News By (Meena Kar)

Christopher Nolan might be basking under the glory of his latest flick “Inception” but the web is abuzz with the news that he has not yet signed a contract for the direction of the third installment of “Batman.” It is difficult to judge the worth of the contract that will be offered to Christopher Nolan considering the success of “The Dark Knight” and the excellent opening of the Leonardo DiCaprio starer “Inception.”

Some of the reports suggest that the third installment of “Batman” is set to go into production in April 2011 and has a release date somewhere around 2012 summers. No official date, however, has been announced. Christopher Nolan has also revealed that he will not be replacing Heath Ledger for the role of the Joker, that saw the actor win the Oscar after his death. The maniacal villain will not be seen in the “Batman 3,” according to Christopher Nolan. He said that Heath Ledger was the definitive Joker for him and he would feel inappropriate if he readdressed the character.

“Batman 3″ is also expected to retain its stellar starcast with Christian Bale as the superhero of Gotham city, Morgan Freeman as his manager, Michael Caine as his guardian and butler and Gary Oldman as the commissioner. The film became a historical blockbuster with a $158.4 million debut in 2008 and went on to become one of the biggest hits of the decade. Heath Ledger’s death due to drug overdose prior to the release of the film made the audience even more intrigued by the villainous role. Christopher Nolan’s announcement has put an end to the on-going speculation about the replacement of Heath Ledger as the new Joker.