The Dark Knight Rises Just a word of caution about casting new villians

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

First let me say, like many of you I was completely BLOWN away by TDK. I'm 35 years old & watching TDK made me feel like I felt the first time I saw Star Wars back in the 70s. TDK was fun yet it seemed like a cultural event at the same time.

Now that being said, sadly with Star Wars after the Empire Strikes back, Star Wars fell into messy camp with Return of the Jedi & the whole Ewok thing. The Phantom Menance was even more disappointing camp.

I just read a story on Yahoo's front page about Angelina Jolie being cast as Catwoman in the next Batman film. That would be a HORRIBLE mistake. It would be a sure sign of the next film falling into the campy nonsense that this new Batman franchise "Thank God" hasn't had yet.

Casting Jolie or other high profile tabloid attracting stars would be a HUGE HUGE HUGE mistake. Whomever the next villians cast they need to be cast with serious low key actors not constantly in the public spotlight for everything under the sun but acting. Aarron Eckhart & Heath Ledger were perfect choices.

Please please PLEASE keep stars like Angelina Jolie as far away from this new franchise as possible. Batman doesn't need the distractions from people like Jolie, Brad Pitt & thank God Katie Holmes wasn't a part of TDK.

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/91673

 

[ZombieBatman]

I completely agree.

 

[Shane Diesel]

Take everything you hear with a grain of salt unless its an official statement by WB. The news you are hearing right now are sourced by Ari Gold-esque hollywood agents doing what they are paid to do, namely getting their clients' names out there and associated with various high profile projects. There's no reason to get worked up over it since its all BS.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Take everything you hear with a grain of salt unless its an official statement by WB. The news you are hearing right now are sourced by Ari Gold-esque hollywood agents doing what they are paid for, namely getting their clients' names out there and associated with various high profile projects. There's no reason to get worked up over it since its all BS.

God I hope you are right. I'm so sick & tired of comic book films turning into goofy camp festivals with major Hollywood stars.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed Nolan will keep the tone & vision of Batman just the way it is now.

 

[Shane Diesel]

God I hope you are right. I'm so sick & tired of comic book films turning into goofy camp festivals with major Hollywood stars.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed Nolan will keep the tone & vision of Batman just the way it is now.

Nolan has the final say in casting and his trend with regards to Batman is to seek out critically acclaimed commercially low profile actors/actresses. The only way this would change is if there's studio interference which usually happens when a movie fails to meet studio expectations and prompts the studio executives to tinker with the formula a bit. Not the case here since DK is blowing everything out of the water. Unless Nolan has a complete psychotic breakdown I expect him to follow the same formula with regards to Batman 3. Assuming of course that he comes back which is the big issue to worry about.

 

[MBonez12]

just imagine if the original plan for batman forever had gone through, without getting the high profile director and actors:
tim burton instead of joel schumacher (wouldve been better)
michael keaton instead of val kilmer (wouldve been better)
billy dee willliams instead of tommy lee jones (wouldve been better)
rene russo instead of nicole kidman (can't really tell)
robin williams instead of jim carrey (can't really tell)
no robin (better)
only riddler instead of riddler/two face (better)

this movie and series of batman movies wouldve actually been enjoyable

 

[Malone]

You're absolutely right.

 

[flickchick85]

Those rumors are total BS, but I agree with your general sentiment. This series should have actors, not movie stars. Even if the movie stars can act when the right director gets them to.

 

[Laderlappen]

Its too early for a rumor to be anywhere near true. They havent even started to write the story yet.

 

[raynorWilm]

i trust Nolan to make the right decisions. he took some heat early on for choosing Heath, but I think we all know how that turned out..

 

[Nepenthes]

Completely agreed

 

[bomb_voyage]

Actualy it was not an agent of Jolie's that said she would want the role. Jule Newmarr said that Jolie would make the purrrrrrrrrfect catwoman.

And I totaly hope and pray Nolan cast's lesser known actors like he did with TDK. I mean come on what did Heath do outside of Brokeback Mountain? So that is why im calling him a lesser known actor. After TDK he is a well known actor.

 

[Shane Diesel]

Actualy it was not an agent of Jolie's that said she would want the role. Jule Newmarr said that Jolie would make the purrrrrrrrrfect catwoman.

And I totaly hope and pray Nolan cast's lesser known actors like he did with TDK. I mean come on what did Heath do outside of Brokeback Mountain? So that is why im calling him a lesser known actor. After TDK he is a well known actor.

That's not the entire quote. The part that tips you off about agents is in this portion of Newmarr's quote:

"My industry friends tell me [she] has made inquiries about the role," added the 74-year-old actress.
https://nydailynews.com/entertainme...batman_icon_julie_newmar_says_angelina_j.html

Which is Hollywood talk for "my agent has been calling WB executives non stop suggesting me for this role."

 

[66 Face]

Put me down as someone that doesn't want Jolie for the role. I laugh every time I see her trying to act tough. It would be like TC in The Last Samurai. Meaning she would be the worst part of it.

I would also like to see Catwoman be a smaller part of this movie and a bigger part of the next one.

 

[Two-Face]

Put me down as someone that doesn't want Jolie for the role. I laugh every time I see her trying to act tough. It would be like TC in The Last Samurai. Meaning she would be the worst part of it.

I would also like to see Catwoman be a smaller part of this movie and a bigger part of the next one.

That's because you're not paying an attention by laughing....

 

[Hunter Rider]

Nolan should cast who he thinks is right, he should pay no attention to the type of thoughts i am reading in here, "Cast small" Like i makes it cool and edgy, please, by the time the next Batman comes around his leading man will be one of the biggest movie stars in the world, no avoiding it, he should cast who he feels is right, no compromises for name or for lack there of, end of story.

 

[elgato]

Agree Hunter, if he wants to cast a big name like Angelina Jolie he will do

 

[Doc Samson]

Nolan should cast who he thinks is right, he should pay no attention to the type of thoughts i am reading in here, "Cast small" Like i makes it cool and edgy, please, by the time the next Batman comes around his leading man will be one of the biggest movie stars in the world, no avoiding it, he should cast who he feels is right, no compromises for name or for lack there of, end of story.

Good point, Bale is in Terminator after all. I just don't see the problem with some big name stars being involved. Jolie, maybe I could understand, because her celebrity definitely outweighs her ability IMO. But Johnny Depp is one of the greatest actors of this generation, an actor who's made his name playing weirdos for the most part. He's a different kind of celebrity, he's not Tom Cruise or anything like that, he's not tabloid fodder. He's famous for his roles if you think about it, if women weren't attracted to him, he'd be like any other actor who's respected for doing abstract characters.

Other than Pirates & Willy Wonka, what huge commerical stuff has he done? The reason Pirates was successful is because they went with Depp, someone who people never thought could pull that off, being that it's a Disney film. Its not like he sold millions of tickets for most of his other work, he even says himself that most of his earlier stuff was interesting to him, but mostly box office failures. He would do nothing but add to a film if he were included

 

[panda_eater]

Remember the legions of fanboys who were against Heath Ledger?

Heath is Proof that fanboys should ****. For all we know Angelina could be an amzing catwoman.

She looked like a bag of bones in Wanted though. If she refuses to order a pizza for the role then I don't want her in the film. She needs to look like she did in her tomb raider days to look good in the catwoman suit.

 

[Shane Diesel]

Remember the legions of fanboys who were against Heath Ledger?

Heath is Proof that fanboys should ****. For all we know Angelina could be an amzing catwoman.

She looked like a bag of bones in Wanted though. If she refuses to order a pizza for the role than I don't want her in the film. She needs to look like she did in her tomb raider days to look good in the catwoman suit.

Heath never did a role like this before. Jolie's played the role of a strong female lead who beats the crap out of people too many times. She's effectively played catwoman without actually being catwoman in many previous films Tomb Raider, Mr&Mrs Smith, Wanted, etc. Its gotten to the point where she's the female Arnold Scwarzenegger of this decade. I doubt Nolan would cast her for this reason. In interview after interview he repeatedly says the word "fresh." We wanted a fresh take on Batman, we wanted Heath to do something fresh, Gary Oldman wasn't the obvious choice and brought a fresh take on the character, etc. Jolie isn't fresh in terms of this role.

 

[panda_eater]

Heath never did a role like this before. Jolie's played the role of a strong female lead who beats the crap out of people too many times. She's effectively played catwoman without actually being catwoman in many previous films Tomb Raider, Mr&Mrs Smith, Wanted, etc. Its gotten to the point where she's the female Arnold Scwarzenegger of this decade. I doubt Nolan would cast her for this reason. In interview after interview he repeatedly says the word "fresh." We wanted a fresh take on Batman, we wanted Heath to do something fresh, Gary Oldman wasn't the obvious choice and brought a fresh take on the character, etc. Jolie isn't fresh in terms of this role.

But she's never played a villain. (I don't think Wanted really counts) She always plays the good guy in her action films. Catwoman would be a different role for her. I know she isn't a fresh face, but Aaron Eckhart wasn't that amazing as Two-Face. A fresh face isn't always the best choice.

 

[Shane Diesel]

But she's never played a villain. (I don't think Wanted really counts) She always plays the good guy in her action films. Catwoman would be a different role for her. I know she isn't a fresh face, but Aaron Eckhart wasn't that amazing as Two-Face. A fresh face isn't always the best choice.

In this situation a fresh face is the best choice. Good or bad Jolie has played the smoldering sexy female lead who kicks everyone's butt so many times she's become a caricature of herself much like Arnold was in the 90s. I don't think that catwoman is bad will overcome the fact that it'll be Jolie as a smoldering sexy female lead who is kicking everyone's butt....yet again.

 

[panda_eater]

In this situation a fresh face is the best choice. Good or bad Jolie has played the smoldering sexy female lead who kicks everyone's butt so many times she's become a caricature of herself much like Arnold was in the 90s. I don't think that catwoman is bad will overcome the fact that it'll be Jolie as a smoldering sexy female lead who is kicking everyone's butt....yet again.

So you don't care how well she could pull it off, you'd rather someone bland like Kate Beckinsale or Kerri Russel so that it's someone different. No matter how boring. Or what other mediocre actress do you have in mind? We wouldn't want the person best suited for the role now would we.

Seriously though, was Jolie truly evil in Tomb Raider or Mr. & Mrs. Smith? She showed how seriously dark and deranged she could be in Girl, Interrupted. Now that I wouldn't mind seeing again.

 

[Shane Diesel]

So you don't care how well she could pull it off, you'd rather someone bland like Kate Beckinsale or Kerri Russel so that it's someone different. No matter how boring. Or what other mediocre actress do you have in mind? We wouldn't want the person best suited for the role now would we.

Seriously though, was Jolie truly evil in Tomb Raider or Mr. & Mrs. Smith? She showed how seriously dark and deranged she could be in Girl, Interrupted. Now that I wouldn't mind seeing again.

That's a little bit of a strawman argument. Jolie is physically well suited for the role but by extension doesn't mean she's best suited for the role. An actress other than Jolie for Catwoman doesn't automatically mean they are mediocre either. There are plenty of qualified actresses who could play the part.

I would much rather see a good actress who has never done a role like this than Jolie who has done roles of this vein before. Its exactly what they did with Ledger and it worked in spades. I think the formula needs to be followed again b/c of Pfeiffer's performance as Catwoman in BR. Not only does there need to be a different take this time around, but an actress that has never done a role like this is virtually required to give it that freshness.

 

[brinomite]

^^^Diesel, is that an actual qoute from Bale on Robin??? If so, that is effing awesome!