Christopher Nolan is embarking on his final Batman film with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, the director tells Entertainment Weekly. It doesn’t come as a major shock, but it certainly brings a little added weight to the project that’s currently being prepped for a July 2012 release with a million eyeballs already on it.
To begin, here’s what Nolan had to say when EW asked if he’s a bit put off by going back to Batman after scoring with an original film like INCEPTION: “I feel very glad that I’m doing another Batman film. I think it would have been daunting to sit down and write an original script after Inception. I love working within the realm and rules of our Batman world. It’s kind of nice to have someplace to go that I’m super-excited about.”
Nolan also notes that, thanks to INCEPTION’s massive success, he can pretty much do whatever the f*ck he wants with THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. (As if he couldn’t already.) Here’s where he drops the bomb: “I must say that I’m glad — I’m very, very glad — to be embarking on the last chapter of our Batman saga without any sense of obligation or duty to the studio. They did very well with Inception. So I’m able to go into finishing our story in a very enthusiastic way.”
The man is very glad… Naturally, this doesn’t mean there won’t be any more Batman films after the third chapter of Nolan’s vision. Frankly, it would be mind-blowing if the studio didn’t continue with this name-brand, as it’s a sure thing no matter who’s in charge. In a recent interview, Christian Bale also said this would be his final time donning the cape, meaning they’d both be out. Perhaps it’ll be time to reboot it once again after Nolan and Bale leave the nest – er – cave?