THANK YOU FOR SMOKING star AARON ECKHART will play HARVEY DENT/TWO-FACE in THE DARK KNIGHT, a sequel to BATMAN BEGINS.
Dent is Gotham City’s district attorney and a Batman ally who goes insane after half of his face is disfigured by acid.
Known as Two-Face, he chooses to do good or evil by flipping a coin.
TOMMY LEE JONES played the character in 1995′s BATMAN FOREVER.
RAY Oscar winner JAMIE FOXX recently rubbished reports he would play Dent alongside CHRISTIAN BALE’s Batman.
The sequel, directed by CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, is set to be released next summer.
(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.
JAMIE FOXX has rubbished reports he will play HARVEY ‘TWO FACE’ DENT in the next BATMAN movie.
The RAY Oscar winner insists he has never been approached about the villainous role alongside CHRISTIAN BALE’s BATMAN in CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’s sequel THE DARK KNIGHT.
Foxx’s publicist ALAN NEIROB tells website MovieHole.net, “(There’s) no truth to it whatsoever.”
THANK YOU FOR NOT SMOKING actor AARON ECKHART is tipped to take the Harvey ‘Two Face’ Dent role.
(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.
Movie-maker DARREN ARONOFSKY is secretly relieved his take on BATMAN never got the OK from studio bosses – because it would have been too violent.
The REQUIEM FOR A DREAM director was among the favourites to write the screenplay for the film that became BATMAN BEGINS – and he admits his vision would have been too dark and too violent.
He tells moviehole.net says, “My pitch was always very realistic. I wasn’t interested in fantasy, I was interested in the psychology of a real man dressing in a disguise to pay out real vengeance.
“The Batmobile was a souped-up Lincoln Continental with a bus engine. It was technical and rusty and extremely violent. They would have never let us have violence.”
(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.
THE NOTEBOOK star RACHEL McADAMS has become the red-hot favourite to replace new mum KATIE HOLMES as BATMAN’s love interest.
Holmes dropped out of the BATMAN BEGINS sequel recently after originally playing RACHEL DAWES opposite CHRISTIAN BALE, and now McAdams is set to take her place.
According to insider website batman-on-film.com, McAdams is in negotiations to join the all-star cast of THE DARK KNIGHT, alongside Bale, MORGAN FREEMAN, GARY OLDMAN, HEATH LEDGER and SIR MICHAEL CAINE.
(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.
Deborah Dozier Potter of New Mexico has launched a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox Film Corporation claiming they owe her $4.4 million US in revenues from the 1960s “Batman” TV show.
The Associated Press reports that Potter is the daughter of William Dozier, one of the show’s producers.
Dozier claims that, in March 2005, she discovered a contract between Fox and ABC that entitles her (as holder of part of her father’s production company) to 26% of the net profits from the agreement between the networks.
“I wish it could have been avoided,” said Potter said from her Santa Fe, CA home. “Nobody likes litigation.”
Her suit charges Fox with fraud, concealment and breach of contract.
Australian actor Heath Ledger has been confirmed to play the role of the Joker in the next Batman movie. Titled “The Dark Knight,” the film will also star Christian Bale in his second appearance as Bruce Wayne.
E! Online reports that Warner Bros. confirmed the casting on Monday with a statement from returning director Christopher Nolan.
“I’m excited to continue the story we started with ‘Batman Begins,’” said Nolan. “Our challenge in casting the Joker was to find an actor who is not just extraordinarily talented but fearless. Watching Heath Ledger’s interpretation of this iconic character taking on Christian Bale’s Batman is going to be incredible.”
The 27-year-old Ledger is best known for his Oscar-nominated role in last year’s “Brokeback Mountain.” His casting as the Joke has been rumoured for the past three weeks.
The role of the Joker was originally taken on by Jack Nicholson in the first “Batman” movie. Michael Keaton played the caped crusader in that film, as well as the follow-up, “Batman Returns.”
“The Dark Knight” is set to start shooting in early 2007, making a summer 2008 release very likely.
The rumour mill is churning up another possible actor to take on the role of The Joker in the next “Batman” flick, and this time it actually seems like a joke.
According to report on the movie Web site Latino Review — which first broke the news that Brandon Routh would star in Superman Returns — a “very trusted source” has revealed that Australian actor Heath Ledger has been offered the villainous role.
Ledger isn’t the first actor rumoured to be taking over for Jack Nicholson, who originally played the part in 1989. Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame and Robin Williams have both come up in gossip circles as possibilities.
Ledger, 27, received much praise — and an Oscar nomination — for his portrayal of a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain. He is currently said to be working on the upcoming Bob Dylan feature, “I’m Not There.”
Superhero Batman is readying for battle against his deadliest nemesis ever — Osama bin Laden.
Comics writer and artist Frank Miller announced at the WonderCon 2006 comic-book convention in San Francisco last weekend that Batman would find bin Laden and al Qaeda in the next DC Comics graphic novel, ABC News reports.
The Caped Crusader will hunt down bin Laden after the terror leader attacks Gotham City in the graphic novel, to be called “Holy Terror, Batman!”.
Miller says there is nothing campy about the latest graphic novel, despite the title.
“Emotionally, it’s really raw,” Miller told the WonderCon audience, reports ABC News. “Imagine the powerful rage when someone crosses the passion between a man and a woman or a man and his city.”
?Batman Begins,? starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, has been voted favourite film of 2005 by the readers of Total Film magazine.
The list of winners, which polled 15,000 film fans, was released Sunday.
?Batman Begins was a smart but funny reinvention of an iconic figure and had fantastic performances. It was also excellently directed by Christopher Nolan,? said magazine deputy editor Nev Pierce, according to the BBC.
?Film fans want more and ?Batman Begins? overcomes the horrible taste that previous outing ?Batman and Robin? left in people’s mouths.?
Mickey Rourke was named man of the year for his portrayal of tough-guy Marv in ?Sin City.?
Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid won best movie villain for his role as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in ?Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.? Last year’s top villain was U.S. President George Bush for his unwitting role in the Michael Moore documentary ?Fahrenheit 9/11.?
?War of the Worlds? star Dakota Fanning, 11, was voted best child actor, while the squirrels in ?Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? were named best movie animal.
?We had more people voting for our awards this year than ever before and 2006 looks set to be another great year at the box office,? said Pierce.
Before stepping back into Alfred’s shiny shoes, Michael Caine will play a couple more mentor figures.
Comingsoon.net reports that Caine will reunite with his Batman Begins director and co-star Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale in The Prestige. In addition, he has also signed on to Alfonso Cuaron’s The Children of Men.
In Nolan’s The Prestige, Bale and Hugh Jackman are rival magicians in early 20th century London who resort to murder in their bitter battle for trade secrets. Caine will play a former magician who teaches Jackman the tricks of the trade, because apparently Wolverine needs the help and Batman doesn’t.
The movie will begin shooting in January with a budget in the $40 million range. Before going to work on The Prestige, Caine will shoot The Children of Men in London. Cuaron’s sci-fi thriller stars Clive Owen as the protector of the only pregnant woman on the planet (Julianne Moore). Caine plays an old hippie. Yes, apparently in the same movie. I was just guessing about the mentor-figure thing. Oh well.
The 72-year-old Caine, the proud owner of a pair of Oscars, is currently onscreen in The Weather Man opposite Nicolas Cage.
Excuse me while I break out the smelling salts.
Moviehole.net reports that Christian Bale is in talks to reunite with his Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan for a new film called The Prestige.
Bale will be joining Hugh Jackman, who has already signed on to the project, according to Hollywood Reporter. The two superheroes will leave behind the alter egos of their Batman and X-Men franchises to play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London.
Their competition for trade secrets is so intense that it leads to murder. Apparently “The Prestige” refers to the residue left after a magician’s successful trick. Yeah, I have no idea what that means either, but I’ll let it go, because – Batman and Wolverine on the same screen!
The movie will be based on Christopher Priest’s 1996 novel of the same name. Nolan’s brother Jonathan will write the script. (He also wrote the short story on which Christopher’s Nolan’s breakout movie Memento was based, so that’s fine by me.)
Shooting will begin in January with a budget in the $40 million range.
According to Guardian Unlimited, Bale is currently in Thailand filming Rescue Dawn, the story of a fighter pilot who is shot down on a mission during the Vietnam War. Jackman is working on X-Men 3, or, as I like to call it, X Cubed. He also stars in Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, which has no official release date scheduled.
Spiderman, Batman, Barbie and Sir John A Macdonald? One of Canada?s most prominent historical figures is now a doll. Our “hands on” approach towards history has been taken to another level.
The figurine, which is approximately 15 cm tall, comes with its own line of accessories including glasses, a side table and a 20 page informational booklet.
It has been on the market since 2003 but was only carried in small chain stores until recently. Wal-Mart is currently the largest distributor, picking up the product two months ago and sells for about $20.
Nafekh Technologies says the toy is an expression of sentiment and patriotism. ?It?s important for Canadians to be more patriotic because we are fortunate to live in a beautiful and peaceful country,? Andrew Nafekh, the creator told the Toronto Star.
Another representative from the company told CBC although this was not easy to introduce at first, that kids can still relate to action figures.
As well, plans are underway to create other notables in the collection. Up next is Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
As Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine all sign on to a Batman Begins sequel, Katie Holmes’s name is noticeably missing.
Bale as Batman was the first to sign on, followed by Caine and Freeman. However, Holmes won’t reprise her role as district attorney Rachel Dawes – reportedly because Warner Bros. is angry that her engagement to Tom Cruise is getting more media attention than their summer blockbuster is.
A source told pagesix.com that “she won’t be in the sequel … the next romantic interest will be a much stronger actress. Warner is happy that people are now focusing on who’ll be playing the Joker rather than Katie and Tom.”
Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg, director of War of the Worlds, told Newsweek he thinks the media has blown the relationship out of proportion.
“Tom lost his cool because he was deliriously happy, and now he was being punished for his public display of happiness. What Tom did on Oprah was exactly what Tom did with me when he first told me about Katie Holmes. But the press didn’t like the way Tom bared his soul,” he says.
But now Spielberg seems to have changed his tune. The latest reports say he dropped out of today’s “War of the Worlds” junket at the Essex House.
Some reporters speculate Spielberg is tired of the ever looming shadow of TomKat over each War of the Worlds promotional event.
A representative for DreamWorks responded by saying, “he was never absolutely fixed to do the press conference. It still could happen.”
Despite conquering the weekend box office, even Batman couldn’t save Hollywood from decreased ticket sales for the 17th week in a row.
Batman Begins earned $46.9 million over the weekend according to early estimates but overall movie revenues are down 6.4 per cent compared to last year.
This may be because people would rather watch movies at home on DVD, VHS or pay-per-view than leave the house according to an Associated Press-AOL poll.
The dark prequel stars Christian Bale and the recently engaged Katie Holmes, with Christopher Nolan as the director. It debuted last Wednesday with $15 million bringing the five day total to $71 million. With a reported $150 million budget, Batman Begins is the most successful film so far in the franchise though rising ticket prices and the number of sites the movie played at aren’t factored in.
With $12,166 per site, the movie doesn’t look as successful compared to its predecessors.
The first Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader, opened in 1989 with $40.5 million, with $18,462 at 2194 sites. The sequel Batman Returns had a $45.6 million opening weekend in 1992 with $17,280 at 2644 sites.
Despite Batman Forever marking the decline of the franchise in the minds of most fans the film, the movie, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Val Kilmer, opened in 1995 with a high of $52.8 million, with $18,573 at 2,842 sites. The fourth (and critically slammed) installment, Batman and Robin, with George Clooney wearing the nippled bat suit, premiered in 1997 with $42.8 million, with $14,612 at 2934 sites. The failure of Batman and Robin almost put an end to the franchise.
Nevertheless Warner Bros. expects the film to finish the week with $85 million, enough for a sequel according to distribution boss Dan Fellman.
Outside of Gotham City, Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear’s The Perfect Man also debuted this week, but the romantic family comedy came in at seventh place with $5.5 million. Duff plays a daughter who creates an imaginary suitor for her mother (Locklear) who has been unlucky in love.
Dropping to second place is the much hyped Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring the “are they or aren’t they?” duo Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The action/adventure film seduced $27.3 million, making its two-week gross a slick $97.9 million.
Unfortunately other films in their second week aren’t doing as well. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D dropped about 53 per cent in its second week with $6.6 million bringing the total to $24 million. Even worse is The Honeymooners which earned just $2.5 million, falling 54 per cent from its lackluster debut bringing in a $9.4 million gross.
Madagascar and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith are still going strong raking in $11.1 and $9.7 million respectively.
The top 12 films grossed $128.4 million compared to $130.5 last year with Dodgeball: The True Underdog Story as the top movie.
