Scenario:
You are the head of Warner Bros. Comic Book Movies are huge business but your track record of producing them hasn’t been consistent or stellar, with the exception of Watchmen and the Batman franchise. You watch with envious eyes as Marvel position themselves to a platform where they can release as many as six movies per year in the very near future, if their blueprint for success turns out the way they have planned.
2011 alone should see Spider-Man 4, Captain America and Thor, with possibly more TBA.
Marvel are winning the race but you have the Batman ace up your sleeve, a character who is possibly the most popular protagnist in the history of film. But you are starting to get nervous. Your director Christopher Nolan is seriously considering his future with the franchise, he may be ready to move on – you may be about lose your biggest asset. Christian Bale also begins to get cold feet too and is now confused over what is going on with the series.
You have given Chris Nolan 1/5th of The Dark Knight box office takings to make his science fiction epic Inception and to give him some time to clear his head as he ponders his future. But it’s clear you must start to come up with a contigency plan if the Worst Case Scenario was indeed to happen.
As we like to do at OWF, and what we recently did with Ghostbusters 3, here’s our official 7 directors that could replace Nolan for the next movie…
KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY – David Goyer to direct Batman 3 where Chris Nolan left off, from a Jonathan Nolan script.
David Goyer’s contributions to the Batman film franchise should not be under-estimated. When Chris Nolan first became assigned with the task of resurrecting the Caped Crusader he admitted that although he was a fan of the character, he wasn’t a comic book fanatic and there were many facets to the character and his mythology that he didn’t know. So he went out and hired Goyer, the man who knew more about the franchise than anyone else he spoke too. He hired a real comic book geek.
Goyer’s much lauded script for Batman Begins turned a character last seen in the camp and fantastical Batman & Robin into a man and a world we could relate to. He knows Bruce Wayne inside out, and much of what Nolan has directed story wise has come from Goyer’s imagination.
It’s clear that script writer and Chris Nolan’s brother Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer are the real Batman fans and both pleaded with Nolan to make a Batman sequel with The Dark Knight. They are doing the same for the new Batman movie right now but it might be an impossible task.
Should Goyer and Nolan make a movie together?
It would seem to make sense to give the reigns to the “second in command” as it were but then Goyer’s directing talent isn’t even mediocre. It’s retched (Blade Trinity, The Unborn, The Invisible).
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY – Ridley Scott to direct Batman 3
Before production was to start on Batman Begins, Chris Nolan took the whole cast and crew to a specially arranged screening of Ridley Scott’s epic 80’s science fiction movie Blade Runner and proudly proclamied “THIS IS HOW WE DO IT”.
Watching Batman Begins, it’s almost like a prequel to BR, before technology and architectural nostalgia completely took over the landscape. Nolan’s Gotham owes so much to Scott’s movie and Nolan has certainly positioned himself into Scott-like calibre of director with the work he has been contributing to the industry for the past ten years.
Scott is one of the true greats and he would instantly command the respect of the likes of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman who would start to become nervous at the thought of a new director coming in. He is of course British also, so working with a Brit crew will be no problem.
He has never directed a comic book movie before but he knows blockbuster as much as anyone else (Gladiator, Alien, Robin Hood).
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY No. 2 – Michael Mann to direct Batman 3
The Dark Knight was almost a comic book remake of Heat… a movie Michael Mann had made over ten years earlier, even down to the film’s structure and dialogue. Mann would bring a sense of real world aspect to Gotham like Nolan did, and his recent films Collateral and Miami Vice have both attempted to bring the audience into the universe he is creating, as if the camera was a character to the action also.
Though for those that weren’t a fan of those movies, Public Enemies is a glimpse towards what he could do with a very rigid universe and setting. He has just come off working with Bale, he has a body of work in the crime/thriller genre that would match up to anyone. He is a directing pro, maybe it’s time he got the big gig?
A VERY DARK KNIGHT? – David Fincher to direct Batman 3
David Fincher was circling the Batman franchise before Chris Nolan came on board and for a long time the director of Fight Club and Se7en was seen as the comic book community’s favourite to take on the reigns. He is possibly the most visually distinctive director of dark crime thrillers working today and he is an obsessed methodical grafter who researches every single aspect of his films before he presents them on the screen.
If Se7en is the best non-official Batman movie set in a Gotham world without a masked avenger as I would suggest it is, maybe it’s time to seriously think about giving him the reigns. If nothing else, he never lets studio pressure get in the way and his attitude has allowed him to make exactly the movie he sought out to make each and everytime.
And with Se7en, Fight Club, The Insider, Panic Room, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button… he should be thankful for that.
REQUIEM FOR A BATMAN? – Darren Aronofsky to direct Batman 3
Aronofsky could have been in Chris Nolan’s position, IF, he hadn’t screwed up his idea and pitch to adapt Frank Miller’s Year One into a Batman movie at the turn of the century. His pitch was so bad, he was never under any serious consideration from WB to direct the character. His vision was too dark for a first movie but maybe if he was to take over where the character left off in The Dark Knight, the universe could be ready for that kind of environment.
The Wrestler showed what he can do with character and he has recently attached himself to the Robocop franchise, so he clearly has his sights on a big blockbuster. But is Batman a step too far, would he let his imagination go wild? He did make The Fountain remember?
BACK TO THE BEGINNING – Frank Miller to direct Batman 3
In the 80’s, Frank Miller took Batman out of the ridiculous camp of the 70’s comic book supernatural stories and turned him into THE DARK KNIGHT. His two depictions of Batman’s legacy, the first of how he became Batman (Year One) and the other at the end of his career (The Dark Knight Returns) remain the pinnacle of storytelling for the Caped Crusader in literary form.
Miller has recently took to the film industry and after great success with Sin City, his latest chance to replicate on that film’s success with The Spirit didn’t turn out to well. I’m certain Miller would love the opportunity to direct a Batman movie but no doubt his first choice would be to adapt The Dark Knight Returns and meddle with the CGI technology he has fallen for. Not quite what he want to see eh?
THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS – Zack Snyder
Zack Snyder was top of the list at WB to replace Christopher Nolan if the director left the franchise post-The Dark Knight but Snyder has since made it clear he would only be interested in adapting Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, in his signature green screen style, and wouldn’t be interested in picking up where Nolan left off.
Surely we don’t want to see that happen now when there is so much life left in Nolan’s franchise, with or without the talented helmer. And many still have question marks over Snyder’s ability to tell a story, but we all agree his movies look pretty. Is he just style over substance, or has he shown enough talent to win himself this most lucrative job?
33 Comments
It’s Batman Forever all over again!
2 very strong movies in the franchise taking a turn for the worst with the third movie. Is history going to repeat itself?
Honestly, I’m hoping that Nolan decides to return. I like films by all of those directors but I just don’t think it would be the same without Christopher Nolan manning the director’s chair.
Fincher never a slave to studio pressure?
Surely that should be not since (and because of) alien 3.
Anyway, good stuff! Fincher – Yes! Scott – Yes! Snyder – Maybe…
Miller – YESYESYES!! At some point in the future, take a risk and let him adapt the character himself. Don’t make him follow the current trend (these films are Nolan’s. if they are going to break from that then they can allow the next guy to build his own version, like the comics have had such success doing)
Two words: Tim Burton
Dude, Michael Mann directed The Insider, not Fincher.
I agree with LC. If Nolan doesn’t come back, give the franchise back to Tim Burton.
Maybe we should stop before batman begins as a joke again…its ridiculous.
its a bad omen if it goes to another director. keep it with nolan to complete this trilogy. then hand it over to someone else if need be.
but i think nolan needs to return to finish what he began and the dark knight was a masterpiece and if he made a 3rd knockout hit, then we would have a beautiful trilogy.
If Miller or Snyder directs, I myself will become Batman and break my one rule.
they can’t go with frank miller, they didn’t even credit him for the dark knight…then again…he didn’t write it, i don’t know, batman 3 can’t possibly be generating this much attention, can it?
Since when did Fincher make The Insider? You probably meant The Game. But anyway, I think he’d have to be a firm favourite for me. Imagine if he were to shoot Batman 3 in a similar style to Zodiac? It’s a mouth-watering prospect. And certainly, as mentioned regarding Seven, he’d easily capture the feel of Gotham.
And yes, Aronofsky did make The Fountain. What’s the problem? It’s a phenomenal work of art ;)
Sorry, about to rant here, but the campy Batman stuff was in the sixties. Prior to Miller, you had the brilliant storytelling of Denny O’Neill and Neal Adams, and the phenomenal Englehart/Rogers run which culminated in a genuinely scary Joker story with fantastic Batman/Gordon interplay, a cracking, iconic Batman ending (including a fight with the Joker at a building site…) AND did incredible, postmodern, head-comics stuff with the page-and-panel structure along the way…Yes, there was quite a bit of ’supernatural’ stuff in those stories but the supernatural angle is unavoidable with Bats – some of the earliest, and best Finger/Kane stories are essentially rip-offs of vampire and monster-movies, and there’s more than a little of Spring-Heeled Jack in the Joker.
Miller gets a lot of props for DKR and Year One, but I increasingly see him as more of an opportunist – he saw a chance to fit Batman into the Rambo/Arnie/Death Wish meme dominating US popular culture during the eighties, and the media jumped on it, at least partially because they needed another quote-unquote grown-up comic to go with Watchmen – which is a superior work to DKR on every level. Just compare what Moore’s done since with Miller’s work – or don’t, because there’s no comparison. Moore is a great innovator, pushing boundaries in form and content, while Miller just keeps ploughing his own dull dark furrow, first in comics, now (after burning the house down with the abysmal DK2), in cinema. Yes, Sin City worked, but look what he did to the Spirit, for Eisner’s sake!
Sorry, rant over, I just hate the way people worship Miller. He’s a talented artist and a good – if limited – writer, but he isn’t the God of All Things Batman.
That accolade, of course, belongs to Mr Chuck Dixon ;-)
Sorry, sorry – just read the rest of the Miller entry and can see you have reservations too. Honestly, my hackles just rise whenever the man is mentioned, so many bad ‘grim ‘n’ gritty’ comics were foisted on the public as people slavishly tried to copy DKR…
Also, biased as I am, I think future generations will look back on Grant Morrison’s Batman run as the high-water mark for the character.
What about Sam Mendes? He did Road to Perdition and I think he’d do a great job with a continuation of Nolan’s Batman universe.
Rumor has it Nolan had the Joker returning for Batman 3 but that all ended when Ledger passed away thus leaving Nolan to consider not making a 3rd Batman movie. I say make the 3rd installment using another actor as the Joker. He is a character and there are many great actors who could take over the role (Depp, DD Lewis). It is certainly easier and more logical to have a better script using the Joker (even with a different actor playing the role) than to make a completely new script forcing in characters that may not fit the Nolan Batman universe.
Mann, Ridley, and especially Fincher are all directors i could happily live with taking over what Nolan started.
But I do wish Nolan would just come back and finish this, even if that means recasting The Joker. The Riddler is a character that I think could replace the Joker in presence.
Of course seeing Fincher take over and using the Riddler in a Seven like style would also be great.
Honestly if it was someone beside Nolan the director would have to have a strong passion for Batman and keep the tone of Nolan’s world. You do not want a dramatic change. If James Cameron would do it I would be all for it but I doubt he would want to. I would also think about Sam Raimi.
Chuck
Christopher Nolan needs to make Batman 3. Let him finish the trilogy properly, then he and Christian Bale can move on. Warner Brothers needs to “make to happen”.
At one point, when Frank Miller was asked if he would like to direct a Batman film, he said, “I would probably cast Sylvester Stallone as Bruce Wayne/Batman. I think he would bring a sense of realism to the character.” Now that makes sense if you’ve read any of Frank Miller’s batman novels. But I personally do not want Sly as my batman. Do you?
WORST CASE SCENARIO:
Michael Bay
Nolan has established a solid foundation for an awesome series, but Dark Knight was far too derivative and didnt know what it wanted to be. A new director could be an awesome thing if they get the right person, and let’s hope it’s someone with some originality who doesn’t wear their inspirations so explicitly on their sleeves. Scott or Fincher could blow this thing to a whole new level.
I could never really rationalize any of the contemporary greats as being good enough to keep the Batman franchise up to it’s current ridiculous standards, but you make some very good points with Scott and Fincher. It was always Mann for me if Nolan had to leave. But that’s mostly because of the direct comparisons made with Heat. Though I consider Snyder and Miller to be comic book enthusiasts with great visual ideas but this clouds their directing duties…you never know, though.
To whoever said Sam Mendes…wow. Good choice there. American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead (which IMO did a great job at examining the psychological damage of warfare rather than just being a typical war film. in other words, a trend of being more introspective that the Bat franchise has followed and should continue.)…movies that step outside of what’s expected by audiences but are (mostly) satisfying nonetheless.
I was waiting for someone to say Michael Bay! http://www.vimeo.com/5347609
wHAT tHE hELL:
- jOEL sCHUMACHER (bATMAN & rOBIN)
- wACHAWSKY (sPEED rACER)
bAD:
- fRANK mILLER (tHE sPIRIT)
- mICHAEL mANN (mIAMY vICE)
- mICHAEL bAY (tRANSFORMERS 2)
- dAVID s. gOYER (bLADE tRINITY)
gOOD:
- rIDLEY sCOTT (hANNIBAL)
- dAVID fINCHER (sE7EN)
- dAVID lYNCH (bLUE vELVET)
- dARREN aRONOFSKY (rEQUIEM fOR a dREAM)
hO mY gOD:
- TIM BURTON (bATMAN, bATMAN rETURNS, sWEENEY tODD)
Pass the mantle. Credit Nolan for redefining BM, but he’s all brains no heart. TDK is a jumpy, mind-boggling mess. I hope they make a 3-4 hour director’s cut of TDK that has the confidence to suspend and engage us in each scene. But they probably don’t have the coverage. The definitive Batman hasn’t been realized yet. Bring in a director who knows how to shoot action scenes, convey emotion, sustain a vision, maintian a dramatic thrust, cast appropriate female actors, and make the Batman/Bruce Wayne more personable and affecting–dark, disturbed and frightening, sure, but also romantic and heroic. He’s quite a character. Few are up to the task and none mentioned here so far. I would entertain Alfonso Cuarón, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Oliver Stone, Robert Rodriguez, Terry Gilliam, J.J. Abrams, or some promising, passionate whiz-kid we haven’t heard much from yet.
What about Clint Eastwood? he´s a great director with a dark sense of what a hero can be… to me, it would be the perfect choice.
Guillermo del Toro would probably do a good job, too, if he hadn’t already contracted to make EVERY FILM IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. A Del Toro directed Arkham Asylum adaptation would be awesome.
A couple of these directors look good, but honestly if Nolan isn’t in the 3rd one. Don’t make it. It’ll suck, but he started it and well it’s his call to finish it. Too risky throwing someone else in there. We don’t want another Batman and Robin nightmare to happen.
Best Case Scenario:
Nolan is a great director, no doubt about it, but his non-Batman movies have never been box office big succeses and they are giving him a big load of cash to do Inception and WB wants it to be a success, a few months from now things are even gonna get worse by media saying “Nolan’s over with the Bat” because of Inception so we all Batfans can go see “the movie Nolan prefered to do above Batman 3″ and Inception become huge success and a box office hit… with that done, Nolan will prove he’s a good director, not just a good comic book movie director, WB will be happy because the movie made cash, they gave Nolan what he wanted and… tada, Nolan comes back to do a third one, end of story, things will always get worse before they get better, remeber?, with the Joker, expect the unexpected, with WB and Nolan, too, it’s all part of the plan!
the idea of tim burton taking the helm on a third movie is insane. i love the guys work, but anyone who knows batman can tell you the character he brought to the screen twenty years ago was not quite batman. however great his vision was.that is the flaw with directors like tim burton. they want to see their vision and version of the story not anyone elses. even when time has proven otherwise. what this movie needs is someone who can do what nolan and goyer did. they didn’t create the characters. batman has been around and evolving for sixty years. they found actors and wrote a script respecting a character that has already proven himself over time. and they got actors who understood the importance of respecting the source material. this has been proven the most successful way to bring a comic book character to the screen. bring the guy the readers already love with just a little twist so he translates to the rest of the world. as for directors like ridley scott his type does an excellent job of bringing the story to the screen but good luck following the action. he is a huge fan of sloppy camera work during high end actions scenes this is intended to put us in the middle of it. but generally it just feels confusing and chaotic. thankfully his other skills tend to more than save his films. i for one though don’t want to miss or misunderstand a moment of action. especially in a batman movie.
The very notion of thinking that Nolan is a better action director than Ridley Scott is blasphemy. Nolan couldn’t direct an action scene out of a paper bag.
Ok, many of you will probably hate it, but: I’d be glad to see Nolan out for good, after what he did with TDK. Yes, it is a great film and al, but.. it’s not A HALF of what it could have been, had Nolan had the “passion”, the “poetry”, the “magic”.. I mean, the fact that his “bat-universe” was meant to be realistic, doesn’t call for it to be Dull as well, or does it?
There’s just so much “poetry” surrounding this character (the childhood trauma, the “mother” trauma particularly, which plays over and over in his head; the pearls falling, the man in the dark holding the gun) and his environment..
Gotham should have remained the dark “bladerunneresque” nightmare it was in the first film, like.. where did all that light come from? Was it just me or it was daytime during most of the film?
The Joker.. great performance, but it’s pretty obvious it got wasted by a heartless director.
Again: no visual “poetry” surrounding the character; not enough “psychosis” driving him; he’s too centered (in a social level, even despite his “nocturnal” persona) too “clean”.. it’s hard to see Bruce Wayne becoming all that which the Batman stands for the way the character is portrayed by Bale and Nolan.
And one of the greatest mysteries surrounding ALL of the bat-movies: the suit. Does it HAVE TO be an armor? Does it HAVE TO have the muscles sculpted all over.. and.. Does it HAVE TO be ALL BLACK????
C’mon.. put a little dark-grey in there. And I’m sure you unholly wood people can make it better about the spandex so it looks cool as it should.
Weird Case Scenario:
-Keanu Reeves as Bats.
-Sean Connery as Alfred.
-Chuck Norris as Commish Gordon.
-Eddie Murphy as Lucius Fox.
-Jeff Goldblum as Scarecrow.
-Ozzy Osbourne as Riddler.
-Carrie-Ann Moss as Catwoman.
-Williem Dafoe as the Mad Hatter.
and..
-Johnny Rotten as the Joker. (cameo)
Directed by Werner Herzog.
Worst Case Scenario:
-George Clooney/Val Kilmer as Bats.
-Chris O’Donnel as Robin.
-for more details seek out “Batman&Robin” in IMDB.
WHY SO SERIOUS?
Zack Snyder should direct Batman 3.