So There Might Be Another Batman Movie

Filed Under Blockbusters, Comics, Movies

I always find it amazing when filmmakers are totally oblivious to the concept of the film franchise. See, Hollywood doesn’t like to make one-offs. They want something that’ll spawn sequels, trilogies and a fourth installment that’ll come over a decade after everyone’s given up on there ever being another one. Somehow, filmmakers don’t quite get this. A director makes a movie, it performs well, the studio wants another one, the director’s hung up on doing something “small” for his next project, and so it goes. This happens every time. Even George Lucas does it, and he’s got his own studio.

Chris Nolan’s the director du jour to be hemming and hawing about what’s next for him. You may have heard about his latest directorial effort, “The Dark Knight,” and its overwhelming success at the box office. Well, surprise, surprise, Warner Bros. wants to make another one. And according to CHUD.com, Nolan’s noncommittal about whether or not he’s on board for a third Bat-flick. For him, storytelling comes first. If he’s going to make a new Batman movie, it’s got to have a good story. When a filmmaker starts sounding like screenwriting guru Robert McKee and going on and on about story, it’s clear that he is either suffering from writer’s block or hasn’t finished renegotiating his back-end deal.

I know Nolan’s a strong writer. “Memento” is one of my favorite films. There isn’t a Chris Nolan movie I’ve seen that’s disappointed me. He’s one of the better storytellers putting out movies today. He can’t shoot action, but he can tell a good story. I just find all this business about storytelling to be one of those overused directorial talking points that’s essentially meaningless. It’s like a director saying, “If I’m going to direct another movie, it’s got to be in focus.”

In film school, my professors would constantly suggest, “No one ever set out to make a bad movie.” This was before Uwe Boll ever got behind a camera. But still, saying that you only want to make a movie because it has a good story is just goofy. Do you also want to work with good actors? How about craft services? Would you like for the Red Vines to be of the highest quality?

I appreciate that filmmakers want to tell good stories, but shouldn’t that be a given? As impossible as it’s been for me to break into the entertainment industry, I’d like to think that the people who actually do make movies for a living are trying to make the best possible film and not simply collecting a paycheck. Now if they could just figure out how franchises work and not use up all their good ideas in movie two…

-Brad Lohan

If you like this post, share it!