12:00 AM, 16-OCTOBER-06

Batman 2 Prep Is Easier
Scifi Wire


Director Christopher Nolan—whose next film will be The Dark Knight, the sequel to last year's Batman Begins—told SCI FI Wire that the preproduction phase of the film has been easier this time around. "There are certain things that obviously you're not having to worry about and spend time on," Nolan said in an interview while promoting his current film, The Prestige, which opens Oct. 20. "We've already made the Batmobile. We already have the main members of the cast. So, yeah. But, frankly, the new film poses all kinds of new challenges, so it'll be just as tricky in its own way."

Nolan said he is conscious of the high expectations for the sequel based on the success of the first film, but isn't bothered by the pressure. "It's a pretty dumb thing of me to do, to go back and try and do it again," he said. "But [I] like the challenge. I just found the world and the characters pretty fascinating. And we felt that you just wanted to push on [with] the story, really. But it'll be a huge challenge. We were very happy with the way the first film worked out and then was perceived. So, yeah, it's an enormous risk. That's really what you have to be doing as a filmmaker, I think, is taking enormous risks."

Nolan said he is currently fine-tuning the latest draft of the script, written by his brother and frequent collaborator, Jonathan Nolan. The brothers previously collaborated on the Oscar-winning film Memento, as well as The Prestige. Until the script is finished, Nolan doesn't plan to be doing any casting beyond the role of the Joker, which recently went to Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger. "I haven't thought about casting at all," Nolan said. "Heath was a particular case in point, because he just became a possibility, and I jumped on that because he was the guy I needed. But I haven't finished the script yet. There'll be plenty of time for that." —Cindy White