14 DAY TRIAL // As the third and last Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises,” is nearing the date when production starts, more stars are being attached to the cast. Marion Cotillard has signed on for the role of femme fatale, People magazine reports.
The French beauty will be joining forces again with director Chris Nolan, whom she first worked on “Inception,” for a role that is yet to be determined: in other words, she could either be the love interest or Catwoman’s superhero rival.
Negotiations with Marion ended over the weekend, the celebrity magazine notes. She’s already signed on for the part, but the official announcement is pending.
“Sources also tell People that the La Vie en Rose Oscar winner, who is expecting a baby in April with her French actor-director beau Guillaume Canet, signed onto the Batman project Saturday in Paris,” People reports.
“The Batman movie will also reunite Cotillard with her Inception director Christopher Nolan and costars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy,” the magazine says.
Gordon-Levitt is not yet confirmed for the part. Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and, of course, Christian Bale are all officially on board.
“According to sources, Cotillard will start shooting at London’s Elstree Studios in mid-June, then move on to locations in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles this summer,” People says.
“Filming is expected to wrap in New York in November, with the picture’s release set for July 2012,” the magazine further notes.
Marion is expected to be at Cannes this May to promote Woody Allen’s latest film, “Midnight in Paris.” If nothing official on her Batman role comes out until then, she will most certainly address the question then.
As we also noted on previous occasions, “The Dark Knight” is the last Batman film that Chris Nolan writes and directs, and Bale’s last time as the caped crusader.
Rumor has it Nolan may also be “recycling” old and never before seen footage of Heath Ledger as The Joker for a brief cameo in the upcoming film.