Dark Knight Rises - in London

Christopher Nolan has started filming his latest Batman film in London.

Warner Bros. Pictures says principal photography began this week on The Dark Knight Rises, the conclusion to Nolan's Batman trilogy.

Film crew and blacked-out cars were spotted at night near Charter House Square in the capital, where fans in Batman t-shirts flocked in the hope of getting autographs.

A bystander said: "We've seen people in American cop uniforms going in and out so I reckon they're filming Gotham City night scenes in there."

The film will also be shot in India, Scotland and the American cities of New York, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.

Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne and Batman. Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman are also returning to the cast. Newcomers for the third installment in the franchise include Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Joseph, Tom and Marion also appeared in Nolan's 2010 film Inception.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release in July next year.

Can A Best Picture Direct itself?: Who'll Go Home with Oscar 2011

The nominees for Best Director are:

Darren Aronofsky -           Black Swan
Tom Hooper                     The King's Speech
David Fincher                    The Social Network
Joel & Ethan Cohen           True Grit
David O Russell                  The Fighter

Conspicuously absent from that list, in my view, is Christopher Nolan. We certainly understand that with ten Best Picture slots and only five Best Director nominees than some worthy candidates will be left out, but surely, on the basis of combined mass appeal and clear artistic vision (no, I'm not going into all that 'explaining the dream plot' business), Nolan (below, right) deserved a shot, possibly at the expense of Russell.

Chris Lee, writing on news blog The daily Beast, sums up the barriers to Nolan's "anointing" thusly:


the [Director nomination] snub also highlights a certain image problem Nolan seems to suffer among his peers. According to a cross section of Oscar campaign masterminds—ranking publicity experts and people who have worked with the filmmaker—he's regarded by some as too cool for school. Nolan's chilly English demeanor, combined with his refusal to engage in the usual kind of Academy campaigning that has become de rigueurduring awards season, may have alienated him from the rank and file of the Academy's 367-member Directors Branch.

The King's Speech love-fest continued -somewhat at the BAFTAs, with many talking of a multi-award sweep that would include helmer Tom Hooper (who has already gotten the Directors Guild seal of approval) In the decade since the BAFTAs moved forward to take place while academy members are still voting, they have foreseen four Best Picture Oscar winners:'Gladiator' (2000), 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003), 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008) and'The Hurt Locker' (2009).


But we're discussing Best director here, and the BAFTAs this year made a surprising choice. They passed over  Hooper and went instead for The Social Network's David Fincher. Personally, Hooper is still the front-runner, but if anybody is to pip him at the line, it will be Fincher.


It wouldn't be the first time that the Oscar votes between Best Picture and Best director are split. In 2005, Crash broadsided Ang Lee's Oscar party, snatching the Best Picture Oscar and leaving Lee to settle for Best Director for his controversial Brokeback Mountain. On the flipside, 20 years ago, Bruce Beresford's Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture without the director even scoring as much as a nomination.


I'm calling Fincher to similarly spoil the party (a bit) for The King's Speech 

Its King's Speech vs True Grit, with Fighter and Social Network in there

The King's Speech emerged the top nominated film in the just announced 2011 Oscar Nominations, taking 12 nominations, ahead of the latest Coen Brothers epic, True Grit coming with 10 nominations. Again, we have a directorial snub: Christopher Nolan's dream-thriller Inception is among the Best Picture contenders, but if it wins, Nolan won't be acknowledged by the Academy

The Best Picture nominees are:

The King's Speech;
The Fighter;
Black swan;
Inception;
127 Hours;
Toy Story 3;
True Grit;
Winter's Bone;
The Kids Are All Right;
The Social Network

Our comments and "Who Will Go Home With Oscar" preview begin tomorrow

"Knight No More": Bale says next Batman reboot his last

Access Hollywood caught up with Christian during the junket for his latest film, "The Fighter," co-starring Mark Wahlberg, where he said he was ready to bring "The Dark Knight" back to the big screen one more time.

"Absolutely!" Christian said, when asked if he was preparing to film the next Batman movie. "I'm assuming it's going to be the last one, so I'm very excited about it."

As far as the film's title - which Nolan has already announced is "The Dark Knight Rises," Christian said he's yet to officially hear that from the director.

"I haven't spoken with Chris since it got written, so I don't believe anything unless I hear it straight from Chris," the actor noted.

When it comes to who may step in as the caped crusader's next on-screen nemesis or lovely leading lady, Christian said that knowledge is still on a need-to-know basis - and this is one detail he still doesn't know.

"Chris will let me know what I need to know when I need to know it," he said. "This is our fourth movie together. He knows me - I'll know when I need to."

According to a previous report by Deadline, the race for the female lead in the film is down to six candidates -- Keira Knightley, Blake Lively, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Natalie Portman and Anne Hathaway.

Also previously reported by Deadline, "Inception" star Tom Hardy will also join the project, and while details of his role remain under wraps, it's rumored he will step in as the caped crusader's new evil foe.

"The Dark Knight Rises" will hit theaters on July 20, 2012.