Total Film Magazine has an interview with Christian Bale that hits newsstands tomorrow. They spoke with the Welsh actor last month as he and Warner Bros. were gearing up to promote Terminator Salvation. The conversation, as it tends to do when speaking with Bale, inevitably evolved into a conversation about Batman. Bale discussed Heath Ledger’s legendary performance and Oscar win, as well as TDK’s best picture snub. Then he touched on a question that the entire world is asking with salivating anticipation: What’s the deal with Batman 3?

Bale elaborated on the subject: “Will we do a third movie? It’s got to be the right story. You can’t make something like The Dark Knight and then come out with something disappointing. I would like it if people say, ‘You’ll never make a good third movie.’ I say, ‘OK, let’s make a third movie in that case, let’s prove them wrong. But that’s just me. The fact is, I have to! I’ve signed up! Chris doesn’t. So I’m in a bit of a fix if he says he doesn’t want to!” So breathe easy bat-fans, there will be a 3rd film with Christian Bale as The Caped Crusader. But what about the man whose vision of Batman revolutionized Hollywood and they way we throw around the term “blockbuster?” Listen to me!…Christopher Nolan WILL be back to direct his 3rd and final Batman film.

Lets break this down. In an interview with the LA Times back in October of last year, he gave a very coy response when asked about returning for a third film, saying “If the story is there, everything is possible. I hope that was a suitably slippery answer.” The fact that he didn’t say “No, I’m all Batman’d out” (like Bryan Singer did after  X2) means he’ll be back. Plus he’s continuing his intermission filming routine.  Like he did after Batman Begins, he took a break and did The Prestige. Now, after TDK, he’s doing Inception before he tackles the final installment in his Batman trilogy. It’s a way for him to clear his head artistically and not get brain fried from too much Batman.

The Dark Knight made over $1 billion people! It’s getting close to a year since TDK was released last summer and NO NEW director has been announced. Iron Man 2 is already shooting and it made half the amount of money, as well as being released only two months prior to TDK. If a studio’s film makes $1 billion, they would USUALLY want to get the sequel out ASAP to capitalize on the public’s appetite for the former movie; “strike while the iron’s hot” one might say. Unless!…they want the director to come back for the sequel. So to please him artistically, they sign an agreement that allows him to contractually do another film before returning to finish the trilogy. The Dark Knight shattered so many levels of quality and expectations, that the only person who has a possible chance at meeting or exceeding them, is Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros. is not stupid enough to endure the fanboy back lash that would occur if they were to enlist a new director because they were too ancy to wait for a 3rd film and do it right. We all remember Brett Rattner and X-Men 3.

We are  going to have to be patient. Inception begins shooting this summer and will be released in July of next summer. It’ll be in theaters for two months, then released on DVD in Novemberish. So the earliest that Nolan will admit any tidbits of script, characters, casting, etc., will be around Christmas of 2010. Damn that’s a long time, but the wait will be more than worth it. I’ll be posting an article soon on what I THINK the story of Batman 3 should be, who should be cast and why. Stay tuned.

What Do You Think? Discuss.