Although Warner are not saying anything yet, rumours are going round that actress Rachel Weisz may portray Catwoman in the next Batman film. http://io9.com/5111080/rachel-weisz-as-catwoman-+-excuse-me-i-just-passed-out
Why? As long as they know they're having Catwoman, what does having a script ready matter to cast her?
The Hollywood film industry isn't really script-driven. Scripts are seen merely as raw materials to build with, and screenwriters merely as hired contractors whose job is to give the directors and producers what they ask for. A script may get a studio interested in doing a project, but then the original script will be put through countless rewrites, other writers will be brought in, the director and producers will often pick and choose pieces from multiple different scripts and mash them together, and there's plenty of rewriting or improvising on the set. And when it's a pre-existing franchise, there's no need for a pre-existing script to get the studio interested in making a movie. All they need is a concept and some stars, and whoever gets hired to do the script will then be given their marching orders as to what characters the script will be about and what direction to take the story in.
We had around 2 years of speculation about who would play the Joker. A long list of actors were debated by fans. You know who was not on that list? Heath Ledger himself!!!!! Not until shortly before he was cast. So I would be highly skeptical about any alleged Catwoman actresses at this point.
When it's a pre-existing franchise that's dead, and run by Jon Peters, maybe all you need is a concept and some stars (and how well that worked out for Superman Lives, no?), but it would be quite odd for a wildly successful franchise in mid-stream, like the current Batman series, to go forward simply from a concept and some stars, especially when the studio is madly courting Nolan to stay on and he often remarked after The Dark Knight's success that he would go forward with a third Batman movie when there was a story to be had. So it seems to me the order of development for the next film would be - draft script either from or that interests Christopher Nolan, Nolan signs, then casting, since it's also well-known that he's rather attached to which actors are in his movies, and he is in a position to have a lot of control over this project. I think it's somewhat more likely that either Weiss is putting herself out there for the role which is only rumored to even be a part of the next project, or Warner's is floating rumors in order to keep a level of hype up, or some fans are trying to create internet buzz for fannish reasons.
We are going to see a lot of this over the next few years. Completely unconnected to what the actual status of the sequel is.
No. When assembling a "package" movie, you frequently get the basic idea, the director and the stars lined up and THEN commission a script. --Ted
Not with this series. Nolan's always had a script before he begins casting. They've said that's partially why he always attracts such strong actors -- because the strength of the script is so strong. He had Goyer's first draft before he cast anyone with Batman Begins (in fact, he hired Goyer in March of 2003, and then hired Bale in September of 2003). Nolan's gone on record saying he had his brother's rough first draft to send to Ledger when he was courting him for the role of The Joker. Given that track record it is reasonable to assume that Nolan won't even think about courting actors until there's at the very least a rough first draft. He may have some ideas in mind -- for instance, he had Ledger as his personal pick way back in the development stage for The Dark Knight -- but he doesn't actually begin the actual casting process until there's a script. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart signed onto The Dark Knight months before filming, and in fact, Eckhart signed on even after filming had commenced.
If Halle wants to be Catwoman/Selina Kyle again, she shouldn't have been in that movie. I saw it, and did like it, though.
Was answering the question in general as that's how it was presented. But I completely agree with your entire post regarding the current Batman series. --Ted
As Jackson Archer noted above, no new roles for The Dark Knight were cast until after a script draft had been produced.
I was making a joke, about how the last "Catwoman" movie didn't have a script (or a director, or a point, but I digress) not realizing the thread was talking about a TDK sequel feature CW.