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'All I can say is that I grew up with Batman, I've been fascinated by him and I'm excited to contribute to the lore surrounding the character', Nolan tells Variety. 'He is the most credible and realistic of the superheroes and has the most complex human psychology. His superhero qualities come from within. He's not a magical character'.
It's not known whether Nolan, who put a sleep-deprived Al Pacino through his paces in last summer's moody cop drama 'Insomnia', will also pen the screenplay for this latest incarnation of the vigilante hero. But Nolan signaled he's more than ready to go to work for Warner Bros., with whom he has a very positive relationship.
'I had a fantastic experience with the studio on Insomnia, and I'm keen to repeat that experience', adds Nolan.
As any Caped Crusader history buff could tell you, Warners' has been desperate to revamp 'Batman' ever since the series derailed with mid-'90s disasters 'Batman Forever' and 'Batman and Robin'. But the studio has yet to get a new movie off the drawing board.
In 2000, Warner Bros. signed director Boaz Yakin ('A Price Above Rubies') to co-write and direct a live-action feature adaptation of the animated series 'Batman Beyond', which sets the D.C. Comics character 40 years in the future, after Bruce Wayne has passed on the tights to a high-school whipper-snapper who battles corporate ne'er do wells.
Also still in development is 'Batman: Year One', a noirish adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the origins of the pointy-eared hero and how he got his wings going after Gotham's bad guys. That project is being shepherded by indie writer-director Darren Aronofsky '(Requiem for a Dream', 'Pi').
Then there's 'Superman vs. Batman', which would pit the Dark Knight against the Man of Steel in an attempt to resurrect two once mighty franchises.
Warner had hired 'A Perfect Storm's' Wolfgang Petersen to direct from a script by Seven scribe Andrew Kevin Walker and the film would have integrated Superman's hometown of Metropolis into the same universe as Batman's Gotham City. But that would-be blockbuster was shelved when Petersen opted to make the Trojan War epic 'Troy' with Brad Pitt.
Also in the Warners pipeline is a separate 'Superman' film being developed by Rush Hour helmer Brett Ratner and Alias writer J.J. Abrams, not to mention 'Wonder Woman', 'Catwoman' and 'Wonder Twins' projects all in various stages of development.
Just because Nolan's on board doesn't mean the Batster will be popping up in the local megaplex anytime soon.
Nolan just recently completed a script for Castle Rock Entertainment on the life of Howard Hughes that he hopes to start shooting with Jim Carrey in the title role. It's unknown if he'll make that project his next directing effort, but he better make up his mind soon because Martin Scorcese's about to go into production on a rival Hughes biopic called 'The Aviator' with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead.
There's also no word who'll suit up to play Nolan's Caped Crusader. But now that we think about it, Memento memory-impaired star Guy Pearce might not make a bad Bruce Wayne--that is, of course, if he remembers where he parked the Batmobile.
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