Director Chris Nolan of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight has dropped out of pre-production on the film The Prisoner to begin work on the third installment of DC's rebooted franchise Batman.
While this is bad news for The Prisoner fans, it's great news for Batman fans. It assures them Chris Nolan is on board and that he is dedicated to the project in what be the best attempt to cap off a trilogy yet.
You may recall that neither Spider-Man 3 or X-Men 3 offered satisfying movie experiences or closure. While these franchises will go on, most films die at the third film mark. They run out of steam for various reasons from bad writing, to forced continuation or simply no real story to tell. Then again, Batman failed in the past because of overkill. There is plenty for Chris Nolan to learn from in past mistakes. Let's hope he saves the Batman franchise from doom.
So when will get another Batman installment? Interviews with actors in the previous Batman films from Gary Oldman to Morgan Freeman have alluded to 2012 and 2103. Other sources indicate it will be 2011. With Nolan removing himself from The Prisoner to work on Batman at this time, one is lead to believe 2011 is plausible.