Sir Michael Caine appeared on BBC Radio 1′s The Chris Moyles Show on Wednesday to promote his autobiography The Elephant to Hollywood and talk turned to director Christopher Nolan’s third Batman movie.

VIA SHH:

He said the movie will “probably start in May next year…” Asked if he will be part of the cast, he said, “I assume I’m there. In the movie business, you never believe anything, you assume.”

He added that Chris and co-writer Jonathan Nolan are not telling anyone who the villain will be in the new film.

In related news, Chris Nolan confirmed to Empire today that he is indeed directing, in case you had any doubts.

Clark Kent says: Warner Bros. Pictures is targeting a July 20, 2012 release date for the film.

Warner Bros. Pictures has set a July 20, 2012 release date for Christopher Nolan’s third Batman movie in conventional and IMAX theaters!

Clark Kent says: The question remains who will be the villains, will there be a Joker easter egg, and will Nolan make Christian Bale change his Batman voice? More after the jump.

VIA SHH:

The film would be slated to drop in theaters a little over two weeks after Sony Pictures releases their Spider-Man reboot on July 3, 2012.

Nolan’s second Batman movie, The Dark Knight, opened July 18, 2008 and earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Clark Kent says: The Nolan Brothers are working with David Goyer on another project… Can you guess what it is?

It’s been a couple of weeks since the news broke that Christopher Nolan had been tasked by Warner Bros with overseeing their latest reboot of Superman, as well as the third Batman movie. But the British director has kept silent on the matter – until now.

VIA E:

The LA Times sat down with Nolan and tried to prise as much Superman and Batman information out of him as they possibly could. Which, true to form for the tight-lipped director, wasn’t very much. But it’s a start.

On his attraction to the Superman project, Nolan confesses that his interest in the project – which he will produce – was sparked when David S. Goyer pitched a blue-sky idea while they were brainstorming the next Batman movie. “He basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman,’” Nolan tells the LA Times. “I immediately got it, loved it and thought: that is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma [Thomas, Nolan’s wife and fellow producer] and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.”

Of course, Nolan won’t divulge details of the movie, which Goyer is currently writing for an as-yet unconfirmed director. But he sounds charged by the possibilities inherent in the Man Of Steel’s story. “It’s very exciting, we have a fantastic story,” he adds. “And we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.”

The Superman reboot likely won’t surface until 2012 or 2013, it’s intimated, which is roughly the time when we can expect to see a follow-up to The Dark Knight. If Nolan directs, that is. But he confirmed that work has begun on the script, with Jonah Nolan currently locked in a room, beavering away on Final Draft. “He’s struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be,” admits Nolan. “Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story.”

So, it seems that if he does direct the third Batman – and we’d bet someone else’s house that he will – it will be the last chapter of Nolan’s take on the character. A take which, of course, saw the Caped Crusader on the run, heading into an uncertain future. Nolan wouldn’t be drawn on the direction of the third film, or the identity of the new villain. But he did admit one thing: “It won’t be Mr. Freeze.” Well, thank Christ for that.

Clark Kent says: If you want more from Nolan on Superman and Batman, including the notion that the two might exist in the same movieverse, click here to go to the LA Times’ website.

Last week, news broke that David Goyer was exiting ABC’s “FlashForward” as showrunner so that he can again concentrate on his feature career.

Clark Kent says: It’s interesting to see how folks are looking for anything, but Goyer gives up some goodies after the jump.

VIA SHH:

“As my feature projects have started ramping up again, I felt I was being pulled in too many directions,” Goyer said. “I’m proud of the show and excited about the relaunch. It’s in great hands.”

Once again buried in a story on Deadline Hollywood is the revelation that one of those features is none other than The Dark Knight follow-up:

Of course, Goyer’s feature career is really heating up, since he co-wrote Batman Begins, and penned the story for The Dark Knight, and is now writing the third Batman installment with Chris Nolan’s brother Jonah.

Clark Kent says: Will Johnny Depp be The Riddler? Will Megan Fox take the role of Catwoman? Stay tuned as more breaks about this story!

Some news that IGN missed last week about a little-known comic-book movie franchise called Batman.

Clark Kent says: Michael Caine had gave us some insight on what he thought ‘Batman 3′ would be like. But will it be with Christopher Nolan? Find out after the jump.

VIA IGN:

Batman On Film reports that director Christopher Nolan and studio Warner Bros. will officially announce their plans for Batman 3 in January.

Their scooper told the site: “The longer we don’t hear a Nolan/B3 announcement in 2010, the less likely it is that the director will return.”

There have been so many rumors and counter-rumors about Batman 3 over the past year, so here’s hoping BOF’s source is true, and that 2010 brings some kind of official news about the project.

Clark Kent says: Because you can’t just leave us hanging like that Nolan!