The The Dark Knight being the monstrous success that it has been, everyone has just kind of assumed that director Chris Nolan would definitely be back for a third go-around. There have been all sorts of reports from since before TDK even came out that if the story was right and fit the canon, then Nolan would be back. However, Batman-On-Film is reporting that a contact who “works in the business behind the camera” thinks that this may not be such a given:

The death of Heath Ledger in January of 2008 rocked Mr. Nolan hard. So hard that Chris was convinced that TDK was going to be it for him and Batman on film.

The Joker was going to return in BATMAN 3.

“You are correct in reporting that he is developing story ideas with [Jonathan Nolan] and [David Goyer] , but it will be until AT LEAST 2012 before we see the Caped Crusader back [in theaters]. And that is only an EARLY ESTIMATE at best right now. They are even saying it might not be until 2013.”

Basically, the BATMAN film franchise is back to square one. As far as a story or a BATMAN 3, “Right now, there is none,” says our guy.

(Full BOF report here)

I think everyone wants Nolan to return, but I doubt we will hear anything set in stone until after he has wrapped on his latest huge under-taking, Inception. So, if Nolan were to drag his feet committing to another Batman film, would everyone be willing to wait until supposedly 2013?! Or does WB take its chances with another director with the same writing team?

Or, of course, there is the possibility that this is just all a bunch of bullshit.

Ladies and gentlemen, dust off that fedora again, according to Ain’t It Cool Indy 5 is a go:

Following up on Shia LaBeouf’s tease from earlier this week, producer Frank Marshall has confirmed to Empire that INDY 5 is in development. According to Marshall, “We had a great time making the last one and, as Harrison said, we need to make this one soon. We’re not getting any younger.”

So, yes, Harrison, Steven and George are all on board for this fifth movie provided they can settle on a script. Marshall says he hasn’t heard the “cracked” idea Shia recently spoke of, but he did drop this nugget on Twitter a little bit ago: “The story for Indy5 is progressing. It is still in the research phase.”

For those of us who are avid Indiana Jones fans, any news of another film is welcome. I’m curious to see who is working on the script, what the story is and what the macguffin is.

I know a lot of you feel burned by what happened in the last Indiana Jones picture, but I really think you just forgot what it was like to understand that adventure has a name. The film was fun, adventurous, had the requisite number of twists and turns and had a pretty cool artifact. What more could we have asked for?

And it also gave us dominatrix-commie Cate Blanchett. We should get down on our knees and thank these men for the work they do.

According to THR, JJ Abrams and Tom Cruise are officially attached to the fourth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Abrams isn’t attached to specifically direct -he will be a producer instead- and there are questions about Cruise’s actual role in the film. Regardless, though, they seem to be aiming for a 2011 release…

Rumors circulated last year about a Paramount exec suggesting that Cruise would do well to merely produce another sequel and reboot the franchise with a younger star.

Though the ostensible meeting to discuss that scenario was denied by those who would know, the reteaming of Cruise and Abrams is intriguing for what it says — or leaves unanswered — about another installment.

Abrams has recently rebooted a moribund franchise by taking it back to its beginnings with a bunch of young, hot, relatively unknown actors. His “Star Trek,” released six weeks ago, has grossed $335 million worldwide so far.

Though Abrams is not on board to direct the new “Impossible,” he and Cruise could reconceive it in a way that is closer to the ensemble approach of the TV series.

Or they could reconfigure Cruise as Ethan Hunt in a less front-and-center role, as some kind of mentor to the new M:I crew. No writers have been hired to work on the fourth iteration of the franchise.

You can check out the full interview over at The Hollywood Reporter.com!

During my standard morning routine of skimming various news sites I find this article on ksl.com of all places. Pixar/Disney will be filming and animating John Carter of Mars in Utah.

Utah’s new movie incentives bill has landed the state its first big-time motion picture project.

Take the Walt Disney company, combine it with Pixar and Utah scenery, and you’re going to have the movie “John Carter of Mars.” It’s based on a series of books about a Civil War vet transported to the Red Planet.

Now this is great news and KSL only cares about the fact that it will help the local economy. They completely ignore the entire geek aspect. We should all be very excited. And trust a robot who spent months in a trailer in South Eastern Utah there is no better place in the world to substitute for Mars.

Warner Bros. has been kind enough to again provide a Green Lantern: First Flight Q&A session, this time with Casting Director, Andrea Romano, who has brought together veteran and novice voice actors for the main characters of the film. In the interview she talks about her choices for characters and whether or not she had any concerns about casting novice voice actors in main roles.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview, and you can check out the full interview here!

QUESTION:

Michael Madsen is another voiceover novice, but that voice is made for character animation. What prompted you to cast him as Kilowog?

ANDREA ROMANO

Kilowog is an alien Green Lantern, and we really wanted a voice with texture and character and some edges to it; a voice that sounded gruff and big and strong, but also smart. I did not want someone who sounded like a big dopey guy. For years and years, I wanted to hire Michael Madsen and this was just the perfect marriage of role, actor and availability.

It’s a lot about availability, and Michael is a great example. He hadn’t done any animated roles before Green Lantern, and yet when I finally got him in the room, we found out how much he had wanted to do it and, now, how much he loves doing voiceover work. He loves this whole world of animation, and characters like Batman and Superman.

You need an actor who has an enthusiasm for the project, for the role, and for the process – and Michael was there, in the moment, he understood, and wanted to do more takes than we needed. That is very generous and brought some really beautiful texture. I love those raspy, deep, dark voices – that sound that tells you that there’s been some life experience there, whether it’s been smoking cigarettes or drinking booze or just living. I don’t think I’m the only person that responds to that kind of voice with character. That’s a voice that’s lived.

In case you have missed any of the other previous Green Lantern: First Flight Q&A’s, here are the links to them:

• Actor Victor Garber
• Director Lauren Montgomery
• Actress Juliet Landau
• Screenwriter Alan Burnett
• Actor Michael Madsen

There has been talk about a Disney-produced Lone Ranger movie being in the works, and even rumors of a director being attached. Thus far, the only confirmed person attached to the film is Johnny Depp in the role of Tonto. However, according to Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney has its sights on doing another Pirates of the Caribbean sequel first:

That doesn’t mean that those other projects aren’t in development, but Bruckheimer told us that for Disney, the priority is most definitely “Pirates.” “It’s a great franchise for them and for us, too,” he said. “A beloved character and Johnny’s really excited about coming back to Captain Jack. He certainly is interested in Tonto, but Disney’s priority is to get ‘Pirates’ made first. You never know what’s going to happen, but they would like it.”
Source: comingsoon.net

You can check out the full story at the link above.

Personally, the first Pirates movie was fun for me, the second was okay, and I really didn’t like the third one. I don’t see why Disney feels the need to continue a story that has already been wrapped up (despite the fact that this franchise is a money cow), but then again, I don’t know why Disney does a lot of things…

Check out USA Today for the full story and a full size image!

I’m actually pretty happy about this.

Today, we’re going to look at two Blu-ray discs, both of which I think would be perfect gifts for Father’s Day.

Valkyrie is Bryan Singer’s first foray onto the silver screen since the generally panned but, in my opinion, underrated Superman Returns. Here, he tells the story of another superhero, but this time about one who existed in real life. Klauss von Stauffenberg led the most daring plot to assasinate Adolf Hitler before the end of the war from inside the German army. I reviewed the film (and you can read that review here) and feel much the same way about it upon another viewing. The added bonus to this version of the film is the on-location cinematography. When a film has makers that are passionate enough about the authenticity of a true story to shoot it in the real locations, it’s always infinitely fascinating to see it in all of its high definition glory.

There are a plethora of special features on this disc, and though I enjoyed the behind the scenes drama involved in actually securing the actual locations, my favorite was the History Channel style look at the actual events behind the movie.

It was as riveting as Bryan Singer’s film.

The next film on today’s docket is Taken. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Reviews had been mixed and reaction amongst my circle of friends varied drastically. I skipped it in theatres because of this reaction and opted instead to check it out on Blu-ray. Honestly, I wish I would have seen this in the theatres first.

Luc Besson (who’s always been a favorite of mine) crafted a mindless action script into something just a little bit more and it made me extremely happy.

Don’t go into this film expecting to get anything other than what you would have expected to see watching the trailer. This is a film for Liam Neeson to have his daughter kidnapped, and have the audience be entertained by the ultra-violence that ensues when he goes about finding her abductors and getting his sweet, sweet revenge.

I didn’t see the PG-13 version, obviously, but for all its flaws, the unrated version was an entirely satisfying film experience that I would actually be interested in repeating. Sure, some of the acting is bad (never Neeson’s though, that man is top notch) and some of the story parts are cheesy, but the action is assembled with a deft hand and Liam Neeson is, quite simply, an action hero.

Both of these films are perfect Father’s Day gifts for dads.

World War II films have long been a staple in the movie diet of fathers and grandfathers and there haven’t been many better in the last ten years than Valkyrie. I think the same goes for Taken and the genre of mindless action films with heart.

Comingsoon.net recently talked to Harold Ramis over the phone about his new film, Year One. Unsurprisingly, the interview briefly turned to Ghostbusters:

“I wrote the story for the new movie with them, and Dan and I’ve been consulting. We’re just waiting to see a first draft and where we are,” Ramis told us, although he’s very optimistic it will happen with Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson returning as well. “Everyone says they’ll do it, they’ve all said they’ll do it. No one has signed anything yet–we haven’t signed anything either–but there’s the spirit of willingness in the air.”

Last week, Ivan Reitman was asked by MTV about his involvement in the project, but Ramis isn’t so sure Reitman would want to direct it, even though it’s obviously too early to tell. “I don’t think he wants to; I’m not sure I want to (direct). It’s just a lot of open questions. Until we see a script, I don’t think anyone really knows how they feel about it. Everyone’s open to doing it, that’s the main thing, that’s what got it moving forward.”

He did confirm that there will be a younger cast donning the backpacks and outfits with the original cast acting more as mentors to them. “Oh, yeah. There will be new Ghostbusters. It’s not about us running around. We’ll be introducing new people.”

I am trying to stay cautiously optimistic about a Deadpool movie, but Ryan Reynolds seems to know what he is talking about and seems to know the character and how an actual Deadpool movie should go. Hopefully he is very involved in the creative process… I would hate to see this end up like another X-Men movie… It is 20th Century Fox afterall…

Here’s an excerpt from the interview below, you can check out the full thing here!

IGN: Part of it is just getting you to the place where you have the power to just say, “Well, if we don’t do it this way, I’m out.”

REYNOLDS: Yeah, if only! I’ve never been that guy. I’m not a diva. I’ve always been a really collaborative person. And I love film for that reason. A movie is only as good as the sum of its parts. I’m only as good as the grip. You gotta have everybody firing on all cylinders. I’d love to have a working script that the crew reads and is absolutely stoked to make.

IGN: Not to belabor the point, but Deadpool is really the character where, if you’re casting Deadpool, you’re a smart choice for that. It works with much of what you’ve done already – the comedy, the drama.

REYNOLDS: Yeah, all those things. And I have ideas for it that I think are right in tune with the tone of that character. I’m dying to see them on film. Literally, dying. So many of the outlets that follow this character are curious what the elements will be, afraid that you won’t be disfigured, that you won’t wear the mask, and I laugh because there’s no way to do this without having the scarring, having the mask, having it all. And it can be done. It’s a no-brainer in that sense. You gotta have the character of Deadpool. You don’t want to just invent something new and call it Deadpool.

IGN: So what’s next for you? You’ve done The Proposal. Deadpool‘s on the horizon…

REYNOLDS: I have two dramas – one in the summer, one in the fall – and then, hopefully, after that, we’ll get to tackle this crimson f*@ker.