Update for The Dark Knight Rises: Grand Budget for a Grand Finale

Gotham is crumbling... Will Batman be able to save it?
Duh. He always does.

Where to begin…? Since the last update of The Dark Knight Rises, so much has happened that it would be nigh impossible to cover it all. Which is why I am not. All the casting rumors and certainties will be gathered up in a later post.

First officially released image of Bane. 

As the last article covered, TDKR cast both Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway as Bane and Catwoman(Selina Kyle) respectively. While I loved the choice of actors, I was none too thrilled by the idea of having either villain set in the Nolan Universe he crafted for the Batman, to say the least. Not to mention my boy, David Tennant, is nowhere to be found on the cast list, even though I pleaded that he be included… I’m an astounded that a giant studio or an incredibly busy filmmaker doesn’t read an incredibly small-time movie blogger, like myself. If the oozing sarcasm from that did not soak you to the bone, just to clarify, THAT WAS SARCASTIC.

The genius.

Once again, Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman reprise their respective roles. The Nolan brothers team up to write the script, and David S. Goyer takes part in the story, as they did for the previous two Batman films. The producers and co-producers largely remain the same as the prior two films, as well. If it ain’t broke, don’t YOU DARE FIX IT!

Anyway, there has been so much more news than just Bane and Catwoman. The Internetz are all a-buzz about the latest news on The Dark Knight Rises…

She's on a Batpod... WHY IS CATWOMAN ON A BATPOD?!

Well, The Dark Knight Rises, aka Chris Nolan’s third and final installment in his Batman trilogy, has been bustling along since May 3 of this year. Even though the team has shot on very public locations, which include Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, the Mellon Institute and Software Engineer Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, London, Glasgow, New York, Los Angeles, and parts of India, many elements of The Dark Knight Rises remain very secretive. Let’s just say, Chris Nolan is playing this one “close to the chest.” And wow, I wish I could be part of that production team…

If all this travel sounds expensive, well, the film as a whole is estimated to have as much as a $250 million budget. If this is true, that would put The Dark Knight Rises in the top five biggest budgeted films (not including the two parts of The Hobbit, which have a whopping projected budget of $270 million). Expenses of The Dark Knight Rises would also include the pricey IMAX cameras, of which one was destroyed during a Catwoman stunt, the expensive and elaborate vehicles for Bats and villains to drive, and the ever-growing number of A-List cast members.

Possibly the new Wayne Manor? 

Again, where to start? Okay, well, the phenomenal news is that THIS FILM WON’T BE SHOT IN THREE DIMENSIONS!!! This makes me very happy (understatement of the day). Instead of Chris Nolan giving in to the obnoxious trend of 3D, The Dark Knight Rises will be shot with IMAX cameras. While the whole films will not be shot with IMAX cameras as initially thought, it is reported that Nolan will use the cameras even more than he did for The Dark Knight.

Allegedly the newest Batwing

Obviously, shooting in IMAX is an exhausting ordeal, not only for the director, but also, for the budget. It also doesn’t help when a stunt-gone-wrong ends up smashing one very expensive IMAX camera to itty-bitty bits. Not only is the filming expensive, but so too are the things being filmed! It is reported that there were at least three camouflaged Tumblers present at Heinz Field, where the Pittsburgh Steelers football team played as either the Gotham City Rogues or their opponent, the Rapid City Monuments. It is also rumored that the Tumblers will not only be in the hands of the hero, Batman, but perhaps the primary villain, Bane, may get a hold of one or two, as well. So the Tumblers are back, even though one was destroyed epically in The Dark Knight. The totaled Tumbler spawned the Batpod, which was also sighted during shooting. Catwoman/Selina Kyle reportedly rides one, which raises questions of if she teams with Batman…. Also, a Batwing, yes, a Batwing, has been spotted chasing and shooting down semi-trucks and a Tumbler.

Killin' da Tumblas! 

A Batwing.

Huh. While that may seem cool, it also seems as if this grand finale is getting a little too convoluted and grand for its own good… I won’t even go into the ever-increasing number of cast members, as I will cover that later. Between the IMAX grandness, the incredible locations, the somewhat ridiculous vehicles, this will at the very least be an extraordinary film of epic proportions. If there is one guy who can handle this very ambitious should-be blockbuster, it’s Chris Nolan.

Even though I remain a bit apprehensive as to what direction this film is heading exactly, my initial vehement reactions to The Dark Knight Rises have quelled considerably. The pieces seem very disarrayed, but again, I know that the expertise of Nolan can put together one heckuva amazingly grand finale.

Check out this trailer below! It is nice to see that Batman finally gets a physical adversary in Bane, instead of easily beating joe-shmoes to a pulpy mess. And yes, that last scene was Batman looking exhausted as Bane continues his onslaught.

Geronimo.

~Peter