Here is the next big milestone in The Dark Knight’s all encompassing success at the Box Office – it is now officially the fastest movie to reach the coveted $400m mark, doing so in just 18 days.

Would you like to know what the previous record was? Shrek 2 did this same feat, only a full 25 days later, taking a whopping 43 days. The Dark Knight has more than cut that in half, and it’s still taking in $6m in monday sales, whilst moving up to 8th on the all time gross chart.

Contributing Sources: /Film, Media By Numbers

Thanks Tim.

Morgan Freeman is in a serious condition after a car accident late on Sunday night, traveling Eastbound on Mississippi Highway 32 in Tallahatchie County. His Nissan Maxima edged off the road, and by over-correcting, Freeman flipped the vehicle.

Emergency crews pulled Freeman and his passenger from the wreck using the “jaws of life“, before airlifting to the MED in Memphis.

WMCTv.com report that whilst crews were cutting Mr Freeman out, he was lucid and joking with the rescue workers.

Wow, just noticed I hadn’t posted these. Here are a couple of nice n’large Joker pictures for you to get your teeth into. The first one makes a great wallpaper.

Christopher Nolan has stated an interest in the extensive and elaborate 70 year history of Batman – particularly the interesting parts that have not yet been in the movies or the sixties television show.

Meanwhile, The Riddler, The Penguin and Catwoman are all villains that have been bandied about as potentials for the next movie; I personally doubt whether we will see these characters pop up in the next feature. Instead I think we will see Nolan opt for a villain that impacts more on Batman/Bruce Wayne’s profile. As seen so devastatingly with The Joker, when the villain really messes with the Hero in every which way, the stories become much more intertwined, complex and exciting.

So – on that note:

Which villain(s) do you want to see in Batman 3?

The less obvious, the better – feel free to include your casting wishlists.

Sadly our caped crusader lost the top spot to The Mummy this Friday; taking $12.7m versus Brendan Fraser’s $15.3m. However, coming back to the forefont on Saturday – Batman returned to the top with a take of $17.4m against Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’s $14.7m.

The weekend figures added another $43.8m to the TDK total and touching distance of the coveted $400m record. The Mummy made $42.4m, a close second, but a poor opening weekend for the movie.

Talking with MTV, David Goyer says that he already “knows the theme” for the third Batman movie, although he also reiterates that a third movie is not set in stone and it could “go either way“.

“I think that’s the scariest thing – to think, could we come up with a third movie that was as good as the first two? Can we top ourselves?” screenwriter David Goyer asked aloud, almost rhetorically, in a recent conversation with MTV News. “Doing it a third time would be a big proposition.”

Make no mistake about it, though, a third film HAS been discussed, Goyer confessed, revealing that, while nothing is concrete, both a villain and a theme have been bandied about.

“We’ve only talked loosely about it, though, Chris and I,” Goyer said.

Interestingly, it’s the theme, and not the villain, that most interests me, especially given how the latter seems inexorably tied to the former in this new modern Batman universe. (Fear the predominant issue in “Begins” precipitating the introduction of Scarecrow, escalation in “Knight” similarly calling for The Joker.

The fact that Goyer has a theme he wants to keep in mind for a possible “Batman 3” means he also has a direction, a crisis, and, yes, a villain.

So what is it?

“I have one,” Goyer said laughing. “But I’m not going to tell you. Chris is very particular about that.

“I do think, though, that if there’s not a third film – these two movies stand on their own,” he added. “I think it could go either way.”

/Film have also spoken with Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan about Batman 3 – everything is still up in the air:

Nolan: “I don’t know what I’d do next, or what would happen next. I felt in doing a sequel that it would be a big mistake to try to hold anything back for future films. You have to put everything you can into this movie and try and make it as great as it can be.”

Christian Bale: “I always like to have to think when I’m leaving the theater. I do love any movie that leaves me questioning what has happened, what is going to happen. I see that in finishing the movie I want to know what will happen, what is going to happen. But it is completely in the hands of Chris, weather he decides to do that or not. It will be a lot of money that he didn’t give you any indication if that was going to happen or not? But it’s completely his decision. I can’t imagine doing this without Chris. I don’t even want to consider that because he’s created this. This is his.”

And in an older EW article, Bale says something similar:

Interviewer: So do you think there will be a part 3 of Batman?
Christian Bale: Um, look, let’s wait and see…

Interviewer: Or, I guess it’d be part 6.
Christian Bale: No, no, no, no, no. [Smiling] Part 3 is what I’d consider it, yeah, I don’t say part 6. Batman begins – that was the beginning there, with all due respect to the others. We are re-creating this. You know, obviously the decision is out of my hands. I would, knowing the Dark Knight story, I would like very much to complete a trilogy. And I think that knowing the story of The Dark Knight, it leaves you anticipating something that really can get very, very interesting for a third. Now, the question would be: Is Chris going to be doing it? Because to me I find it tricky to imagine working on it without it being a collaboration with Chris.

Thanks BatGirl567!

Now that The Dark Knight has been out for over three weekends, I will begin to splatter more spoiler-ish information into posts as we begin to discuss “Batman 3″, or whatever name we can derive for the next film.

Christopher Nolan hasn’t yet signed on for a third Batman movie, and his screenwriter John Nolan is still on the set of Terminator Salvation. Until the key players sign-on, including David Goyer, ANY casting rumors that you see are most likely wishlists or articles looking to capitalize on The Dark Knight’s popularity.

Taking this point into consideration, I now present you the three main rumblings that are spreading across the internet:

Angelina Jolia as Catwoman

This rumor seems to have originated from an NY Daily News article which reckons that Angelina Jolie should play Catwoman in the next Batman incarnation – or so former Catwoman and ‘Batman icon’ Julie Newmar thinks.

“Angelina would own the part. My industry friends tell me [she] has made inquiries about the role. I can understand how it would pique her interest. Catwoman is Batman’s one true love. She’s tremendously popular with women because she’s both a heroine and a villainess. When you look at the staggering box office of this current film, which actress wouldn’t want to jump in?”

Although this goes against Nolan and Goyer’s inclination NOT to bring back the humanoid feline.

Johnny Depp as The Riddler

Meanwhile, the suprious and terrible National Enquirer, via Jake and Hollywood.com are tipping Johnny Depp to play The Riddler. That’s the extent of the news feature.

“(Producers) are convinced that the role of the Riddler is perfect for Depp. Johnny’s a pro. He’ll be able to take direction from director Chris Nolan and still make the character his own.”

(SPOILER: I’ve also read rumors that Depp would be a good substitute for The Joker should they wish to bring him back in some capacity.)

Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin

The tabloid also thinks:

“And what better Penguin is there than Philip Seymour Hoffman.”

I can guarantee that come 12 months, none of these predictions will be close. Fan reactions to these rumors are also entirely inconsequential – we all remember how masses reacted when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker.