MTV has shared a bit more of their interview with Christian Bale that I linked to earlier today; in this installment Bale briefly mentions Tom Hardy (who’s been cast in The Dark Knight Rises in a role that’s yet to be revealed) being “a balls-out actor” and goes into a bit more detail about what it would take to get him back in the cape for a fourth installment.
The answer is simple: Christopher Nolan.
When asked if Rises will be his last outing as Batman, he says, “I think so. That’s up to Chris. That was always what the discussion was. But you know, if Chris says, ‘I see another story here,’ then we’ll be up for it. But in my mind, I’m expecting this will be it.”
I do believe this will be the last Nolan/Bale Batman movie … but it’s nice to know Bale would be up for it if the call came to visit Gotham City once again.
And may I just say how exciting it is to be in the full swing of Batman movie mania again?
I think the odds are solid that Christian Bale is going to win an Academy Award next year for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Fighter. Here’s the trailer:
(Look for it in theaters December 10.)
Bale has been doing lots of press for the film this week, and of course he’s always asked about Batman.
And you’re going to love the things he’s been saying.
Bale says he’s excited to get back in the cape and that “if Chris [Nolan] maintains, then this will be the last one, and we have to up it.”
He also says a little about Nolan’s legendary penchant for secrecy: “Chris will let me know what I need to know when I need to know it. It’s our fourth movie together. I probably know a little bit more than maybe some people out there, but I think most people will be surprised by how little I do know. It just hasn’t been necessary yet. I know he’ll give me plenty of time to prepare for whatever I need to for it, and I’ll discover it. He’s a pretty damn good filmmaker, and I trust that he’s going to come up with something wonderful.”
How do you “up it” from The Dark Knight? If there’s any team out there that can do it, it’s these guys.
And then my good friend and Batman on Film boss Bill “Jett” Ramey found an even better one from E! Online:
Of Nolan, Bale says, “Now he’s somebody with a plan! That guy has it all worked out.”
And when interviewer Ben Lyons asks him about following up a pop culture phenomenon like The Dark Knight, Bale says, “You know, you’ve always got to up it.”
There’s that “up it” phrase again. WHAMMY!
He talks about being excited and about keeping the energy up to avoid the complacency trap that franchises sometimes fall into.
Finally, is this the last time he’ll play Batman? Probably. But not definitely.
“I believe this will be the last time, unless Chris says different, that I’m playing Batman. So absolutely we want to go all out with it and try to figure out a way how to up what we did before.”
I think this will be the last one, too, but Bale is certainly loyal to Nolan, and if Nolan ever did another one, I think Bale would come back, too. He basically just said he would.
But realistically speaking, this is probably the last one from Team Nolan. And even though it’s a long wait until July 20, 2012, enjoy this ride while it lasts … and keep your browser pointed at Batman on Film for all the lastest and greatest news!
Sometimes I have dreams about celebrities or movies or television shows, and I like to share them here.
Some past highlights include the one where The Joker was trying to murder Matt Damon and me, the one where Liv Tyler and I held hands while eating waffles at her New England bed-and-breakfast (at the same link), the one where Lauren Graham and I went on a date to the McDonald’s in Corydon, and another one where Mariah Carey was signing autographs at a music store in the Oxmoor Mall, and she needed to take a break so she sat down beside me on a bench, and I looked at her and said, “Do you want to get out of here?”, and of course she said yes, so I took her hand and we walked around the mall and ate at the McDonald’s in the food court. And there was another where the Highlander himself and my PEACE Fund boss, Adrian Paul, and I were in a Scooby Doo mystery. Adrian and I were real, but everyone else was a cartoon.
Anyway, my love for NBC’s Community knows no bounds, and last night I dreamed I was dating Annie, played by the splendidly hot (and so, so funny) Alison Brie, who also plays Pete’s wife Trudy on Mad Men.
We met at a pajama party on campus and really hit it off, and we made out a little, and everything was going well until I realized she was still in love with Jeff (Joel McHale), who kept showing up at places we’d be, like the park or a nice restaurant.
(Yes! I finally took one of my celebrity dream dates to a better place than McDonald’s! Sorry, Lauren and Mariah!)
Anyway, it became increasingly obvious that I was doomed, but Britta (the gorgeous and hilarious Gillian Jacobs) seemed jealous of Annie and me, so maybe if the dream had gone on long enough, Annie would have left me for Jeff and I could have dated Britta. But I woke up, and that was that.
Troy and Abed never appeared in my dream, which was unfortunate, because being a guest on Troy and Abed in the Morning would have been more fun than slowly losing Alison Brie to Joel McHale.
Have you had any dreams lately you’d like to share? You can now leave a comment if you’re logged in to your Facebook account! I’m very excited about this new feature, and I hope at least two of my six readers will try it out.
