14 DAY TRIAL // While rumor of a sequel to “The Dark Knight” has been making the rounds for some time now, nothing even close to official has been announced. It’s unlikely that the story of the reinvented Batman stops here, fans believe, and Warner Bros. agrees with them. In a recent interview, CEO Jeff Bewkes confirmed that they’re looking at making more movies in the series.
Apparently, wanting to do more Batman films came after seeing the success of the “Harry Potter” franchise, which, as it’s already common knowledge, is one of the most impressive franchises of our times. Not only does it have a huge following with fans, making a lot of money at the box-office, but it has also been received warmly by critics all over. Warner Bros. would want the same for the Batman films, the CEO says.
“We look at ‘Harry Potter.’ It’s fantastic to have franchises that last that long. We want to do that with Batman and Superman and perhaps Sherlock Holmes. The sequels are as good, with new characters added, as were the originals. That wasn’t the case in the years ago. Warner has more tentpoles as an on-going strategy that very much lifts its distribution and performance. We think that’s going to hold up our slate in the 2009 - 2010 period. We’ve got four more big tentpoles coming this year.” Bewkes explains.
Just the other day, producer Michael Uslan revealed in an interview that a sequel to “The Dark Knight” might be dropping as soon as 2011, much to the delight of the fans. Going forward with the franchise was somewhat of a delicate issue, what with Heath Ledger passing away soon after completing his part as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.” Nevertheless, it looks like the film will go on without this character, especially since more villains will be added.
Both recent Batman films, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight,” starring Christian Bale as the caped vigilante, have managed to bring more edge to the comic book-inspired character, while also introducing Batman to a generation of moviegoers that were not familiar with him. Also, given its success at the box-office, as well as the fact that it won over all critics, it’s very likely that what CEO Bewkes hopes will become a reality.