Joseph Gordon-Levitt to film at Wollaton Hall

Nottingham Confidential have tweeted that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be filming at Wollaton Hall, which will serve as a rebuilt Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises:
http://twitter.com/#!/Nottm_Con/status/86070243318972416

Gordon-Levitt, who has previously worked with Christopher Nolan on Inception, will play John Blake in Nolan's third and final Batman film. Blake has been described as "a Gotham city beat cop". He is believed to be hunting Batman, who is generally seen to be responsible for the murders carried out by Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) in The Dark Knight.

Joey King London pic

Joey King, the 11-year-old actress who will appear in The Dark Knight Rises, posed for a photo by the House of Commons whilst in London shooting the film. Joey has tweeted about her experiences in the English capital:
http://twitter.com/#!/JoeyLittleKing/status/76751833405730818

Her role in the film is unknown, and has been a topic of much debate among fans. Theories include Barbara Gordon Jr., daughter of Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman). Gordon's daughter appeared in The Dark Knight, played by Hannah Gunn, though she was not named. In the comics, she later became the first Batgirl. Another theory is that she may be playing a young Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway). However, the most popular theory is that Joey is playing a young Talia al Ghul. This is due to her resemblance to Marion Cotillard, who is playing Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate, believed to secretly be Talia. This theory is supported by the fact that Liam Neeson, who plays Ra's al Ghul, was also spotted filming in London two weeks ago. Joey's fansite also supports this theory:
http://joey-king.com/

Bruce Wayne's new ride

Anyone who's seen The Dark Knight will remember when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) deliberately crashed his Lamborghini to save Coleman Reese (Joshua Harto) from being killed by a cop to prevent the blowing up of Gotham General Hospital. I distinctly remember shock among some audience members due to the quality of the car. It has now been revealed that in The Dark Knight Rises Bruce will be cruising around Gotham in a 2012 Lamborghini Aventador. A source claims that Christopher Nolan wanted a different colour, but all he could get was silver. Pictures can be seen below:

Onset video of scene in the rain

A video from the set of The Dark Knight Rises is now on Youtube. It features Christian Bale and a female co-star shooting a scene in the rain. Due to the quality of the video, it is unclear who the woman is, but it is likely Anne Hathaway or Marion Cotillard.

Details on Anne Hathaway's Catwoman costume

A source has told hollywoodlife.com about the costume Anne Hathaway will be wearing as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. They said:

"Anne’s outfit is more tactical, like the comic book, than the previous Batman movies. She will definitely be wearing the goggles and it’s going to be less sexy than Halle Berry and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman costumes. She’s going to look more like a robber. But fan boys shouldn’t be worried. This costume is going to be form-fitting enough to make Anne look smoking hot. Everything from the looks in her eyes, her head movements, her body–everything is so feline. The role is taking her to new places."

Personally, I think the different costume is a good thing, since the ones worn by Pfeiffer and Berry looked very much like something a dominatrix would wear.

Anne Hathaway training five days a week

Anne Hathaway has been training five days a week for her role as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. A source said:

"Anne’s preparation for her role as Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, the next Batman installment, has been more than cosmetic. She has been working out five days a week — rigorous exercise and stunt training followed by an hour and a half of dance. “I’ve always thought that skinny was the goal, but with this job I also have to be strong,” she says. Anne has always been slim, but if you look at clips of her in her early 20s, when she made The Devil Wears Prada and Brokeback Mountain — films that first gave a clue of her dramatic range — the difference is she stands taller now and with more confidence."

Stunt to take place in Scotland

The News of the World has reported that a stunt for The Dark Knight Rises will involve a giant military plane landing on Scotland's A9 road. The stunt will need the approval of local authorities, and will take three days to pull off. The stunt will need to be shot at night to minimise disruption.

A source claims: "The movie crew desperately want to film this. It's a key section of the film. Batman is on board a plane that is hurtling to the ground. The script says he takes control of it and lands it on the road while it's on fire. People are going to love it. It's a tremendous challenge."

The plane is apparently a Lockheed C-130 Hercules, an aircraft used by the military since the 1950s. The A9 runs from the Falkirk council area in central Scotland to Thurso in the far north, via Stirling, Bridge of Allan, Perth and Inverness. At 273 miles, it has been called "the spine of Scotland".

The film has already been shooting in Glasgow, with a source talking about Christopher Nolan's plans for the city: "He plans to use various cities to provide a mash-up of what Gotham will look like. Glasgow was location-scouted for the last film Dark Knight, though in the end it wasn't used. This time, Chris already has several scenes in mind."

This sounds like a very complex and dangerous scene to shoot, and I look forward to seeing it, but I wonder where it will fit into the film?

Minor onset accident

A small accident occurred on the set of The Dark Knight Rises. A large tractor-trailer, likely carrying equipment, crashed into the entrance of Wollaton Hall. There appears to have been no injuries. The footage was filmed by batmannews.com reader Alex.

New Wayne Manor, graveyard set photos

New photos taken at Wollaton Hall on the set of The Dark Knight Rises have surfaced. They show the rebuilt Wayne Manor and the graveyard located in it's grounds, along with a group of cops. They can be seen below:

Graveyard set pic

A set pic of The Dark Knight Rises has appeared online, and shows the graveyard in the grounds of Wayne Manor. Those who have seen Batman Begins will remember that Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne (Linus Roache and Sara Stewart, respectively), were buried there after they were murdered by Joe Chill (Richard Brake). Does this mean that their deaths will come into account once more in the final chapter of Christopher Nolan's trilogy?

Christian Bale onset pic

The first close up picture of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises has appeared online. He had previously been seen at a distance in another photo taken onset.

Anne Hathaway talks Catwoman costume and training

Anne Hathaway recently spoke to the Swedish website Nojes Bladet, briefly discussing her role as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.

She revealed that she was one of many who went for the part: "Chris Nolan tested dozens of girls. I got the audition and then I just had to sit at home and wait for him to decide."

She spoke of her awareness of comparisons to previous actresses who played the role, such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry and Eartha Kitt:

""It makes you work harder. I am taking a chance that something may not work but there is a certain satisfaction that, at the end of the day, I did everything I could."

She also spoke about the dozen costumes she has torn and the amount of physical training the part requires:

"Yes, really. That's a little embarrassing. It's a bit personal. I'd rather talk about my acting than my training."

Matthew Modine to spend four months filming

Matthew Modine, who will be playing Nixon in The Dark Knight Rises, has revealed that he will spend four months shooting for the film. When Megan Kamiya a.k.a. BatmanLover14 if he was still filming, he replied: "four months of shooting. Mr. Nolan is a master filmmaker."

Little is known about the character of Nixon, but he has been described as "a politician and a key villain", with some believing his role to be similar to that of Detective Arnold Flass (Mark Boone Jr.) in Batman Begins and Lau (Chin Han) in The Dark Knight. Modine is best known for his roles as Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket and Agent Mike Downey in Married to the Mob.

Michael Caine talks The Dark Knight Rises secrecy, says plot is "extraordinary",

Michael Caine recently did an interview with Steve "Frosty" Weintraub of Collider to promote Cars 2, and briefly spoke about The Dark Knight Rises, where he spoke about secrecy, the plot and Christopher Nolan:

Collider: A lot of us are excited to see you returning as Alfred in The Dark Knight Rises. I know Mr. Nolan is very guarded about the story, but can you at least tell us how filming has been going so far?

Caine: It’s fantastic. I started filming last week and I film next week. As the butler, I do a load of filming at the beginning, and everybody goes off and does all the adventures and they all come home shot to pieces and I patch them together when they all get back. Christopher Nolan, I think, is one of the greatest directors in the world and I’ve been lucky enough…this is my fifth movie with him. It’s such a pleasure to work with him and he’s so clever. We’ve all signed the Official Secrets Act. I’m lucky to be able to tell you the title of the movie. I remember I did an interview and someone said to me, “What are you doing next?” I said, “I’m doing Batman.” I saw Chris and he said, “Why did you tell them you were doing Batman?” I said, “Because I am.” He said, “You’re supposed to keep it secret.” I said, “I couldn’t keep that a secret.” Let me tell you…the plot is extraordinary…really extraordinary. I know why he wants to keep it a secret. You really need not to know till you see the movie.

Frosty put particular significance on this quote:

"I do a load of filming at the beginning, and everybody goes off and does all the adventures and they all come home shot to pieces and I patch them together when they all get back."

He believes this may have been a spoiler, that Batman may have an accomplice in this film. This has been a theory among fans for some time, with Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) seen as the most likely candidate. It is known that it's definetly not Robin, as Nolan feels he wouldn't fit into the dark tone of the series and Christian Bale threatened to leave if Robin was ever introduced.

Teaser trailer (probably fake)

An alleged teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises has appeared online. It was apparently shown at a screening of The Green Lantern. It is likely fake, due to the fact that it has not been mentioned on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Bale, Caine onset pics

The first pictures of Christian Bale and Michael Caine on the set of The Dark Knight Rises have made their way online. The scene they were shooting is said to involve Bruce at Wayne Manor in a heated conversation with Alfred, before he rushes off to board a plane.

Liam Neeson returns for The Dark Knight Rises

Liam Neeson had his cameo as a tattoo artist cut from The Hangover: Part II (which was probably a good thing, because that film was awful), but he now has a cameo in an even more anticipated sequel.

He was recently spotted shooting a scene for The Dark Knight Rises, reprising his role from Batman Begins as Ra's al Ghul. In the first film, Ra's taught Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) how to fight injustice under the alias of Henri Ducard. He concealed his true identity by having another man (Ken Watanabe) present himself as Ra's al Ghul. Ra's later lead an attack on Gotham by the League of Shadows, but was defeated by Batman and killed in a monorail crash.

The circumstances of his appearance in the third film are not yet known. It has been argued that he could have escaped the monorail before it crashed, since his body was never shown. It seems unlikely that he has been resurrected, since the Lazarus Pit (his method of immortality in the comics) does not fit the realism of Christopher Nolan's Batman films. The most likely possibility is a flashback cameo, since Neeson was seen a few days later in New York at Bono and The Edge's musical Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark (seen above).

Josh Pence has already been confirmed to play a young Ra's, and Marion Cotillard is rumoured to be playing his estranged daughter Talia al Ghul (under the alias of Miranda Tate), while Joey King is rumoured to be playing a younger version of her.

The Dark Knight Rises films at Stansted airport

Batman on film reader Voorheedalek recently announced on the site that they had seen Christopher Nolan filming a scene for The Dark Knight Rises at Stansted airport in London.

“I just got back from Stansted airport in the UK where Chris Nolan and crew were filming what appeared to be an airport baggage check-in. Whether it’s a plot point or not (I suspect maybe not), the airline was Delta and the destinations on the boards were for Paris. I couldn’t stay around, only seeing Nolan, but ‘apparently’ Bale and Hathaway were due to appear. This scene, for all I know, could only ammount to several seconds of film.”

So, what kind of business could Bruce and Selina have in Paris? Is it a romantic getaway or something to do with a new threat against Gotham?

First look at The Dark Knight Rises Batsuit?

The Licensing International Expo has posted an image of what could be the Batsuit that will be featured in The Dark Knight Rises. The changes made from the previous film are very small, as opposed to the massive change from Batman Begins' three-piece Batsuit to The Dark Knight's 110-piece Batsuit. The only differences apparent from this photo are a greyer colour and more flexibility suggested by the panelling. But it could have a few surprises.

The Licensing International Expo brings together all the different upcoming films so they can network with brands and come up with toys and other stuff to sell to kids

The Dark Knight Rises logo

The logo for The Dark Knight Rises has made it's way online. It features a dark purple glow, contrasting the Batman Begins logo which had a gritty, rusted look and The Dark Knight logo which emitted bright light.

Josh Stewart joins the cast

Josh Stewart has joined the cast of The Dark Knight Rises. It is not yet known who he'll be playing. He has previously starred in films like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Law-Abiding Citizen and The Collector and TV shows like Dirt, Criminal Minds and No Ordinary Family.

Open auditions begin

Open auditions for extras in The Dark Knight Rises have begun in Pittsburgh. A video of the line for auditions can be seen below.

Caine, Freeman to start shooting soon

Sir Michael Caine recently featured on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show and revealed that he will start shooting his scenes for The Dark Knight Rises next week. He also spoke about Alfred's backstory (which he came up with himself): He says that Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne, went to the S.A.S. headquarters in Hereford for a dinner, and Alfred- who'd been a sergeant in the S.A.S and had been wounded and didn't want to leave stayed on the run the mess there. Thomas met him there and said: "You'd make a great butler, I need a tough guy." He also says that the voice he uses as Alfred was that of the first sergeant he had in the army.

Morgan Freeman also revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he will start shooting his scenes as Lucius Fox in the next three weeks. He will begin in the U.K., the will shoot in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

Plot point revealed (contains spoiler)

Bane is the most formidable of Batman's foes. In the comics, he gained the nickname "the man who broke the bat", having famously broken Batman's back. It has been confirmed that this will feature in The Dark Knight Rises

"Bruce Wayne/Batman & Bane will certainly clash hard in The Dark Knight Rises and I can tell you this much, during their first fight against one-another, Bane WILL break Batman's back!"

The Miranda Tate conspiracy (contains possible spoliers)

Joey King and Marion Cotillard: notice the resemblance?

There has been a lot of speculation about the plot of The Dark Knight Rises, in particular who the villains are. So far we know that Bane (Tom Hardy) will be a villain, while it is unknown what side Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) will be on. But what about another villain, since Christopher Nolan has followed a three-villain format on both of his Batman films to date? It was rumoured a few months ago that Marion Cotillard (who had previously worked with Nolan on Inception) would be playing Talia al Ghul, daughter of Batman Begins' main villain Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson).

However, the rumour was apparantely proven false when Marion was announced to play Miranda Tate, "a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father's philanthropic endeavors for Gotham". But has it been proven false? Ra's concealed his identity from Bruce (Christian Bale), who's to say his daughter couldn't do the same?


Josh Pence will play Ra's al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises, with Liam Neeson having played him in Batman Begins

Adding fuel to the fire was the casting of The Social Network's Josh Pence as Ra's al Ghul in flashbacks taking place 30 years before the events of the first film. We shall obviously find out about his past, perhaps it will involve his daughter as a child. The fire spread even further with the casting of eleven-year-old actress Joey King, who is generally stated to resemble Marion greatly. There have also been claims of her being seen filming in India. Furthermore, an alleged script draft (seen below) describes a mother and daughter in a perilous situation. Could this be the instance Ra's mentioned in the first film where his wife was taken from him? Ra's stated to Bruce in Batman Begins that Gotham was a city so corrupt that the League of Shadows had infiltrated every level of it's infrastructure. Surely that included Wayne Enterprises? Was Talia working for them even then?



The only thing known about Miranda so far is that she will be helping Bruce overcome his grief over the death of Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes in Batman Begins, Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight), which is generally taken to mean that she will be a love interest for Bruce. While Talia was never mentioned in the first film, Ra's does mention her in it's novelisation, where he says that she lives in Switzerland. It is speculated by fans that if Miranda is Talia, she will lead the League of Shadows in a final assault on Gotham. The League had existed for thousands of years- sacking Rome and burning London to the ground- and despite their defeat by Batman in the first film, it is doubtful that we've seen the last of them.

Anne Hathaway suffers wardrobe malfunction

Anne Hathaway recently experienced another accident on the set of The Dark Knight Rises, having recently pistol-whipped a stuntman. This follow up accident was not painful, though, just embarrassing.

"Anne was filming a very similar fight scene when her costume split right open right on her bottom. She's putting everything into this role both physically and emotionally and the wardrobe department is paying the price. She must have gone through a dozen costume changes due to Anne throwing herself around."

Little is known about Catwoman's role in this film, but it is generally believed that she is a love interest of Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman (Christian Bale). Aceshowbiz claims that the two work together to fight against the League of Shadows, led by Talia al Ghul, speculated to be the secret identity of Wayne Enterprises employee Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard).

Set video from London

Sean from London recently heard that The Dark Knight Rises was shooting in Farrington. He went down with his video camera and has posted a 1 minute 16 second video from the set. Not much is seen, just a car marked GPD (Gotham Police Department) pulling into a garage.

Open casting call for extras

A casting call has been released inviting the residents of Pittsburgh to become extras in The Dark Knight Rises. It's a shame i live in Ireland or I'd be there like a shot. It reads as follows:

A Warner Bros. Film requires extras to play as Victims and Perpetrators within a city besieged by crime and corruption. Take part in the urban action adventure ripping through the streets of Pittsburgh from July 28th through August 21st.

Casting Dates:

Sat. June 11th – 9am – 1pm and 2pm – 5pm

Sun. June 12th- 10am – 1pm and 2pm – 6pm

Sat. June 18th- 9am – 1pm and 2pm – 5pm

Sun. June 19th- 10am – 1pm and 2pm – 6pm

The Omni Hotel 530 William Penn Place Pittsburgh, PA 15219 in the William Penn Ballroom (ground floor/downstairs)- Use the Oliver St. Entrance, please

Men and Women ages 18 and over. ALL ethnicities!!!! No experience necessary!

Some specific types we are looking for are: Prisoners/Thugs, Guards, Police Officers, Business men & women and Sports Fans- ALL types are needed!!

I was expecting all of those except sports fans. That is very interesting. Is it possible that a huge sports event is featured in the film? Will one of the film's villains carry out a threat, or worse, an attack on the citizens of Gotham? Only time will tell.

Onset photo from London

The above photo was recently taken on the set of The Dark Knight Rises in West Croyden, London. It shows a masked, suited stuntman climbing out of a window three or four storeys up. It is unknown who this might be, but is rumoured to be Bruce (Christian Bale) leaving a high-profile event to combat a threat, or escaping from a pursuer.

Teaser trailer to be shown with final Harry Potter?

It is heavily rumoured that the first teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises will be shown with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Also rumoured to be shown are the announcement trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (which I am also keen to see), a teaser trailer for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and the theatrical trailer for Happy Feet 2 (neither of which I have any interest in seeing). If this rumour turns out to be true, considering how early the production is and if the teaser for The Dark Knight (seen below) is anything to go by, I wouldn't expect to see any footage.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is released on July 15. It is directed by David Yates with an ensemble cast of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Kelly Macdonald, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Ciarán Hinds, Gemma Jones, Dave Legeno, Miriam Margolyes, David Bradley, Helen McCrory, Nick Moran, Matthew Lewis, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Clémence Poésy, Natalia Tena, Julie Walters, Mark Williams, Bonnie Wright, Domhnall Gleeson and Evanna Lynch.

New Wayne Manor

It's been confirmed that Wollaton Hall- a 16th-century mansion-turned natural history museum in Nottingham, England- will be used as the exterior of the rebuilt Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises, following the original Wayne Manor's burning by the League of Shadows in Batman Begins. The Manor's interior will be shot at Osterley Park in West London. Wentmore Towers served as the location of Wayne Manor in Batman Begins.

Anne Hathaway injures stuntman

Anne Hathaway recently got overzealous in her role as Catwoman and accidentally pistolwhipped a stuntman on the set of The Dark Knight Rises:

"Anne got a bit carried away during a fight scene...He came away with a massive black eye. Anne was mortified."

The stuntman remained in good spirits, and she sent him an engraved silver pin that read: "Remember no one packs a punch like Anne."

Awesome fanmade trailer

The Dark Knight Rises has been given a brilliant fanmade trailer, featuring familiar faces and many of the new cast. The trailer shows Alfred (Michael Caine) in hospital, a conversation between Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Gordon (Gary Oldman), a love triangle between Bruce (Christian Bale), Selina (Anne Hathaway) and Miranda (Marion Cotillard), and Bane (Tom Hardy) in prison. The trailer uses footage from Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Bronson, Catwoman, Equilibrium, Inception, Iron Man 2, Halloween, Harry Brown, Passenger, Public Enemies, Se7en, Terminator: Salvation and Watchmen