The Dark Knight

[Kal]

[RegularKarate]

Nice fake, that's been out for months, but there are some really blurry shitty shots of Ledger on the net now.

[Pozer]

found a real/non blurry one:

[polkablues]

Supposedly from a makeup test.  Also supposedly Ledger.  Possibly a stand-in.  Definitely ripping off "The Crow" a little.

[MacGuffin]

BREAKING: Cinematical Has Confirmed -- The Crow Joker Is Phony

A well-placed source who should know -- they absolutely won't allow me to say more -- has just gotten back to me after doing some checking, and they are telling me that the make-up test photo of Heath Ledger from this morning -- the one that AICN is standing behind as the real deal -- is, in fact, a complete "fake." There was no ambiguity there. This confirms my original suspicion, given that the photo looks nothing like Heath Ledger and we all know that nothing is as highly-guarded as the look of a character like this in a film like The Dark Knight. At this point, I'm starting to think that Warner Bros. is sitting around laughing at us for giving them all kinds of free publicity, confident in the knowledge that we actually haven't seen anything yet. Either way, Heath Ledger isn't going to be able to go out for a hamburger from now on without people following him around, hoping to get a snap of him with a tinge of green in his hair.

[Pozer]

isnt that Vince Fro?

[cron]

that's obviously His Infernal Majesty's lead singer Ville Valo.
not even worth posting an image

[MacGuffin]

The Pope of Gotham Village
Roberts joins Dark Knight cast.

There's a new gangster in Gotham City and his name is Eric Roberts. The veteran actor -- and brother of Julia -- has reportedly joined the cast of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins that is now filming in Chicago.

According to the L.A. Daily News, Roberts will "play a Mafia kingpin" and is expected to join the film in June. After beginning his career with films such as The Pope of Greenwich Village and Star 80, Roberts has found steadier success these days on TV with roles on series such as Heroes and The L Word.

Roberts is no stranger to gangster roles, having portrayed several of them during his long career in films such as The Specialist and Heaven's Prisoners. He's also familiar with genre fare, having appeared in Doctor Who and D.O.A.: Dead or Alive, as well as lending his voice to the Justice League cartoon.

Batman-on-Film.com suspects that Roberts may play Gotham crimelord Sal Maroni, the gangster infamous for scarring D.A. Harvey Dent and turning him into Two-Face.

In other Bat-news, screenwriter David Goyer, who hatched the plot for The Dark Knight along with director Nolan, advised MTV.com that the sequel will further explore ideas planted at the end of the first film.

"The last scene of Batman Begins tells you where things are going to go in the next movie. That was very intentional. We paved the way. For people interested in where the next movie is going to go, watch that scene again," said Goyer, adding, "Escalation [is the theme of TDK]. Escalation is certainly [the biggest theme]."

[MacGuffin]

Christian Bale on The Dark Knight
Source: SuperHero Hype!

Since taking on the mantle of Bruce Wayne and Batman for the 2005 summer blockbuster Batman Begins, Christian Bale has become one of the more respected actors to take on the role, but before starting work on its sequel, The Dark Knight, Bale went to work with German filmmaker Werner Herzog on his latest dramatic film Rescue Dawn. Bale took a break from shooting The Dark Knight to talk to press about the Herzog film, but he took some time to answer a few questions from ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! about the sequel-in-progress.

Superhero Hype!: You seem like an actor who is always looking to do something new, so how hard is it for you to go back and play Batman, a character you've already done? Is there something new you feel you can bring to him?
Christian Bale: You got to see with the other versions, it didn't really keep it going, but Chris Nolan who I'm working with for the third time now, he ain't going to be making a movie if he's not going to be doin' something very different with it which he's achieved in spades. I'm actually liking very much the idea, because I haven't reprised a role before, so I know it already and obviously there'll be progress. We've got a great cast as well. Chris and me work very well together, so I know we'll be fighting an awful lot to add to it. The last thing it is is treading water. Now the people support us completely too so we have all that extra support behind us, to just kind of let rip.

SHH: As an actor, how important is it to have a franchise character that you can go back to which allows you to do things like this movie?
Bale: Well, I've been doing things like this movie anyway. It's not like if I didn't have the franchise, I'd say, "No I can't make Rescue Dawn." What it does allow though is that something like "Rescue Dawn" you know Werner and me have been talking about making it for two and a half years, but I doubt it's a huge coincidence that we got the finance pretty quick after I'd been in "Batman." So it does mean that I can do these things in a much easier fashion verses a number of years back where like "American Psycho 2," it took two years, just because they didn't want me. Certainly it helps with that, but in and of itself, I really like what Chris has done and working with him on "Batman." I tell you, it's the only time in my life that I've been actually planning the future, because usually you know what you're doing for the next two months if you're lucky. After that, you have no idea. I've gone times when I've really needed to work, and there was no work coming in for me. I didn't work for a year and a half or something. I guess having a franchise is the only time you can actually kind of sit back and go, "It's alright. It's going to be okay." Even if nothing else happens, I know that that's going to come along at some point. You don't even know that actually because they could dump me in a second. But, it's a good bit.

SHH: Can you talk about your training for the upcoming film?
Bale: There are new things that I'm having to train for, but again just in the same way that we kind of were untested before, they know I know my right from my left now. They know when I walk, my arm swings the right way and everything. There's a little bit more confidence in me about my ability to pick things up quickly. We did start awhile back which I believe is a mystery for what we are training for.

SHH: How about working with Heath as The Joker?
Bale: Absolutely. He's a great choice for it. I like him personally, but he's got a real craving for playing that role. I think he's going to do something really very different. We worked together briefly in the Todd Haynes movie.

[MacGuffin]

http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/

[bonanzataz]

whoa, a fucking graphic...


am i the only one who thinks these batman movies are total bullshit? honestly, i could care less. whereas burton's movies gave the series a darker tone (as opposed to the tv show), certain humor and camp elements still remained, and i could both laugh at and be in awe of the films. the chris nolan movie just robbed batman of all the fun. to me, it was just just a hollow rehash of characters that i've seen before and liked better. and i don't understand why chris nolan is just pimping himself out to the studios to make fucking batman movies. this is the man who made memento! that movie was so creative and different, a real breath of fresh air, and then he goes out to make $100 million "reimaginings."

wait, nevermind, i haven't seen the prestige yet. i don't know if i should bash nolan or not.

yeah, you know what, that movie has bowie, i'm sure it's good, i don't even need to see it. i guess it's just politics, the way that burton made scissorhands in between the first two batman movies. pet projects in between studio bullshit.

still though, i don't like boring batman movies and i don't care whether or not i see the new one when it comes out.

[Stefen]

I think the Nolan Batman is the best one. It's ALMOST perfect. It builds up with villain, after villain, and each one more dangerous than the last, but not in a cheesy way, in a realistic way.

This is the movie I was most looking forward to, but now that that ugly, no talent disgrace of a tabloid/press seeker Maggie Gylenwhatever is in it I'm pissed. You all got those actors that you just can't stand. She's mine.

[Pozer]

am i the only one who thinks these batman movies are total bullshit?

whoa, a fucking graphic statement...

[Gold Trumpet]

I'm kinda with Taz. I use to love the Nolan series, but multiple viewings have been tough and I'm now reminsciencing for what Burton did with the first one. Not the second because that was the beginning of the silly.

The problem with the Nolan series is that that the storytelling tries to do too much. Multiple stories were covered in Batman Begins. Nolan tried to connect the story with Bruce Wayne's beginnings to his later struggles as Batman that involved subplots and multiple villians. The storytelling had to become explanatory to cover all bases. Because Nolan is adapting a comic book, he is adapting a lot of story. Other filmmakers have felt beholden to the comic book legacy to do the same. While I have not seen Spiderman 3, the trailer itself is very explanatory.

Burton, in good ignorance, showed little regard for comic book legacy. He adapted Batman to the film world to operate on the levels that were best for film. Batman is a nightmare conveyed and The Joker is societal madness. The only subplot is a romance with Kim Basinger. The film works on the strengths of Nicholson and Keaton in their roles.

[bonanzataz]

am i the only one who thinks these batman movies are total bullshit?

whoa, a fucking graphic statement...

yeah, backed with statements and opinions, not just a photoshopped version of some stupid familiar logo. movies are just brand names now.