Sure sign that you’re a smash-hit as a Hollywood director: people start analyzing every move you make. A lot of bloggers have been doing just that to Chris Nolan, ever since the first doubts arose about the acclaimed director returning to the Batman franchise after The Dark Knight.
When Nolan announced that his next film after Dark Knight was going to be the sci-fi thriller Inception, people were like, “Ok, he wants to do something non-Batman for a minute, that’s cool.” However, when word started circling that Nolan was also eyeing a big-screen adaptation of the 60s TV series The Prsioner, people started getting worried that Batman 3 was either a long way off or that the film was moving ahead without Nolan.
Now comes word that Christopher Nolan has left the The Prisoner, leading people to immediately jump to the conclusion that Batman 3 is the reason.
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The guys over at Cine Fools were the ones to scoop this tidbit of news. While attending the Sydney, Australia, premiere of Funny People they caught up with the film’s producer, Barry Mendel, to ask him about the status of The Prisoner. That’s when Mendel let this little jewel slip:
Chris Nolan has dropped out of it but we have a first draft by David and Janet Peoples who wrote Twelve Monkeys and David wrote Unforgiven and it’s a good draft and we’re working on the script right now.
Note the way that Mendel phrases it, “dropped out…” If you know Chris Nolan, you know that he’s pretty reliable (read: dedicated) about the commitments he makes as a director. So if he WAS attached to The Prisoner, and suddenly detached himself from the project, there would have to be a pretty good reason for him to do so.
Could the lure of Batman 3 be too strong for Nolan to put off any longer?
We already had Gary Oldman spilling the beans at Comic-Con that the next Bat film would start shooting next year – only to have him retract the statement almost immediately afterward (must’ve pissed off somebody at Warner Bros.). Now comes this news about Nolan leaving The Prisoner… I’m not saying… I’m just saying…
Of course, the biggest indicator in all this has to be Screen Rant’s recent piece discussing what Batman 3 will be about. Surely Nolan and Co. read that article and the creative juices just flooded their brains!
Hey, I can imagine, can’t I?
For now this is all just speculation, but rest assured we’ll keep you up to date on every single move Chris Nolan makes from now until the cameras start rolling on Batman 3.
Source: Head over to Cine Fools for more info about the status of the The Prisoner movie.
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20 Comments
There are a number of reasons he could have “dropped out” besides Batman 3. The Prisoner could have a bad script or low budget. There could be issues with casting or not letting Nolan have as much control as he likes. But then again, Batman 3 is sure to be a huge pay day for him so I would jump on it too.
Sure, call it “hopeful speculation” on our part.
Vic
I’m with Vic on that one, hopefully he drops out to make Batman 3.
i for once would think that if they bring up The Joker, that Ryan Reynolds would be perfect for the role:) tho, hes swapped with all his other movies so i doubt that will happend:\
Was he ever really confirmed to be involved with the Prisoner? I can’t re-call Nolan ever really commenting on it.
ya know, regarding the joker, i recently saw james franco in a film and it occured to me that in joker makeup, he’d look really similiar to the heath ledger joker. does anyone else agree with this??
I’ve never been worried about Nolan’s involvement with Batman 3.
The only way I could ever see Warner Bros making the film without him is if he keeps putting it off for years and years. The reason?
Warner knows that the fans love Nolan. Warner knows that the success of the Dark Knight had as much to do with Nolan as it did with Batman. They also know that if they want Batman 3 to be as (or more) successful as TDK, it NEEDS to be directed by Nolan and he NEEDS full creative control.
Take the X-Men trilogy. X1 was great, X2 was better, but come X3, Fox decided to replace the director (whom the fans loved) and what they got was a poor film the fans hated.
Then comes the Spiderman trilogy. S1 was great, S2 was better, but come S3, Sony decides to force the director’s hand, and what they got was a poor film the fans hated.
If Warners are smart, they’ll learn from the mistakes of those big studios, and make a film that that the fans will actually love. They’ll get a TON more money that way.
I can’t be the only one who’d prefer a Batman movie with Nolan but not Bale, over a Batman movie with Bale but not Nolan, right?
Josh R
I agree. If I had to choose one (gun to my head) I would definitely go with Nolan instead of bale.
@ EnglishGavz
I didn’t either but the producer of the film is quoted as saying “he dropped out” so…
Josh…
Fox didn’t decide to go with a different director, they had no choice when Singer decided to do Superman Returns instead. True, it would have been better for ALL parties had Singer stuck with X-Men and kept Ratner away from it, but hindsight is 20-20. Of course Fox could have decided to get a better director than Ratner (could anyone have been worse?), but they wanted to make the film quick to make the quick buck.
Nolan needs to stay with this particular Bat-Trilogy. He’s made arguably 2 of the best Batman AND superhero films to date, and to see his vision bastardized by the studio would be appalling. Let Nolan do Batman 3 on his own terms, in his own time and it’ll be a great film. Then shelve Bats for a decade or so before letting someone else try their vision of it.
SIENNA MILLER AS TALIA AL GHUL, PAUL BETTANY AS THE RIDDLER, I’M STILL THINKING
yea fraco would look close to it he would play a good joker i bet to he is a greata actor
Batman On Film Is reporting Nolan left The Prisoner awhile ago,to film Inception most Likely .
They still except Batman 3 by summer 2012.
Andy S,
It wont be a great movie unless he has a great story.
@ EJK
Paul Bettany as Riddler?I like it!Actually,thinking about it a little bit more,that’s the best choice I’ve heard anyone say to play Riddler so far,and I would really like to see that over the usual fanboy response,”Jonny Depp would be a cool Riddler”.I think that Bettany’s Riddler would be awesome with Nolan’s direction.
Not too sure about Sienna Miller as Talia,though I think the story would be served better if Talia were in it rather than Catwoman.If only Jennifer Garner hadn’t done Electra then she would be good for it,but i think that If she did play Talia,it would seem to much like a reprisal of Electra.If I were to cast Talia,I would go with a lesser known actress.I think Alexa Davalos from The Chronicles Of Riddick would be my personal choice.
I’m surprised that no one has ever said Jake Gyllenhall as a replacement Joker.Though I think that if Joker were to be in it,they should do him like they did Val Kilmer as Elvis in True Romance;in the background,out of focus,and heard but never clearly seen.
@ Andy S
It wasn’t Singer’s fault he left X3. That was ALL Fox. To put it simply Fox was dragging their feet. Hell, even Matthew Vaughn (Singer’s replacement) left the project over the simple fact that what Fox wanted was utter shite. So what’s the best they could get who would do what they wanted and have no creative input? Well, the rest is history. Fox forced Singers hand to go elsewhere with another comic-book property.
[quote]Was he ever really confirmed to be involved with the Prisoner? I can’t re-call Nolan ever really commenting on it.[/quote]
A few years ago Nolan was quoted as saying that he thought it didn’t need a remake because it was perfect as it was…… He also said his uncle had been in the original TV show, but not what that uncle did.
ohh. sorry i was mistaken, i mean Ryan Reynolds wud fit the role of The Riddler perfect xD, and i agree that Franco wud make a good joker:)
Ryan Reynolds as the joker? Haha no chance
That’s a shame for the show. Think Nolan is exactly the type for the Prisoner – intelligent and creative and not afraid to show it.
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