Speaking at the Produced By Conference on the Sony lot in Culver City last week, Christopher Nolan was very clear about his intention to make a fourth Batman film, as well as his disdain for the trend of filmmaker’s shooting with digital over film. On the latter, Nolan was resoundingly against making another Batman film, saying that he never had the intent to shoot beyond BATMAN BEGINS in the first place.
“We never had a specific trajectory,” Nolan said. “I wanted to put everything into making one great film, I didn’t want to hold anything back.”
When addressing the topic of digital film, Nolan was surprisingly candid about his dislike of the medium and the inclination towards it by many filmmakers, saying it is “devaluing of what we do as filmmakers.
Nolan went on to address the onslaught of digital options, saying, “I don’t want to be the R and D department. I don’t have any interest in the research into electronics. What interests me is to use the best technology and that is film.” adding “It’s like filmmakers are being encouraged to buy cameras like we are buying iPods.”
He went on to liken the digital process to being no different that watching movies at home, saying, “You really are kind of sitting in your living room now watching moves.” Use of digital projection, the director said, “is reducing most theaters to showing TV commercials.”
However, Nolan didn’t put the last egg in the basket, saying, “When it is as good as film and makes economic sense, I’d be completely open to it.”
The Batman news isn’t a surprise to me. I’ve always felt that BATMAN BEGINS is the “odd man out” when it comes to the trilogy, because it’s so different in tone from THE DARK KNIGHT and looks to be even more so from THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. In hindsight, it’s a little easier to build a trilogy around the first film since it’s already established, but that still doesn’t change the shifting tone from one to the other.
Also, we’ve heard this talk before from many filmmakers. I’ll believe Nolan is off Batman when a new director is announced for the next Batman venture. Until then, he’s always a contender. As for the film vs. digital argument? I’m a little surprised as Nolan seems to be a pretty progressive filmmaker, which is probaby why he left us with the comment that he’d consider it when the format is up to par.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES opens on July 20, 2012.