Batting Third?

Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has finally returned after a well deserved vacation,--and The Los Angeles Times was lucky enough to snag him an extensive three-part interview with him--this past week:

In the first part they ask him the questions that every one wants to know since TDK took off.

'Knight' stands with a $528 million domestic take and just shy of $1 billion international total. Nolan joked about such abstract numbers:

"There's something liberating in knowing that my next film, whatever it is, isn't going to make as much money [laughter]. I don't have to try for years."

Will he back for the third Bat-flick in the current incarnation?

"There are two things to be said. One is the emphasis on story. What's the story? Is there a story that's going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That's the overriding question. On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name? [Laughs.] At the same time, in taking on the second one, we had the challenge of trying to make a great second movie and there haven't been too many of those either. It's all about the story really. If the story is there, everything is possible."



What kind of film would he like to do next?

"After "Batman Begins," I certainly felt like taking on something smaller, but one of the things I got such a thrill from on "The Dark Knight" was shooting on IMAX and creating that massive scale and achieving that larger-than-life quality. So that's a lot of fun. I'm drawn in both directions now. So maybe what I need to do next is a very intimate, small story that happens to be photographed on a ridiculously large scale. Or vice versa [laughs]."

I certainly hopes Nolan comes back...The ending he sets for TDK begs for his involvement in #3...I can't imagine anyone else calling action--The way he laughed when answering--his thrill over IMAX are all positive signals in my opinion that Nolan will return...The studio would be crazy to let him go...Stay tuned...

Meanwhile--Nolan revisits and analyzes his favorite scene in TDK and why his Batman doesn't play well with others...

-After a Bye week-The Chicago Bears are back in action against the 0-7 Detroit Lions

And while at first glance you might think "easy win" I agree with the Sports Network that the Bears Can't Afford to Look Past Winless Lions...