Film News: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is Christopher Nolan’s Third Batman Film; Villain Isn’t The Riddler

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CHICAGO – “The Dark Knight” and “Batman Begins” mastermind Christopher Nolan made big Batman news today with two items that can now be confirmed: “The Dark Knight Rises” is the name of his third Batman film and The Riddler won’t be his villain in it.

Since “The Dark Knight,” which hit theaters in July 2008 on a production budget of $185 million and captured an eye-popping $1 billion in global box-office receipts, fans have been eagerly awaiting today’s news so they can be pumped up all over again around yet another Nolan creation.

“Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises” mastermind Christopher Nolan.
Image credit: Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex

While the title “The Dark Knight Rises” is less than sexy and is wordy, it’s doing two very important things. First, it’s borrowing the power of the already established “The Dark Knight” name. Second, it’s cluing you in on its focus: Batman.

Though it’s easy to think “The Dark Knight” is named with Batman (played by Christian Bale) as its central force, Nolan said today that the title is just as much about the fall of Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) from Gotham’s “white knight” into a blood-thirsty, two-faced monster.

As for the exclusion of The Riddler (also known as the green-suited Edward Nigma) as the villain in “The Dark Knight Rises,” that decision goes against common industry expectations. But that’s OK: Nolan is the master of surprise and he’ll certainly choose a good man or woman with the perfect bad plan. We know the villain isn’t Mr. Freeze, too.

So far, we do know that “The Dark Knight Rises” is again directed and written (story and screenplay) by Christopher Nolan. Additional writing credits for the new film include David S. Goyer (story), Bob Kane (characters) and Jonathan Nolan (screenplay; Christopher Nolan’s brother).

We also know that Christian Bale returns as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Morgan Freeman returns as Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman returns as Jim Gordon and Michael Caine returns as Alfred. Tom Hardy is currently being rumored to play Det. Harvey Bullock in “The Dark Knight Rises”. Cinematographer Wally Pfister returns, too, and there’s rumored involvement of Hans Zimmer for original music.

Nolan also says he’s not going to follow today’s 3D craze (i.e. the new “Saw 3D” and “Jackass 3D”) with the new film and he’ll be using IMAX and high-definition cameras instead. But because Nolan did that with “The Dark Knight,” that’s not enough. Fans will expect something new and more.

“The Dark Knight Rises,” which is currently in pre-production with a scheduled release date of July 20, 2012, follows “Batman Begins” (2005) and “The Dark Knight” (2008). Stay tuned to HollywoodChicago.com for more details about “The Dark Knight Rises” as they emerge.

By ADAM FENDELMAN Editor-in-Chief/Publisher HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]