So Batman 3 is definitely full steam ahead. Today, in an interview with the LA Times’ Hero Complex Blog, Chris Nolan talked a little bit about the final installment in his Batman trilogy.

Although we had known for some time that Nolan would return to direct for the sequel to The Dark Knight, we now have confirmation that the film is moving forward. So, what do we know so far?

• The title is “The Dark Knight Rises.”
• July 20th, 2012 is the tentative release date.
• Christopher Nolan will direct a script written by his brother, Jonathan, based on a story by Chris and David S. Goyer.
• The villain is not The Riddler. And although Nolan previously pronounced Two-Face dead, that may have changed since then. Mr. Freeze is not up for consideration. One villain they haven’t ruled out is Superman, but I would be shocked if that was the case. He did hint at the possibility of the villain not being a comic-book character, which is not a bad proposal.
• Tom Hardy has been cast in a lead role, and the filmmakers are looking for a new female lead.
• Nolan said, “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones.” Ok, I respect the lack of information he releases on his upcoming film projects, but that is verging on nonsense.
• The film will be the final in Nolan’s trilogy and will bring the story to a conclusion, something rare and great to see in this era of milking a franchise until it disintegrates. I kind-of hope Bruce Wayne sacrifices himself at the end of the film.

Thoughts? Do you like the name? I’m not a huge fan, but it’s a nice twist on The Dark Knight and “The Dark Knight Returns” by Frank Miller. Villain ideas? Black Mask, Hugo Strange, a non-comic-book character possibly.

Alright, so that’s it for Batman 3, and I know it is enough to get me in the theater come summer 2012. Let’s try to forget about it for a year-and-a-half and enjoy the movie when it comes.

Christopher Nolan is starting to look like some kind of superhero. Or at least the man the superheroes come to when they want their franchise rescued. After bringing Batman roaring back to life in 2005 and then lifting him to previously unheard heights of awesome with The Dark Knight, it looks like Nolan will be playing mentor to yet another famous DC hero.

Afterall, who has had a harder franchise time lately than Superman? Aside from WB’s Smallville, every iteration of the character since 1978′s Superman has been flawed or downright wrong-headed.

It makes sense then to pursue Nolan, who keeps churning out exciting and interesting films in between his comic adaptations. This summer will see the release of Nolan’s compelling Inception, a futuristic mystery thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio. And he is also already at work with David Goyer and Jonathan Nolan on the plot particulars of the third entry in the Batman franchise. This is one busy guy.

Right now, the plan is that Nolan will only shepherd the creative team through development, but I suppose it’s possible that he could in fact step in if his schedule allowed. Nevertheless, having him on board sounds like a very good thing. Although, this won’t be a follow-up to Superman Returns, it hasn’t yet been announced that Singer or Routh are out of the next one. I imagine though, they will eventually disappear and pave the way for yet a full-blown reboot.

The best news to come out of this is that with Nolan heading up two franchises that have been linked for years in the comics, we might be one step closer to eventually seeing that fabled meeting The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel.  Now that would be a team-up worth getting in line for.

Variety is reporting that Leonardo Dicaprio will star in “Inception”, the next film from director Christopher Nolan. Nolan is the director of such films as “The Dark Knight” and “The Prestige”.  Shooting on the film will not begin until later this year and the film is due for a summer 2010 release date. The contract negotiations are reportedly in the final stages.

No details about the movie’s plot have surfaced as of yet. The film however is being described as a “contemporary sci-fi”. I have faith that Nolan knows what he is doing and will suit the role to Leo’s strengths so there is no chance of a miscast. Dicaprio has come a long way in the last decade and his teaming up with one of the best directors of recent times only raises my interest in the movie. This one is on my looking forward to seeing in 2010 list.

What do you think? Do you care about this? Would you rather Nolan move straight to TDK 3 or whatever it will be called?

Stay tuned for more news about Inception here at Atomic Popcorn.

After what seemed to be a possible death at the end of The Dark Knight (sorry, you all have seen it and if you haven’t shame on you!), Two-Face is indeed dead. The boys over at CS have an interview up with Aaron Eckhart which should of been related to his latest film, Towelhead, but it seems its more of a Two-Face questionnaire.

When asked about Two-Face and the possibility of him coming back in the 3rd installment, his response was pretty clear.

Eckhart: No. I asked Chris [Nolan] that question and he goes, “You’re dead” before I could even get the question out of my mouth. “Hey Chris, am I?” “You’re dead!” Alright, cool.

You really can’t be much clearer than that for those folks hoping he would be back. While I understand Nolan’s point of view and vision for something new in the third film, Two-Face’s death felt rushed and almost abrupt.

While a pivotal character in the comic series, it seems we have seen and lost two-face rather quickly. Head on over to Cs and check out the rest of the interview (hit the source link above)

After such a monumental weekend for Chris Nolan, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and crew..what did you think about the film?

The rest of the United States thought it deserved the top spot in 3 different record breaking categories. Did you?

18.5 million on Thursday night alone brought The Dark Knight into 1st place for highest grossing midnight showings record. Second place goes to “Revenge of the Sith”.

66.4 million on Friday put “The Dark Knight” into 1st place for highest grossing opening day. “Spiderman 3″, which was a terrible movie, is now second with a 59.7 million record last year.

155.3 million for the weekend also brought down the mess that was “Spiderman 3″, and put atop the list a deserving film. “The Dark Knight” is a classic movie in its 5th day at the box office!

Last but not least “The Dark Knight” broke another record, do we care? Not really, but the 4,366 theaters it was shown is was a new record also in Hollywood.

With all of this said, do you really care? Do you want to see it again (I saw it twice already)? Did you even see it?

Let us know what you thought. “The Dark Knight” review is here if you haven’t read it yet. Some great responses in those comments also.

With the film coming out in just over two weeks, the net is being flooded with trailers, posters and last minute viral marketing for The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger is already being named an Oscar winner for a performance that is due to go down in history for us Comic fans.

Check it out and let me know what you think! I for one wont be watching it!

[flv:/trailers/darkknight2.flv 500 275]

Let me know what you all think if you see it! The Dark Knight premieres on July 18th at 12:01AM. See you there!

Some more info on the film for those of you who have been under a rock the last few weeks.

Right after taking out Ra’s Al Ghul, and the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA Scarecrow, Batman continues on his war on crime in the streets of Gotham. As he raises the stakes, with the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that haunt the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective as they are successfully rounding up the criminals that plague Gotham City. But they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker. This crazed murdering psychopath makes it a personal agenda to take out the Dark Knight, before he gets to him first. Batman’s struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, “confronting everything he believes” and improving his technology to stop him. |||| Director, Christopher Nolan, was initially unsure of returning for the sequel, but eventually decided upon creating a new interpretation of the Joker, based on the villain’s original appearances in comic book lore. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as had been done for Batman Begins, as well as several other locations in and outside the United States. The director also used an IMAX camera to film four major action sequences, including the Joker’s first appearance. The Batsuit was redesigned, with a cowl allowing Bale to move his head, and a recreation of the Batcycle known as the Batpod will be introduced. The studio undertook a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight in which websites were created so Batman fan collaboration would reveal items such as new screenshots from the film. The film will also be marketed by selling related toys and an animated direct-to-DVD anthology titled Batman: Gotham Knight that is set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight will be released on July 18, 2008 in the United States and on July 25 in the United Kingdom.