On the amount of IMAX in the film. Bale: No bloody idea. Ask him about that. I’m not an actor that tends to care. I don’t ask “Is this a close up? Is this a master? Is this a wide? What are you doing?” If I look up and notice the camera I go “Oh, it’s a big one today, must be an IMAX.” And that’s kinda it for me because it doesn’t affect what I’m doing.
On the hype surrounding the film and whether he ever thought he'd return without Christopher Nolan directing. Bale: I knew it was going to happen for me because I was contracted to do this film. I had no choice, I would have been sued up the ying-yang and be on the street and penniless if I hadn’t done it. Chris, my understanding was, could have chosen not to do it, but he had always talked about this as being a trilogy and he liked the challenge that an awful lot of movies fail on the third one. There are some exceptions but most of the time that’s the tricky one to pull off. And I think he really likes the challenge of that.
On the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. Bale: Have you? You think you have, have you? Aaah, maybe some people are seeing things and they don’t know what they’re looking at? It’s quite interesting to watch and hear what people think we’re doing. You look and go, “That’s not what we’re doing. But never mind, let’s let people think that’s what we’re doing. ”
How much does Bruce Wayne fall in love with Ms. Kyle. Bale: I’m figuring it all out as I go along. And I’m seeing Chris sitting on this shoulder here and my Emma Thomas sitting on this shoulder right now as you’re asking the question going: “Don’t say anything! You know you’re not allowed to answer that one. ” I think let’s leave that one until you see the movie.
If there's any significance to his hair being longer this time around. Bale: Yeah, a little. But we’ve always had to mess around… Every single movie that we’ve done for the Batman stuff has always had hair that we’ve had to be able to adapt to different looks throughout. So the longer you keep it the more you can do with it. Am I doing a good job? I’m kinda answering the questions but not really giving you shit.
On where his character is taken in the last outing. Bale: I have no clue what the audience is going to think about the movie. Thank god I got someone like Chris who is really great at gauging that. He represents the audience for us on the set. So for me, I love the character so much that you’d get a very bizarre Batman movie. People would go, “What the hell? Why are we delving so much into his psyche? ” He is a fascinating character and then Chris just has to tell me the points when it gets tedious and boring and doesn’t want to see what I’m doing. It’s great having someone at the helm who’s – He’s remarkably confident at going with his gut and not desiring any safety net or anything to fall back on. There are a number of times when I say to him: “Are you sure you don’t want me to do a few other variants? I can do this one, and what if later down track you choose to change this part of the story, in that case we need to change the domino effect. If you want I can give you three or four different ways you can play it. ” He’s like: “No, no I know what I want. ” That’s exactly the thing that I need, he’s very firm with it. It is a fascinating character. In honesty, there are probably a lot of stories that can be told with Batman. I like the idea of him growing older and he can’t quite do it as much anymore. But I kind of feel, you have to leave when the going is good and this is when Chris wants to wrap it up. And it’s the right time.
On Batman's motivation. Is it still his parent's death or a greater sense of responsibility to the city of Gotham.
Bale: To me, he has it all; it’s all in there. The thing is, he is still that child basically. The one thing that I do know, and there’s an awful lot in the graphic novels, which we’ve played with a little bit, is this whole notion of him genuinely being a playboy versus what we’ve done, which is he sort of performs that but his heart’s not really in it. And the eternal problem that Alfred has with watching this guy who has no life. He’s put his entire life on hold because, yeah, he still does. He’s got this fierceness in his mind and emotions that he just will not forget the pain of the parents. With most people it’s like time heals all wounds, but with him it’s like, “No, no, no. ” He doesn’t want to forget it, he wants to maintain that anger that he felt at that injustice but equally he wants to present this very vacuous soulless persona to Gotham so hopefully no one will suspect him but will just think he’s a spoiled bastard. But consequently in his most intimate moments he has Alfred, he has Rachel and there is not a whole lot there, because it’s complete arrested development. And the recognition that at some point he’s got to start living. He is seriously behind in terms of life and enjoyment of life. That’s all been sacrificed and at some point, hopefully it’s Alfred’s wish that he will start to live again. Of course this tragedy has defined him but to a degree he’s sacrificed everything that most people would consider worth living for in life and he’s going to have relearn that, embarrassingly late in life.
Running Time: 2 hrs 40 min [rumored]
Release Date: July 20 2012 (USA)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Starring: Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Jonathan Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (screenplay), David S. Goyer (story)
The Dark Knight Rises is an upcoming superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film will be the third installment in Nolan's Batman film series, and is a sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). The Dark Knight Rises is intended to be the conclusion of the series. It stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman. The film will take place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight and will introduce the characters of Selina Kyle and Bane—portrayed by Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy, respectively—two villains from the Batman mythology.