More on the Rumor About Two Women

A while back, the big rumor was that two female roles needed to be cast for The Dark Knight Rises. That rumor returns today from the Hollywood Reporter, with the roles reported to be Vicki Vale and Talia al Ghul. Contenders include Jessica Biel, Kate Mara (pictured), Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley, Gemma Arterton, and Charlotte Riley (who I don't think I've ever seen in anything).

Leaked Script?

Io9 points to a supposedly leaked script that claims to be an early draft of The Dark Knight Rises. I call shenanigans on it, because it has too many villains and the synopsis doesn't have the same feel as the previous two movies.

News & Notes

Merry New Year, and all that. Jeff and Celeste present an awesome (but sadly failed) pitch for Gotham High featuring teenage versions of Batman, Batgirl, Catwoman, Joker, and others. In actual The Dark Knight Rises news:

• Filming is scheduled for LA, the UK, and another location. Previous reports had listed New Orleans as a location (which tied in with Killer Croc rumors), but both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight used Chicago extensively for Gotham City, so it would be somewhat surprising if the third movie stayed out of the windy city entirely.
• An interview response from Anne Hathaway has some thinking she's confirmed that she's up for a Dark Knight Rises role, but it seems like a stretch.

Nevermind about that Joker cameo

So, yeah, apparently that Heath Ledger will not be edited/CGI-ed into The Dark Knight Rises. That's probably a good thing, because I'm not sure it would've added much to the movie, other than to make people wonder what could have been had Heath Ledger lived.

Separately, Christopher Nolan confirmed what a lot of people expected, that this will be his last Batman film. And Christian Bale seems to have no interest in making one without Nolan. Presumably, Warner Bros. will keep making them as long as they're profitable, let's just hope we don't get another Joel Schumacher.

Joker Cameo?

The latest rumor about The Dark Knight Rises is that they will combine Dark Knight footage and CGI to bring back Heath Ledger's Joker for a brief appearance. The article does note that it would only be done with his family's consent, which is good, because some might find it to be in poor taste otherwise.