Most American TV viewers remember June 10th, 2007.
On this night, at around 9:58 pm, HBO’s critically acclaimed series “The Sopranos” arrived at its intentionally ambiguous conclusion, with a smash cut to black and a silent credits reel. Fans felt shortchanged, knowing that creator David Chase would never disclose the details of the fate of America’s favorite mafia greaseball.
I remember July 18th, 2008. Who doesn’t? I know I wasn’t the only one sitting in a movie theater for a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight.” At around 2:26 am, the film closed with our Dark Knight speeding off into the distant light of Gotham City, self-held accountable for several murders he did not commit, as Lt. Gordon proclaims, “He’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.” At that point, everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY in the theater had goosebumps.
Christopher Nolan, unlike David Chase, is not content leaving us with our own imaginations. He recently confirmed that he will be helming production of the third and final installment of his Batman series, and seems just as excited as the rest of America.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nolan gave us some insight as to his approach to the sequel: “Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story . . . I’m very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters. My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these things don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we’re telling. And it hearkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That’s what we do.”
Take that David Chase! We’re getting some closure! Seriously though, if an artist creates a cult-inspiring body of work like “The Sopranos” or “The Dark Knight” (Tony Soprano was named #4 on Entertainment Weekly’s List of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years, and do you remember how many unoriginal trick-or-treaters dressed like the Joker for Halloween 2008?), he/she makes an unspoken promise for an ending. And that’s exactly what master storyteller Christopher Nolan is making good on.
Christopher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan Nolan, have collaborated on some of Nolan’s greatest works, including “Memento,” “The Prestige,” and of course, “The Dark Knight.” Due to Christopher’s pressing schedule with his upcoming sci-fi thriller “Inception,” Jonathan has taken screenwriting wheel for the new Batman sequel. Christopher Nolan stated in the aforementioned interview: “My brother is writing a script for me and we’ll wait to see how it turns out…he’s struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be.”
Epic indeed. Since the release of “The Dark Knight,” fans have been clogging up film blogs with information and speculation surrounding the sequel. However, some of the rumors suggesting that Mr. Freeze will be Batman’s next villain have been silenced by Nolan, who has repeatedly made clear, “It won’t be Mr. Freeze.”
Another rumor regarding a major casting decision has been proven false as well. Though it has been claimed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt (famous for his leading role in “500 Days of Summer” and featured in Nolan’s upcoming “Inception”) will be portraying the Riddler in the sequel, Levitt’s own press rep says otherwise: “Joseph has not been approached about the next Batman movie. Just wishful thinking.”
This past April, Warner Bros. announced a release date of July 20, 2012. Filming will begin in March 2011.
Until July 2012, wait for buzz, posters, and trailers to be posted on the Dive Blog. For now, you can watch this great interrogation scene from “The Dark Knight” and revel in the excitement that Christopher Nolan’s words are likely to stir in anybody anticipating the upcoming project: “It’s very exciting, we have a fantastic story, and we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.”
My mind is already bracing itself for implosion.
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
