Variety ran an article today with heaps of new details on the upcoming "Batman" movie set to begin shooting at the end of the month in Iceland.

First off expect this Bats to be grounded more in reality which is why there's no costumed villains, little focus on gadgets, and a bigger role for Bruce Wayne - Director Chris Nolan says "I felt like doing the origins story of the character, which is a story that's never been told before. The world of Batman is that of grounded reality, ours will be a recognizable, contemporary reality against which an extraordinary heroic figure arises".

Helping that reality is Gotham City which won't be the stylised version we've seen in the Burton/Schumacher films, rather most of it will be on-location work in New York & London which will be assembled together to reinvent Gotham as a modern day metropolis - "Gotham will seem like this great city in a contemporary world and will be created through various cities, we are trying to avoid a villagey feel for Gotham, as it starts to get claustrophobic".

Expect the marketing angle to call this a re-imagining of the Batman franchise - WB Production Pres Jeff Robinov says "It's almost impossible to reinvent Batman, Chris is reintroducing Batman, and it feels smart and cool and fresh. That's no
disrespect to the other movies, but it's really Chris' vision of Batman, and that's what we're supporting".

Nolan's vision as such sounds interesting - "Few superheroes have the sense of purpose and destiny that Batman has. He is driven by an incredible sense of rage,
sadness and grief because of the tragedy of his parents' murder at an early
age. To me, Batman is the most interesting superhero because he doesn't have
any superpowers. He is very human".

Backed with a $150 million budget, and a new musical theme, expect this psychologically deep and conflicted movie not to be too dark thankfully.