We’ll go in headline order and begin with The Dark Knight Rises and the continued conversation regarding the voice Tom Hardy uses for the film’s villain, Bane. Talking with Entertainment Weekly, Hardy says, “The audience mustn’t be too concerned about the mumbly voice. As the film progresses, I think you’ll be able to tune to its setting.”
As for creating the character himself, he adds, “There were two doors we could walk through. We could play a very straightforward villain or we could go through this very quirky door, which is totally justified by the text but may seem very, very stupid.” Deciding on the second option, Hardy says, “It’s a risk, because we could be laughed at—or it could be very fresh and exciting.”
The mag also spoke with director Christopher Nolan, who opened up on the film itself while Hardy offered how he sees Bane compared to the Joker as played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight:
“I think the politics of the film are going to be hotly debated one way or another, as they were in the last film,†says Nolan. Listening to Hardy compare Bane to the scarred, clown-faced villain who terrorized Gotham City in The Dark Knight, you almost get the feeling of a revolutionary usurper with tremendous resources. “The Joker didn’t care — he just wanted to see the world burn, and he was a master of chaos and destruction, unscrupulous and crazy. Bane is not that guy,” says Hardy. “There is a very meticulous and calculated way about Bane. There is a huge orchestration of organization to his ambition. He is also a physical threat to Batman. There is nothing vague about Bane. No jokes. He’s a very clean, clear villain.”
Best part about all of this, no spoilers, I can read and just get excited for the film’s upcoming July 20 release.
Next we move to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and director Bill Condon turning to Facebook to offer fans an update on the project, which is set to do some additional shooting over the next couple of weeks.
Makes sense to do it now as I assume Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will both be in Cannes in mid-May as I fully expect their respective upcoming films — On the Road and Cosmopolis — to be part of the festival line-up.
Breaking Dawn – Part 2 hits theaters on November 16.
Finally for Prometheus as Ridley Scott and his cast were recently in Paris doing press rounds and while it is known he made the film with an R-rating in mind, whether that’s what the film will ultimately receive remains to be seen. Quoted in the press conference you can watch below Scott does, however, say, “The cut that you’re gonna see in cinemas… it’s always the director’s cut, really… In this instance, you got a pretty good version here, pretty good cut. We’re running at about — I think without the end titles, which normally run about four to five minutes — we’re running one hour, fifty-nine minutes and change. It’s very tight, it’s what it should be.”
His comment is curious with the “it’s always the director’s cut, really…” line considering there are so many Ridley Scott films that have alternate and/or director’s cuts including Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down and Legend. Did Scott have to sacrifice any footage for a PG-13 rating? I’m sure we’ll know soon enough.
