14 DAY TRIAL // With a little over a month to go until the final chapter in Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy, “The Dark Knight Rises,” drops in theaters, there's been a lot of speculation on whether a fourth film would also be made. Ask Chris Nolan about that and you get a resounding “no.”
Right now, there are two major theories about the third Batpic circulating online: either TDKR spells the death of The Bat or it will consolidate Nolan's reputation even more and pave the way for more sequels.
Leading man Christian Bale's recent comments tip the scales in favor of the latter option, with the actor saying he'd totally return to the franchise if Nolan was also on board and provided a good story was to be had from more films.
Assuming you were actually hoping for a fourth installment in the franchise, now's the chance to cast all such hope, Variety points out.
Chris Nolan himself took the time to stress once more that he'd always considered Batman a trilogy and, as such, the journey is about to be over soon.
“With his 'The Dark Knight Rises' opening July 20, Nolan joined spouse and producing partner Emma Thomas on the opening panel at the Producers Guild of America's 'Produced By' conference Saturday at Sony Studios. PGA exec director Vance Van Petten asked halfway through the hourlong session if Nolan is planning another Batpic,” Variety writes.
“No was the answer from Nolan, who had explained that he always has envisioned his Batman story as a trilogy,” the same report notes.
Nolan also said that he'd put his best in making the trilogy into something he and the fans would be proud of. Not for one second did he lose sight of that important aspect: the fans own Batman.
“I don't want to hold anything back. You're really working with something that belongs to the audience,” he said, crediting the fans for the franchise instead of the comic book universe.
As noted above, Bale, who reprises his Batman role for the third time in TDKR, recently said that he'd be game for a fourth film if the planets aligned.
“My understanding is that this is the last one. I think it’s appropriate, I think it’s going out at the right time. But… if Chris came to me with a script and said, 'You know what? There is another story' then I would love the challenge of making a fourth one work,” he said, as we also reported at the time.
It turns out there is no other story to be told, “The Dark Knight Rises” is it.