News regarding Steven Spielberg’s Robopocalypse wasn’t the only “mega director” story to hit last night, as we also learned that Christopher Nolan is in talks to direct the sci-fi film Interstellar as his next project.  There’s a link between the two filmmakers, as Nolan’s brother Jonathan Nolan originally wrote the Interstellar script years ago for Spielberg to direct.  Details on the film are understandably under wraps, but the story is inspired by the work of physicist Kip Thorne and involves a group of explorers traveling through a wormhole, where they encounter time travel and alternate dimensions.

Now a few more details have surfaced regarding Interstellar, chief of which is that Christopher Nolan will be writing the script himself in order to incorporate an original idea of his own.  Hit the jump for more details.

“The choice has to be made: Is Batman going to return?”  The choice was always clear externally after The Dark Knight earned a billion dollars.  The decision is more difficult for Bruce Wayne in the universe of the movies, as Christian Bale points out in a new 13-minute TV special for The Dark Knight Rises.  The featurette covers a lot of ground, enough to prepare you for all 2 hours and 45 minutes of the movie.  In addition to Bale, they talk to co-stars Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as well director Christopher Nolan and other behind-the-scenes crew members.

We have published a lot on The Dark Knight Rises, but this is the single most comprehensive source of information you’re likely to see before the release on July 20.  This is not for those who want to go in fresh, but for the rest of you, hit the jump to watch.

Back in March, we learned that Christopher Nolan’s longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister would be making his feature directorial debut on an untitled thriller for Alcon Entertainment.  In not exactly surprising news, it was announced today that Nolan and his producing partner/wife Emma Thomas will be executive producing Pfister’s film.  Pfister has served as cinematographer on all of Nolan’s films except Following and he won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his stellar work on Inception.  His non-Nolan features include Moneyball and The Italian Job. Though this will be his first feature film, Pfister has previously directed a few commercials.

Also unsurprising, given his partnership with Nolan, is the fact that plot details for the untitled feature are firmly under wraps.  The screenplay comes from newcomer Jack Paglen and production is set to get underway this fall or early winter.  Hit the jump to read the press release.

Every so often, there is a story throughout the week that finds itself right on the cusp of Top 5 inclusion before ultimately missing the cut. For whatever reason, today I feel compelled to give one of these said stories an “Honorable Mention” tip of the cap. This write-up from a few days back regarding the chronology of Quentin Tarantino‘s filmography and how Inglorious Basterds influences the entire lineage of his “movieverse” is one that I found incredibly cool and definitely worth your time (even if we’re not bestowing upon it the career-validating honor of making the Top 5).

As for those stories that did make this week’s cut, we have a plethora of coverage from Steve’s visit to the set of The Dark Knight Rises, the first trailer, poster, and new images from Les Miserables, a new trailer for The Bourne Legacy, more set visit goodness for Rock of Ages, and the first installment of our movie poster lovefest column, Limited Paper. A brief recap and link to each awaits.

It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Gotham City.  The stadium is packed with families and fans excited to watch their football team, the Gotham Rogues.  As the game starts, the fans are screaming because number 86 (Hines Ward) has caught the opening kickoff and appears to be headed for an easy touchdown.  But as he approaches the end zone, the opposing players are swallowed by the collapsing field, as explosions are rocking the stadium and causing holes to appear all over the arena.  Meanwhile, at the opposite end zone, an intimidating man with a heavy coat and a strange black mask is walking into the light.  As he approaches a dead referee, he reaches down to pick up the PA microphone.  A moment later, the intimidating figure is speaking to the crowd, and after delivering a few lines director Christopher Nolan calls cut.  Meanwhile, up in the press box, a small group of reporters from around the world are watching from up high, and excitedly trying to figure out what it all means.  It’s a great day to visit Gotham City.  I mean Pittsburgh.

But let me back up a second.

As I type these words, it’s Sunday, August 7, 2011, and I’m flying back from the set of The Dark Knight Rises.  Yesterday, I got to visit the set with a few online reporters, and we spent all day watching filming at Heinz Field, interviewing the cast and filmmakers, and trying to figure out the secrets of the most-anticipated movie of 2012.  While I’ve been incredibly lucky to see many filmmakers work up close, this was my first time on the set of a Christopher Nolan movie, and I have to say it was everything I’d hoped it would be.  Hit the jump for so much more.

Last August, on the set of Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises, I was able to participate in a group interview with producer Emma Thomas.  Unlike the actors who were careful with every word they said, Thomas went into specific detail when talking about the movie.  Then again, when you’re married to the director, you know exactly what you can and can’t say.  Here’s a few of the highlights from the interview:

• For the Bane character, they’ve “retained what works for this universe and for our world. He’s definitely recognizable. But then there are some things that we’ve changed, because I think they wouldn’t have fit into Chris Nolan’s version of the world.”
• The Dark Knight Rises will have a different visual aesthetic than Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
• Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer drew from comic book elements for the script, but ultimately their plan was to complete the stories that were started in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
• They decided to shoot in Pittsburgh because they had shot “every inch” of Chicago for The Dark Knight and didn’t want to repeat themselves.  They wanted The Dark Knight Rises to feel like something no one’s seen before.

Continued after the jump.

In early August of last year, I got to visit the set of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in Pittsburgh.  I’ve waited a long time to write those words.  At the time of the visit, the embargo/NDA was so severe that Warner Bros. wouldn’t allow us to tweet or post on Facebook that we were even flying into the city!  But with Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film hitting theaters July 20th, the studio has been amping up their promotional campaign, and they’re finally allowing the sites that were on set to say we were there.  In addition, they’ve provided us with four awesome billboards/posters that feature Bane, Catwoman, and Batman.  Hit the jump to check them out and to learn more about my set visit.

Last night, Steve got to see the prologue for The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX.  I’ve avoided reading detailed reactions (although his is spoiler-free) because I want to go in fresh, but my understanding is that the footage is so good that it causes the blind to see, the crippled to walk, and then faded to black for our sins.  But when you put this new footage together with the critically acclaimed IMAX work Christopher Nolan did with The Dark Knight, it’s clear that the director has made the format his domain.

While The Dark Knight featured a little under half-an-hour of IMAX footage, Steve spoke with producer Emma Thomas last night and learned that The Dark Knight Rises could feature between 40 – 50 minutes of IMAX goodness.  However, Nolan and Thomas are not set on that number because Nolan hasn’t gotten around to editing anything beyond the prologue.  Hit the jump for more.

NOTE: This is a completely spoiler-free recap of The Dark Knight Rises IMAX Prologue

With The Dark Knight Rises IMAX Prologue hitting theaters next week in front of Mission Impossible 4, Warner Bros. decided to world premiere the footage tonight at the IMAX theater at Universal Citywalk in Hollywood.  As you might imagine, the theater was filled with journalists from around the world, as well as some of the Dark Knight filmmakers like director Christopher Nolan, producer Charles Roven, Jonathan Nolan (Chris’ brother and a screenwriter on the film) and producer Emma Thomas.

As the lights went down and the film started to play, you could feel the energy in the room rise as we were treated to the first look at the opening six minutes of The Dark Knight Rises and a montage of short clips from the rest of the film.  So you’re probably wondering what I thought….it was fucking awesome.  Hit the jump for more including a video blog recap.

Christopher Nolan has publicly stated that The Dark Knight Rises will be his final Batman film, and Warner Bros. is already looking ahead to the future of the franchise.  As we reported last night, the studio is currently planning a Justice League movie for 2013 and Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov tells Hero Complex that scripts are being written for Flash and Wonder Woman (the Wonder Woman project would exist separately from the upcoming NBC show).  But most intriguing is what the studio plans to do with its marquee superhero, Batman:

“We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…” says Robinov.  “Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is.”

Hit the jump for my thoughts on the future of the Batman franchise.

After months of speculation, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have announced that Henry Cavill will play Clark Kent/Superman in the upcoming Superman film directed by Zack Snyder.  Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film.  The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan.  The untitled Superman film is scheduled for a December 2012 release. Here’s what Snyder said about Cavill:

“In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen.  I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry.  He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”

More, including the official announcement, after the jump.

We’ve got three posters tonight from films that have hit the festival circuit in the past few months.  Max Winkler’s Ceremony premiered to positive notices at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, led by Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Lee Pace.  Like Ceremony, Homework centers around a young writing talent, but wasn’t received quite as well at Sundance despite the affable presence of Freddie Highmore and Emma Thomas. Fellow Sundance entry The Devil’s Double isn’t about youth so much as it’s about Saddam Hussein’s son Uday and his body double Latif Yahia, but by all accounts it’s a solid twist on the gangster genre.  If that sounds interesting, you should definitely check out Steve’s interview with Dominic Cooper, who plays both Uday and Latif in the film.  View all three posters after the break:

Here are two major pieces of The Dark Knight Rises news that you can take to the Gotham City bank. First up, Warner Bros’ has announced that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle. Kyle’s alter-ego is Catwoman, but the press release doesn’t mention the character. They only refer to Hathaway’s role as “Selina Kyle”.

The other major piece of news from the press release is that Tom Hardy will be playing the Batman villain Bane. It was previously rumored that Hardy would be playing villainous psychologist Dr. Hugo Strange. Personally, I think Strange is a more interesting character than Bane, whose claim to fame is that he broke Batman’s back in the comics. Hit the jump to check out the press release. The Dark Knight Rises is due out July 20th.

We have two brief pieces of Superman: The Man of Steel news for you today.  First up, composer Hans Zimmer will provide a brand-new score for the upcoming reboot.  Speaking to with NBC San Diego’s Scott Huver [via AICN], Zimmer said:

“It’s a hard one, but I followed one of the most iconic things on Batman with Chris as well, and it’s the same thing. You are allowed to reinvent, but you have to try to be as good or at least as iconic and it has to resonate and it has to become a part of the zeitgeist. That’s the job. On Gladiator I remember people always talking about Spartacus and I kept telling them, ‘When you saw Spartacus and how it affected it you, that’s how I want a modern audience to be affected by what we do now.’ So I think ultimately you’re supposed to reinvent.”

I think Zimmer turned in one of the best scores of the year with Inception and I’m fascinated to hear what he’ll do with Superman.  Hit the jump for more on the upcoming reboot.

If you’re hard up for The Dark Knight Rises news, we have a quick story for you. In a recent interview with Empire, Michael Caine says that he expects to have the script for the movie in January and that shooting will last from May to November.  Said Caine,

“Emma [Thomas], the producer, said we’d get the script in January. Christopher said: ‘Script in January, shoot in May, finish in November.’”

The film is slated to be released on July 20, 2012.  Hit the jump for a brief refresher on The Dark Knight Rises.