Christopher Nolan Still Doesn't Have A Story For Batman 3

The LA Times was able to corner director Christopher Nolan at the SCREAM 2008 Awards, and ask the man behind The Dark Knight about the possibility of a potential third film. Here is what Nolan said:

"Well ... let me think how to put this. There are two things to be said. One is the emphasis on story. What's the story? Is there a story that's going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That's the overriding question. On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name? [Laughs.] At the same time, in taking on the second one, we had the challenge of trying to make a great second movie, and there haven't been too many of those either. It's all about the story really. If the story is there, everything is possible. I hope that was a suitably slippery answer."

Talk about noncommittal. Nolan was also asked what kind of movie he will make next:

"On one hand, yeah, there is a certain feeling to do [something smaller]. After "Batman Begins," I certainly felt like taking on something smaller, but one of the things I got such a thrill from on "The Dark Knight" was shooting on Imax and creating that massive scale and achieving that larger-than-life quality. So that's a lot of fun. I'm drawn in both directions now. So maybe what I need to do next is a very intimate, small story that happens to be photographed on a ridiculously large scale. Or vice versa [laughs]."

A small story on a large scale? I wonder what kind of stories Nolan has swirling around in his head. And I wonder how much money Warner Bros is adding to their offer to get Nolan back for a third film each week that the filmmaker doesn't commit to another sequel.