Batman Begins and The Dark Knight’s executive producer Michael Uslan has just signed on for the next installment in what we’re all hoping is Nolan’s third Batman flick. Ulsan expects the new movie to hit theaters in 2011.

Uslan will be onboard as executive producer for the “Dark Knight” sequel, which he estimates will be theaters by 2011. As for the identity of the next round of Batman’s supervillains and love interests, Uslan remains tight-lipped. “It’s one of those deals where if I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he says with a chuckle.

You better sign on, Nolan! And Dent is alive! Will we see a new Catwoman? Riddler? Or…

Coming Soon via Techamok

…the opening sequence might look something like the above video. It’s been on YouTube for almost four months now, but you know what they say: “Videos on YouTube get blogged about almost four months after they get uploaded.”

I don’t know who says that but maybe it’ll catch on. Anyway, the mock intro to the NES version of the Dark Knight has an old-school Ninja Gaiden cut scene feel to it. Well crafted.

[via Geekologie]

The regular Blu-ray edition of The Dark Knight is selling for $25 while the LE is fetching a hefty $65, but it does get you that badass Bat Pod.

TheHDRoom via Giz

Some people have way too much time on their hands.

via The Matt Hickey

Of course, WB just wants to ’strike while the iron is hot’ and make some loot. It’s also safe to say that they’re gunning for “Titanic” as the highest grossing film of all time, which made $1.84 billion in its reign of tyranny. Thus far the “Dark Knight” has raked in $512 million domestically, $440 million internationally, and over $55 million from IMAX screenings.

Who’s going back to see it in IMAX? I’ve seen it twice in IMAX (three times total) and will definitely go back in January.

via Get the Big Picture

Host: Hey Johnny, a listener called in earlier said you have to ask about the rumors on the internet of you doing the Riddler.
Depp: Oh yeah I heard about that. Not that I know of.
Host: You’d be a good choice.
Depp: It seems like it’d be a fun gig for a while, yeah.

Hit the jump to see Pearce’s interview.

ohnny Depp on the Riddler “Seems like it would be a fun gig” via io9

Riddle Me This: Guy Pearce Is Down For Visiting Chris Nolan’s Gotham

That’s right. Christopher Nolan wants 62-year-old Cher to play Catwoman in “The Caped Crusader”, which begins filming in Vancouver next year. I really wish they would recast for the Riddler. I like Johnny Depp, but I think David Tennant would be so much better. Also worth noting is this blurb from a studio exec.

“Cher is Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years.

“The new Catwoman will be the absolute opposite of Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry’s purring creations.”

[Update]: Praise the lord. WB says Cher will not be the new Catwoman.
Thanks for the awesome image, Shanee!

A man by the name of Bob Dullam has created a complete replica of the Tumbler from The Dark Knight. The guy built the entire thing in his garage for the cool sum of $50-70,000. So, a handy guy with money. Rare as hen’s teeth.

Just one week till the movie comes out here in Barcelona. There better not be lines.

Oh, as long as we’re gushing over Batman again, you might enjoy this video that makes fun of Batman’s gravely voice.

This Dark Knight edition Xbox 360 was spotted in Taiwan. Microsoft is said to have produced only a handful of these, so don’t expect to be able to walk into your local Best Buy any time soon.

Attention, Batman and video game fans. Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the dandiest gaming blog out there, has given its professional opinion (two opinions, actually) on Lego Batman, a game we’ve covered as part of our boyish infatuation with The Dark Knight.

As you might expect, RPS liked what it saw. Playing as Mr. Freeze and the Riddler, RPS pranced about, doing all sorts of Lego-y and Batman-y things, like shooting the ice gun, turning the target into a mess of disjointed ice blocks.

Honestly, if you’ve played one Lego game, you’ve played them all, as that fast-talking guy pointed out not too long ago. Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you; the Lego games are, gasp, actually fun to play.

Again, Lego Batman is due for release in September.

More often than not, it’s the simple explanation that makes the most sense. Commenting on a recent LA Times woe-for-the-movie-industry piece, Techdirt arrives at the stunning conclusion that people will pay to go see a good movie.

The LA Times article describes in detail the efforts that the industry took to delay The Dark Knight including shipping the movie reels in separate shipments to discourage a complete copy being lost or stolen. From production to post on through movie theater delivery, the movie was under tight security.

All of this sounded a little over-vigilant to Mike Masnick who simplifies the equation down to the bare facts. Make a good movie and people will pay for the experience. The Dark Knight, most say, is a good movie. That is where the success came from, not by the cloak and dagger routine staged by the MPAA.

DarkKnightGear continues with a deep, almost philosophical look at the tech behind the new Batsuit that has Batfans-a-talking. (God, could I sound anymore like Variety?) Christopher Nolan, the film’s director, told the Los Angeles Times that it doesn’t make any sense for a superhero to be running around in a heavy, non-breathing latex that restricts one’s movements. This time around Christian Bale is wearing a suit that’s not unlike something you’d find at a motocross rally. (That was the design’s inspiration.)

The new design was intended to make it easier for Bale to jump around and so forth without breaking a hip. In Batman Begins, Bale said that old style suit made it hard to so much as turn his neck, and that getting into his brooding character wasn’t too hard when you consider what a pain in the ass it was to move about in it.

And yes, I’m still waiting for a decent CAM to be released. The TRADINGSTANDARDS one looks horrendous.

Popular Mechanics has about 20 seconds of non-trailer footage of The Dark Knight wherein the director, Christopher Nolan, explains his decision to film certain parts of the movie using IMAX cameras. Of course, the video itself isn’t embedable, but a quick trip to YouTube fixed that problem. Thanks, Popular Mechanics!

Possibly even better, the second, most recent trailer in Lego form.

Stupid Spain, the movie doesn’t come out here for another month. I may have to slum for a bit and watch a CAM.

This guy Andrew has added lyrics to famous theme songs, including the Batman theme which is halfway between being absolutely brilliant and intensely nuts.

via BB

Because we failed to hold on our moratorium I’m offering one Verizon Nokia 6205 BATMANG! phone to the lucky commenter who can really curse out the iPhone in comment. Please use as much vitriol as possible and include your email address. We’ll pick one winner at random at noon on Saturday.

UPDATE – The winner is Greatslack. You guys got really mean. Wow.

So this is sorta surprising. Despite how seemingly popular the Batman movies have been, that awful one starring George Clooney notwithstanding, they don’t seem to make all that much money. Adjusted for inflation, the first movie is still box office king with $436.4 million at the box office. Batman Begins pulled in $226.3 million.

The worst, of course, was that Clooney stinker, Batman and Robin, which did only $143.7 million at the box office. Worse, it actually cost the studio money! Yup, nothing like a -14 percent return on investment to nearly kill a franchise.

I’d complain that the Dark Knight comes out in Spain, where I’ll be, on August 13, a full month after it comes out in the U.S., but who’d listen? (Was that even a sentence?)

Has anyone else tried purchasing tickets for the midnight showing? I just tried and Fandango is a dirty, filthy liar. The midnight showing at the IMAX here in NYC was lit up all red like tickets were available, but it really wasn’t. I want to cry now.

You suck, Fandango.

For whatever reason, we’ve been following The Dark Knight like it’s our job, posting the latest trailers and gossiping like a bunch of hens. So imagine our delight when we read the first published review of the latest Batman movie in Rolling Stone, a publication that’s usually too cool for the room for us to care about. Surprise, surprise, though: they liked it! Like, 3.5 out of 4 stars liked it!

Veteran critic Peter Travers offers nothing but praise for this, director Christopher Nolan’s second shot at making a Batman movie. (Travers gave Batman Begins three stars.)

He calls the script “deft,” praising Heth Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. No “his daddy made him do it” pseudo-intellectual drivel here; the Joker enjoys being a deranged creep. Travers says Ledger, who died this past January, deserves an Oscar, sentiment that’s gathering momentum.

Amazing, what is essentially a fill-the-seats summer comic book movie “brings pop escapism whisper-close to enduring art.” Christian Bale’s role as a “lost warrior,” comparing him to Al Pacino in ”The Godfather II,” means we’re treated to another solid 2.5 hours of smart entertainment.

And come on, it’s Batman, the best superhero ever by a country mile.

So yeah, the movie’s fantastic. Can’t wait.