THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Christian Bale Speaks)

• BATMAN CALLS IT QUITS

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

Bane takes on Batman

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

What does Bane 

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

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

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Rooney Mara Speaks)

• GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Rooney Mara’s take as social hacker Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is perhaps the most anticipated performance of the year.

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

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

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

 “I felt like there was something at Lisbeth’s core that was at my core too. I could really relate to 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 of taking on such an iconic character, explaining, “When he [David Fincher] offered me the part he explained to me that this film had the potential to change 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’t think you can understand the character unless you’ve been through a winter in Sweden…”

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 reports hitting the web today.

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

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

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

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

Ben Whishaw has already acted opposite Craig, in 2004 ganster 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 be appearing in Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo, Jonathan Glazer's sci-fi Under The Skin and a little something called The Avengers.

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

The film is an adaptation of Truman Capote’s first novel of the same name, set in New York in 1945. The story follows Grady, a 17-year-old Protestant from a wealthy family, as she enters a passionate (and somewhat controversial) 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 a period 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 the film herself, and will instead be focusing on the business of pointing the camera. However, despite the confidence required to get this one off the ground, Johansson has also spoken of the doubts that plagued her ahead of We Bought 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 little bit raw. I felt out of practice and a bit exposed. I was feeling very protective 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 be hitting our screens next year, but we what we have seen from these 2 films is that, they both very different from each other and have both drifted away from the traditional Snow White fairytale.

Lily Collins Beautiful

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

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

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

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

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

“This was insane training,” she said of her preparation for the film. “I’ve been fight training and fencing for about three months now. I was kickboxing, doing some stuff on wires... it’s been really intense. I’ve gotten 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 new photo of a great White Ape from director Andrew Stanton's John Carter, based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs and coming to 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on March 9th.

Stanton tells the magazine that the White Apes are "a formidable creature that you kind of hear about throughout the movie, but you never really witness." He says they they are "nocturnal, almost like moles — they stopped using their eyes, and just had a heightened sense of smell."

John Carter

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

AS you can see in the video, Carter is chained up, and Stanton just elaborated on some details about this scene: "He has this one Superman-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 up momentum... 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 you probably can't wait to see how Peter Jackson plans to bring Smaug the Dragon to life on the big screen.

As we recently found out, English thespian Benedict Cumberbatch 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 arduous motion-capture experience.

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

According to Total Film, the actor begins filming in January.

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

UNDERWORLD AWAKENING (Trailer)

• UNDERWORLD AWAKENING - TRAILER

Kate Beckinsale, star of the first two films, returns in her lead role as the vampire warrioress Selene, who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.