm pissed that it's all coming together for Batman and the Superman movie looks like shit right now

[Guest El Satanico]

Nolan's version can still have toy tie-ins and WB can still do all the typical promotional stuff.

 

I don't think even Nolan's much more reality version will have trouble bringing the crowds in.

 

A postive is that WB has seen lately that comic book films handled seriously can make money.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

According to the source, the actor that seems to now be involved in the cast of BATMAN: INTIMIDATION GAME is Liam Neeson. A star of numerous films over the past two decades, Neeson's best known for playing Oscar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film SCHINDLER'S LIST. Genre fans will also know him as the bearded Jedi Master of young Obi-Wan Kenobi in STAR WARS, EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. He even played a superhero that echoed elements of DC's Dark Knight in Sam Raimi's 1990 film DARKMAN.

 

This hasn't been confirmed and their source doesn't know which role it might be for

 

superherohype.com

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Yesterday we reported to you that a trustworthy source informed us that actor Liam Neeson was either signed to star in the new BATMAN movie or closely circling the project. Today we heard from a second source -- and again, one that is known to us and whom we trust -- who tells us that Neeson is confirmed to be starring in BATMAN: INTIMIDATION GAME.

 

On top of that, this second individual tells us that the part Neeson is playing in Christopher Nolan's BATMAN is a villain!

 

Stay tuned for the possible official announcement. Thanks to 'Webakin', 'The Only Woj' and 'Winston'.

 

superherohype.com