Oh, yeah. It’s on.
Latino Review, the first website to scoop Brandon Routh as Superman and Heath Ledger as the Joker, is reporting that Maggie Gyllenhaal is now a lock to replace Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in the Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight. Batman on Film, the first and best Batman-movie-fan site operated by a really superb dude named Bill “Jett” Ramey, is also running the Latino Review story. Keep in mind that this isn’t official until the good folks at Warner Bros. say so, but I trust the guys at Latino Review and I check Jett’s site about 11 times a day, and when these guys say something with confidence, you can pretty well take it to the bank.
Anyone who knows me knows that my whole life has been a string of celebrity crushes, and I can’t imagine having a hotter case of the hots than the hots I’ve got for Maggie Gyllenhaal. (What was it that Anna Waronker once sang? “By definition, a crush must hurt. And they do. And they do. Just like the one I have on you.” Come to think of it, I’ve got a crush on her, too.)
This announcement is actually quite bittersweet for me. Before I even saw Batman Begins, I’d already cast Maggie in my mind as the Selina Kyle to Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne, the Catwoman to his Batman. She’s got such a unique and timeless brand of beauty, and she’s as fearless an actress as you could ask for. So yes, I’m thrilled that one of my favorite actresses is going to be in the one movie I’m waiting for more than any other. I just wish she was playing someone other than a character originated by someone else (who was perfect for it, I might add) just one movie ago.
However. It’s not like Christopher Nolan to recast a character whose story had a nice, satisfying conclusion at the end of Batman Begins. This is the guy who made Memento and The Prestige. The guy who made it sound like they’d cast Liam Neeson in a minor mentor role in Batman Begins, when in fact he turned out to be Ra’s Al Ghul.
So I’m going to go out in a limb and say that while I do believe we’ll be seeing Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight, I’m not so sure she’ll be playing Rachel. In fact, I’m going to go on record right now and declare that I firmly believe that Maggie Gyllenhaal has been cast as Selina “Catwoman” Kyle, and that all the recent Rachel Dawes recasting stuff is a big red herring.
Either way, Maggie, I can’t wait to see you in the movie.
True Story
Matt Miller and I went to Chicago for a David Duchovny Q&A a couple of years ago, and on our way into the theater we passed Maggie Gyllenhaal on the street. Totally, utterly luminous.