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David Goyer & Jonathan Nolan Working on Batman 3 Script?

by Alex Billington
February 8, 2010
Source: Deadline Hollywood

It's another one of "these" stories. Yes, the sequel to The Dark Knight is coming, it's just taking some time. And yes, they're probably working on a script right now, even though Chris Nolan is still finishing Inception. Just this past weekend, David S. Goyer announced that he was leaving the ABC show FlashForward to work on "feature projects." Although he directed The Unborn and was FlashForward's showrunner, Goyer also put together the story for The Dark Knight and co-wrote Batman Begins, too. However, it shouldn't be an immediate assumption that the "feature project" he's working on instead is indeed Batman 3. Read on!

Here's where things get a little bit skeptical. ComingSoon points out this quote from Nikki Finke's article on Deadline Hollywood about Goyer leaving FlashForward. But I don't think this is any confirmation at all.

Of course, Goyer's feature career is really heating up, since he co-wrote Batman Begins, and penned the story for The Dark Knight, and is now writing the third Batman installment with Chris Nolan's brother Jonah. ("As my feature projects have started ramping up again, I felt I was being pulled in too many directions," Goyer said in a statement. "I'm proud of the show and excited about the relaunch. It's in great hands.")

It's not that I don't trust Nikki Finke, I do, but I think it's just "assumed" that Goyer and Jonah are working on the script. Finke may have heard that Warner Brothers is paying them to work on it, which would make sense, but I feel like we hear that every other month. Like I said, yes it's coming, but Chris Nolan wants to finish Inception first. Let him take his time, don't rush him, and we'll get a better move in the end. If this is indeed the case, and Jonah (or Jonathan as he's also known) is working on the script right now with Goyer, it may be a sign that DC Entertainment is trying to step things up. Along with the great news we've heard about Green Lantern, too. Hopefully we'll hear an official announcement soon? I doubt it, at least not soon.

Filed under Movie News, Opinions, Rumors

From around the web:

Dirty Dutchman

Any news of the new installment of Batman is good news to me and I hope the original team stays together to create the 3rd film... I just hope Jonah does not kill anyone else in the mean time and gets himself in trouble.
Matt

i hope this info is correct, this is at the top of my most anticipated list
Stevo

Call me skeptical or call me pessimistic, but I just don't think Batman 3 is going to be able to hold up against The Dark Knight. I feel they had a general idea of what they wanted to do in the 2 sequels and frankly, Heath Ledger dieing completely threw that out the window. The Dark Knight completely sacrificed the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne to set up easily the greatest Villain movie ever made (even better than Scarface) which is saying a lot since the cheesy boat-choice thing was pretty horrible. It was completely saved by the last confrontation between Batman and the Joker. "I think you and I are destined to do this forever". You knew you were being set up for a hero movie in the third one. You had the perfect villain and the perfect mythical clash of good versus evil set up. Now you don't.
Sigurjon

Be aware, the third movie is always the bad one!!!!
big dude

be aware also, when a movie is on top there's only one place to go. downnnnnnnnnn this could be bad.
DEADPOOL,MERC WITH A MOUTH

need different villains then usual the likes of bane & killer croc.i'm bored of seeing same villains all the time joker,riddler,cat woman & penguin.
Ross

#6 - Sure Bane was in Batman & Robin ...
Nada Nuff

Oh, great...another "something might be starting to happen with Batman 3" story.
L1A

hopefully it'll be better than TDK
dave

Heath Ledger pulled out
Mike

About time we get a batman update.
Cineprog

Sounds like another Spiderman Senerio to me, they keep saying there will be another Batman 3, Goes on Goes on. Then there will be diffrances between the Studio and the Director then the project falls apart, then the Studio say's we will Reboot the Franchise under another Director and another star to play Batman Because Christian Bale will be too old to play Batman and he will be Drawing is pension.
ethermay

look. if nolan is the supremo descision maker here, we get a good flick... if not... EPIC FAIL
WB Exec

WHY SO SERIOUS?
Ian Kuah

I'm willing to wait years before another installment. I don't think I would be too upset if I never saw a batman film again, but I don't want that to happen either. I agree that we should let Nolan and the rest take their time with this one so we can actually enjoy a third installment.
Matt

If Bane is done right, he can be a force to be reckoned with. I kind of felt like Dent's funeral was all show, so that the city wouldn't learn of his 'fall'. Maybe he was kept under lock and key while he recovered from the fall and then locked up in Arkham? I REALLY hope Robin is brought in at some time, if only to set up a Nightwing movie.
ethermay

OK..... Robin has always and will always be presented in a cheesy and unbelievable fashion... His presence is in films and shows basically completes the COMICAL CHEESEBALL factor in a movie.... I can't see him fitting realistically in Nolan's Batman world, and i do not see how you can either... BTW. I like typing periods.
ethermay

*presence in films
interl0per

@ 7 you are absolutely right on that. Same name, not the same character at all...if you can call anything in Batman and Robin a character. I would love to see a real Bane, very intellectual but cranks it up with Venom. It isnt outside of Nolan's batman universe either.
subcelsious5g

the third movie will be the return of the jedi of the batman series now . I think it'll still be badass , these guys struck gold twice now with batman begins and the dark knight, i have faith the next one will be great, alls it is is patience.
Dirty Dane

1# Dirty Dutchman - It was Chris' and Jonah's brother Matthew Francis Nolan that earlier had gotten himself into trouble with the law. I don't think that Jonah has any legal problems or any history of violations in that sense...
Cody

I think whoever says this is gonna fail is horribly wrong... I have Faith that the Nolans will pull out a majestic 3rd movie and it will top TDK in almost every way. Seriously Nolan knows what he has to top and I believe he will make sure its nothing short of a masterpiece. Also those who say all 3rd movies are bad, Return of the king anyone?
LINKFX

I hate David S. Goyer, he is definitely the worst thing that has happened to Batman, if I were WB I would not allow him to work with two geniuses like the Nolan Bros. You can see his dirty fingerprints all over the half-baked "Batman Begins", and even in the less logical parts of "Dark Knight". "The Unborn" and the entire Blade Trilogy are for the most part, absolute dreck, with Blade II being an exception(it's still stupid, it's just really well directed and acted). Seriously, this guy is a major idiot.
Darren

NO!!!! HE IS LEAVING FLASHFOWARD... HONESTLY THT IS ONE OF THE BEST NEW SHOWS TO EVER COME OUT IN A WHILE!!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!!!!!!! NOW THERE IS GONNA BE SHITTY WRITTNG!, HONESTLY I DONT THINK THEY CAN MAKE A SEQUEL WITHOUT HAVING BATMAN BE IN HIS 60'S AND THEY INTRODUCE ROBIN AS HIS REPLACEMENT AND CALL IT KNIGHT WING
SlashBeast

That sounds more like an offhand comment. More of an assumption really. If this were true then I think Finke would have dedicated it to its own article.
Vold

Give me the Riddler. Make him really dark and twisted and this movie will kill.
germs

If Inception is as big as Nolan says it is than he's going to really step up his game. The guy likes to out do his previous efforts.
Daniel

Hmm, hopefully Batman 3 will turn out better despite Goyer working on it.
bryan r

I'd love a 3rd Batman, Bale is the best Bruce Wayne ever, maybe have Harley Quinn popping up for revenge, a insane Natalie Portman in Closer mode would be pretty cool.
Xerxex

@29 I would love to see Harley Quinn in Batman 3.
Daniel felts

Cool. Batman should team up with another dc hero maybe superman
Sean

#31 Daniel felts - Hell NO! If that ever happened I'd boycott Warner Bros.
ethermay

#31- That is laughable. Do you have Uwe Boll movies in your collection?
http://twitter.com/JOHNSTAMOS John Stamos

I always end up a little angry at these things when I start to hear that a good Batman movie can't be made now that Heath Ledger is gone. He was a dead ringer for the Joker, but there are so many options in the Batman Universe and they have one the best film makers of all time. Anything can happen. I felt they were setting up a third film at the end of The Dark Knight but didn't get it so much from the Joker. I thought he may make an appearance like Scarecrow did, but the main villain for the third film would be Two-Face and Batman would be a wanted for the death of Harvey Dent. Am I just crazy? John Stamos
ethermay

Stamos.... can't believe you got drunk on camera. crazy!
drunkimus

Ok Heath Ledger was awesome but he is not the joker. When he was cast for it everyone said he can't match Jack Nicholson so.... get over I love TDK but i'm sick of peole comparing every F***** movie with it
Fisherr

I hope it's done as big as or bigger than TDK.
hahaha

haha. I can't believe I get to correct JOHN F***ING STAMOS. Seriously, man, CUT. IT. OUT. Harvey Dent / Two Face is dead. That was a HUGE part of the central theme of the film. The Joker only cared about creating chaos and pushing people past their limits. Batman was pushed to take a life by being forced to choose between Gordons son and Harvey. There was no possibility of a cover up. Gordon says this directly - yes, when he says this, he refers to covering up the "5 dead" - but it also shows that things like that are beyond his power. Lets say that everyone (including the director & the script) is lying and Harvey wasn't dead after falling 3 floors onto hard ground. How is Gordon going to "hide" him and provide him the medical and ongoing attention he needs just to aid a coverup about Harvey being irreparably out of his mind? What you're suggesting sounds like something from a bad Brett Ratner film (are there any good ones?) It's just asinine to think this way. The script is pleading for the audience to understand what is happening by basically SAYING IT OUT LOUD - and people still miss it! Incredible. The film ends with Batman becoming The Dark Knight. People think he will kill - this neatly ties up the plot device of criminals not being intimidated by Batman due to his known rules about killing. Gordon and Batman are left to carry the burden of what Harvey did, and with Batman subdued by being the target of a witch hunt, the Joker locked up, Dent and Rachel dead, MCU in tatters, and the Mafia essentially gutted - there will be a power vacuum in Gotham. This has been explored in the comics and will be interesting to see how it pans out in #3 with the villains they bring in. It has been mentioned that Nolan wanted the Joker in the 3rd film - something I believe he'd do with or without Heath Ledger dying. The Joker is a HUGE part of the Batman universe and not killing him off means he would certainly appear in the next story. Any suggestion that Harvey also lived means that - presumably - the 3rd film would have Scarecrow, The Joker, Two Face, plus another one or two villains running around? Seriously? Phew. My prediction is that the Joker will appear - even if in a small way - in the 3rd film with the actor replaced. Joseph Gordon Levitt would presumably be the best fit given he at least looks similar to Heath and has just worked with Nolan in Inception.
Xerxex

@hahaha I agree. Levitt is really the only person I see taking the mantel from Ledger, that or they will CGI Ledger's Joker, wouldn't that be sad!?
Stevo

#29. Flashforward was cancelled. or isn't being renewed. whatever they call it these days. My GF was crushed. A true Bane would be badass but in order to really do him you'd have to have Batman's full rogues gallery. Bane is the man who defeated Batman because he used his brains for an actual sensible evil plan. I don't know what the Levitt hard on as been lately. I don't see anything come from him that make me think he suddenly became a great actor. He was cobra commander. Played himself in a movie where Zoey Dash plays herself. And we will have to see about Inception. Also watch 10 things I hate about you. Levitt and Ledger are both in that movie. They look nothing alike. Without the Joker, the next Batman movie will have to be him as a "pretend villain" with some obsessed good guy who goes too far. I have heard ths put in with the Riddler being a sort of special investigator or something like that. I don't know... we will see.
Caitie

I believe Nolan is smart enough to figure out a way to top The Dark Knight. Like a few other people here are saying, all this needs is time and patience. Nolan will come back more creatively and freely to the Batman world if people weren't breathing down his neck. He's one of the few directors out there who has a pretty much has spot-less record, so then perhaps he can top the seemingly impossible. I agree with #39 if Nolan was going to want to bring back the Joker than the only person I'd be okay with him to cast is Joseph Gordan-Levitt. Although we haven't seem him in a lot of movies I can tell he has great potential to give a decent joker performance. He also oddly looks a lot like Ledger too. In conclusion if we have the slight chance of seeing Batman rise again, we won't see this for a least three or four more years. So I wouldn't suggest holding your breath.
FrObOy21

its great that the same writers from the past two movies are coming back for the 3rd beacuse they really pulled it off and pushed everything off limits with batman begins and the dark knight, evrything was perfect and great. i think that they should bring in the riddler because i know that nolan will make a crazy, dark and joker like, riddler. i know they won't bring back the joker, maybe they will mantion him throughout the movie, but will not appper, it really be an insult to see someone else playing the character instead of ledger. i think i have the perfect title for the 3rd batman movie: "Gotham's Dark Knight"
AKid

Finaly some news. I know it is not hard as stone but at least something. Realy was waiting long for something too happen, but nothing did. I played million scenarious in my head about what could happen in the third movie, there really are a lot of villains that were not on the big screen yet, lots of sceenes to explore... Hoppefully they will deliver, it wount top the TDK, but I did not like it anyway. Too cheezy.
Ross

Re Robin, would it be so bad if they just jumped straight to having an older Nightwing understudy to batman and skip the whole Robin thing? Then have a spin off later. I know it completely goes against the comics but I dont know how Robin can be brought in completely successfully. I dont think Nolan is ever going to have him in there so more likely to happen in a batman 4 whether its robin or nightwing
tir na nog

Personally I think they already have a barebones script and are probably refining it. Levitt will play the Joker,he already played Ledgers brother and Nolan casting him in Inception confirms it. The Riddler will make an appearance,its what most people want,although like the joker in this one,he may not be the main villian.Maybe a set-up for the fourth. This film will not resemble TDK.Expect a cat and mouse thriller,like Seven,between the Riddler and the Batman,with none of the epic scenarios of the first two. People are saying it will take years before they make it,if the Nolans had a script cameras would be rolling in two weeks. The first two movies made over a billion and a half dollars and counting so this franchise is a top priority at Warner bros and will be made with or without the same people behind the camera.I know Darren Aronofsky has expressed interest in Batman many times,but fair enough a much differant vision. Either way I cant wait.
Branden

1. No Robin. Has the robin character ever worked in a movie? 2. No Riddler. I don't care what the comic book-faithful say, he is too much like the Joker and making him "darker" will only make the 3rd movie a poor man's TDK. They have to go in another direction 3. How about a hot Rachel Dawes this time? 4. Everyone has to come to terms with the fact that this movie will not be better than TDK. Audiences, actors, writers, Nolan, studio execs and just make a solid finale that everyone can be satisfied with. If they try to out-do themselves, we're going to be in for another SM3.
Nada Nuff

@ Branden Rachel is dead.
Governor

#23 - LINKFX I totally agree. Goyer's writing is so subpar compared to he Nolan bros. He's the reason Batman Begins is so wishy-washy whereas he was severely minimized on The Dark Knight and the film was better for it. My dream scenario is that they ditch him entirely and just get Jonah and Chris to write the script. But, it seems that he IS going to be a writer, and if he is, keep his role minimized.
BookWorm

Don't worry, if there's anyone who can break the comic book movie threequel curse, it's Nolan. He wouldn't have signed onto a third if he wasn't going to outdo himself. He has a brilliant work ethic. He only singed onto The Dark Knight when he was sure he could top Batman Begins. He'll outdo himself again here.
rippin' off the food king

B3 aint gonna flush. There wil be no Joker and subsequently nothing worth a sh* t for characters. Heath Ledger's Joker was such a scene stealer that whenever I watch my DVD copy of TDK, I wind up flipping the chapters forward to the Joker's scenes. He makes the Batman a BORE by comparrison.
Governor

^ Just like your mom's sex tape.
CiARGO33

I'm so excited!!!! If the movie turns out bad, I don't care. I'm a really a big fan. I'm still wondering what its actually going to be about. The big question is WHICH VILLAN or (villans) ARE GOING TO BE IN IT. Besides that I hope it tops The Dark Knight.
mike

Don't know if anyone else heard about this but I just read some interesting tidbits about the next Batman movie. Can be considered spoiler material if it ends up being true. The Riddler is the primary villain and he figures out Batman's identity. Arkham Asylum will figure prominently in the story. Several classic villains will cameo, including the Penguin and Mr. Freeze (though as Dr. Fries, not as the supervillains). Barbara Gordon will have a featured role. Commissioner Gordon will mention Metropolis and possibly Lex Luthor. Dick Grayson may be in the movie (though not as Robin).
CiARGO33

What mike said, I heard that too. I'm still not sure about that, because all of the other rumors I read about. All that sounds good except about mentioning about Metropolis and maybe about Lex. Still, we don't know much. P.S. Not a big fan of Superman.
LINKFX

#53, mike, you are a complete and utter liar. They haven't even seriously developed anything for this film yet.
mike

55 Linkfx read it again. I said "if it's true". And yes, they have already begun the script. Chris Nolan gave his ideas to Jonathan and Goyer and they have started on the script. So don't act like a whiney little brat.
CiARGO33

If their starting to write about Batman 3. Who are the people making the posters, and trialers. Not talking about the fanmade ones, which are BAD.
max s.

FINALLY. If this movie is ha;f as good as The Dark Knight, it will still be pretty amazing. But hoping for the best it will be better than The Dark Knight and take on Avatar for Highest Grossing Film. Just as long as Chris Nolan Directs