THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Christian Bale Speaks)

• BATMAN CALLS IT QUITS

"I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last timeI'm taking that cowl off. ... I believe that the whole production wrappedyesterday, so it's all done. Everything's finished. It's me and Chris – thatwill be the end of that Batman era." So said Christian Bale about nextsummer's The Dark Knight Rises.

Bane takes on Batman

While promoting his upcoming film The Flowers of War, theOscar-winning actor told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that he knew his co-starAnne Hathaway was perfect to play Catwoman when they shot her screen testtogether:

What does Bane 

"When Chris [Nolan, the director] watched the screentest, he agreed that Anne did a wonderful job. In many ways, she has thehardest job. There are a number of people who feel that the Catwoman role hasbeen defined previously. So, I always saw Anne's role as being the toughest jobof any of us. In my case, I've stopped referencing outside sources. I nowreference Chris' own world of Batman as a guide to what I will continuedoing."

Bale similarly praised Bane actor Tom Hardy as "aphenomenal actor." He added, "I know that Bane has been seen inmovies before. But, in my eyes, Tom is essentially creating Bane for the firsttime so there's great freedom for him to be able to do so."

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Rooney Mara Speaks)

• GIRL WITH THE DRAGONTATTOO

Rooney Mara’s take as social hacker Lisbeth Salander inDavid Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is perhaps the most anticipatedperformance of the year.

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

There might be a lot to live up to (fans of the books, fansof the Swedish adaptations, an astonishing performance from Noomi Rapace), butall the evidence so far suggests that Mara has created a Lisbeth to be reckonedwith.

Total Film got the chance to talk with the star of the Girlwith the Dragon Tattoo, she evidently shared an affinity with the characterwho’s become an instant icon:

 “I felt like therewas something at Lisbeth’s core that was at my core too. I could really relateto that,” she told us, adding, “I’m not really a group or team person.”

That’s not to say she wasn’t aware of the ramifications oftaking on such an iconic character, explaining, “When he [David Fincher]offered me the part he explained to me that this film had the potential tochange my life, not necessarily for the better.”

Of course, it wasn’t easy: “It was very emotionally draining,and physically probably even more so,” she says. Then, a half-smile: “I don’tthink you can understand the character unless you’ve been through a winter inSweden…”

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo opens on 26 December 2011.

SKYFALL (Cast Update)

• SKYFALL GETS ITS Q

Ben Whishaw to play Q

Skyfall, the latest instalment of the James Bond franchise,has cast Ben Whishaw as MI6 gadget master Q, according to various reportshitting the web today.

It will be the character's first appearance in the franchisesince 2002's Die Another Day, where he was played by John Cleese.

Prior to that, Q was played by Desmond Llewelyn, who maintainedthe role for an impressive 36 years.

Q is the character who supplies Bond with all of his niftyhi-tech gadgets and espionage equipment in the movies.

Traditionally, the actor playing Q has been older than JamesBond, but that's set to change here with Whishaw being 31, and Craig being 43.

Ben Whishaw has already acted opposite Craig, in 2004ganster Brit-flick Layer Cake.

SUMMER CROSSING (Scar-Jo to Direct)

• SUMMER CROSSING WITH AN AVENGER

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow

Scarlett Johansson has got a big year ahead. She will beappearing in Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo, Jonathan Glazer's sci-fi UnderThe Skin and a little something called The Avengers.

However, the Beautiful talent actress will be steppingbehind the camera, and taking the directorial chair on Summer Crossing.

The film is an adaptation of Truman Capote’s first novel ofthe same name, set in New York in 1945. The story follows Grady, a 17-year-oldProtestant from a wealthy family, as she enters a passionate (and somewhatcontroversial) affair with a Jewish parking attendant.

“It’s about that first love you have that’s sort of vicious,in a sense,” Johansson told Vanity Fair. “It’s a hard sell because it’s aperiod film, it takes place in New York, and there’s no room for a big name.We’ll see. Fingers crossed.”

The star also revealed that she won’t be appearing in thefilm herself, and will instead be focusing on the business of pointing thecamera. However, despite the confidence required to get this one off theground, Johansson has also spoken of the doubts that plagued her ahead of WeBought A Zoo.

“I went into We Bought A Zoo and I didn’t know how to do it,exactly,” she said. “I had ideas and things I wanted to do, but I was a littlebit raw. I felt out of practice and a bit exposed. I was feeling veryprotective of myself. But Cameron’s world was very welcoming.”

Summer Crossing is expected to arrive in 2014.

MIRROR MIRROR (Lily Collins Speaks)

• LILY COLLINS IS THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL

Well by now, we all know that 2 Snow White films will behitting our screens next year, but we what we have seen from these 2 films isthat, they both very different from each other and have both drifted away fromthe traditional Snow White fairytale.

Lily Collins Beautiful

The Beautiful Lily Collins has voiced her opinion on the 2versions of Snow White, here is what she had to say: “The images of our filmsare very, very different,” she told Access Hollywood.

“They’re both kind of untold stories, so you know they’redifferent in their own ways. Our Snow White starts off as the fairytaleprincess we all know and love,” she continued, “and then she progresses into ayoung woman and much more of a fighter. But it’s not an edgy version of thestory or a darker version. It’s very much a comedic adventure and I think theother one is a little darker.”

However, both films could all have been very different hadCollins got Kristen Stewart’s part when she auditioned for it.

“I did read the other Snow White script,” she revealed. “Iauditioned for it, but I’ve been so excited for Kristen. I think that story isso different than ours and the girls are so different. She’s perfect for herversion, and I’m really excited to be doing this one and I think they havetotally different audiences.”

And whilst her Snow White might not be such a warrior asStewart’s, she’s certainly no pushover either.

“This was insane training,” she said of her preparation forthe film. “I’ve been fight training and fencing for about three months now. Iwas kickboxing, doing some stuff on wires... it’s been really intense. I’vegotten a lot of bumps and bruises, but so far no bad injuries!”

Mirror Mirror is releases in March 2012.

Snow White and the Huntsman releases in June 2012

JOHN CARTER (Director Updates)

• JOHN CARTER

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly features this newphoto of a great White Ape from director Andrew Stanton's John Carter, based ona classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs and coming to 3D, 2D and IMAX 3Dtheaters on March 9th.

Stanton tells the magazine that the White Apes are "aformidable creature that you kind of hear about throughout the movie, but younever really witness." He says they they are "nocturnal, almost likemoles — they stopped using their eyes, and just had a heightened sense ofsmell."

John Carter

The director added that in the film, John Carter (TaylorKitsch) "needs an army to solve his big problem in the third act, and theonly army he knows was his previous captors. When he goes back, the game haschanged, and he gets incarcerated. This is what he has to get out of. He has toget out of jail and not get killed by these apes in order to get his biggerproblem solved."

AS you can see in the video, Carter is chained up, and Stantonjust elaborated on some details about this scene: "He has this oneSuperman-like ability where he can leap farther than we can here [on Earth].But it's like being a man on the moon. It can't be forever. He can build upmomentum... They give him a nice long length of chain, so he can bounce around,but he can't go out of the arena."

THE HOBBIT (Update)

• THE HOBBIT

Fan made Smaug

If you've read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, then youprobably can't wait to see how Peter Jackson plans to bring Smaug the Dragon tolife on the big screen.

As we recently found out, English thespian BenedictCumberbatch was chosen to undertake the physical role of the scaly antagonist,and it sounds like he's already well on his way to preparing for the arduousmotion-capture experience.

"I'm physicalizing him as a dragon," saysCumberbatch. "I'm not just doing the voiceover, so it'll be a physicalrole which I'm no stranger to... I've already started working out and doingvarious movement exercises to get myself limber for that all-important jumpsuit with balls on it, otherwise known as motion-capture. But I can't wait, I'mreally excited."

According to Total Film, the actor begins filming inJanuary.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is scheduled to hittheaters on December 14, 2012.