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Despite Warner Bros publicly slamming the hard-to-believe rumours, stating that the film's not even close to beginning its casting phase, Sun reporter Gordon Smart is still claiming there's truth to his story.
There's one thing going for Smart's story - he did announce the casting of Daniel Craig as the new James Bond a wee bit before anyone else did.
"Everyone had a crack at us when we published that one," Smart tells The Guardian. "I was almost laughed out of conference that day, but it turned out to be spot on. I wish I had had a bet on it."
Is it possible his Batman story has an ounce of truth to it?
FUCK no! but power to the man for standing by his story.
It was touch and go for a day or so, but according to estimates, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) has won the weekend, narrowly defeating the third installment of the "Mummy" franchise, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal) starring Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello.
Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark Knight earned an estimated $75.6 million from 4,366 theaters in its second weekend, surpassing Shrek 2's $72.2 million for biggest second weekend ever. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins follow-up has reached $314.2 million in just 10 days, another record. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest held the previous record in the amount of days it took to cross the $300 million mark - it needed 16 days to do so. On Monday, The Dark Knight will surpass Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to become the biggest movie of 2008 domestically. It is already up to #23 on the all-time domestic blockbuster list and has a good shot at surpassing Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope's $460.998 million (not counting inflation) to become the second-biggest domestic earner of all-time, trailing only Titanic's $600.788 million. The Dark Knight, budgeted at $185 million, stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.
million to top Spider-Man 3 for best opening weekend at the box office. The weekend estimates show Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins follow-up more than $4 million ahead of the $151.1 million first weekend for Spider-Man 3 in May of 2007. The Dark Knight has also broken Spider-Man 3's record ($4.7 million) for best debut in IMAX theaters with $6.2 million in 94 locations. Budgeted at $180 million, the film opened in a record 4,366 theaters nationwide and broke the new single and opening day records on Friday with $67.85 million. Spider-Man 3 previously held those records with $59.8 million. Internationally, The Dark Knight added $40 million in 20 countries where it began opening Wednesday. The Dark Knight stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.
anyway, since we all know how inexorable the killer clown is – was for Heath Ledger to return as The Joker in one more ‘’Batman’’ flick – after this month’s “The Dark Knight”. It goes without saying that Ledger won’t be back – and according to series’ star Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon), neither will the purple-jacketed villain.
The actor – who sounds about as pleased as piss to be back playing Gordon in the ‘’Batman Begins’’ sequel, and I say that acerbically - tells MovieWeb that The Riddler could be the Rogue Batman faces in sequel number two.
Be interesting to see Chris Nolan’s interpretation of that character – to many, The Ridller’s a zany nimrod that Jim Carrey played in ‘’Batman Forever’’. He was about as threatening as a sprayed fly. No doubt the new ‘Riddler’ will still wear some kind of question-marked costume, but he’ll be a tad more menacing than Ace Ventura’s incarnation. Maybe Paul Bettany? Hey… what about Johnny Depp? Heck, I’ll do it.. if the costume doesn’t ride up my ass!
I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but this time its affecting one of our most anticipated movies - The Dark Knight. Reports have started to spread on the internet of a particular scene, involving Heath Ledger as The Joker, being cut from the film due to Ledger's tragic death in January. While details are sketchy, this seems to have all stemmed from a Portuguese review of The Dark Knight written a few days ago (that we are not going to link to) - one that I hardly believe. It's a really rough review and doesn't seem all that legit, which is why I'm not too sure this entire rumor is real to begin with. However, whatever the case may be it's worth bring up just in case.
As Cinema Blend reports, the "scene involves Ledger's Joker character pretending to be dead and being pictured in a body bag. Apparently the aftershocks of Ledger's unfortunate death are such that many in the screening reacted rather badly to this moment and now execs are considering excising the scene altogether." I completely agree with Stuart Wood - this is an atrocity of the utmost proportions and (despite Where the Wild Things Are and I Am Legend) not something I would expect Warner Brothers to do!
If this turns out to be true, it would be disastrous decision on the part of Warner Brothers. It's entirely unnecessary to cut scenes from a movie just because of a few overly sensitive screening attendees. This is all part of why I don't believe the screening process works that well anyway! The countless fans and supporters of The Dark Knight will understand the true vision of the film and the importance of every last scene that Christopher Nolan put in. Apparently the early screening reports also claim that The Dark Knight is a more superior film than Batman Begins and that Ledger's role is as profound (and even Oscar worthy) as originally thought. Don't risk screwing that up Warner Brothers!
It seems one of the biggest problems in Hollywood nowadays is studios taking control of a movie and changing it to their liking, despite what the original filmmaker had created. This is why there is a small movement in support of "keeping true to the vision" of the filmmaker. It's art - the studios should know what they're getting into when they hire certain screenwriters and directors. If you get Spike Jonze, you're going to get a Spike Jonze movie. If you get Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger, you're going to get a brilliant movie. And don't change The Dark Knight just because of some emotional complainers! This is Christopher Nolan's true vision!
Whether this is true or not, I hope that the impact these articles have is enough to convince Warner Brothers to not even try. Like we did with both Where the Wild Things Are and I Am Legend before, its time we get all of your support. Voice your opinion below if you're in support of keeping the film the way it is!
Source: FirstShowing
