Have Warner Bros. entrusted Chris Nolan with $200 million for his sci-fi epic INCEPTION?
According to The Calgary Sun, Warner Bros. have entrusted $200 million, i.e. around 1/5th of the worldwide box office gross of the phenomenally successful 2008 superhero blockbuster The Dark Knight to it's British director Christopher Nolan who is about to begin filming his original self scripted science fiction epic Inception in five different countries. A large shoot in Kananaskis, Alberta (around the Canadian Rockies) is planned with Fortress Mountain said to be a spot hand-picked by Nolan during a helicopter scouting session. An elaborate set is to be built, with potentially "thousands" of local workers to be employed to build it (which explains where the money is going). A batcave in the snow? (no before you say it, Inception is not a secret working title for Batman 3). 
Now newspapers generally enjoy the luxury of exaggerating predicted budgetary costs but with Nolan and his actors being so secretive over just what Inception is about (reminiscent of what James Cameron has done with Avatar), you have to wonder just how large Nolan is thinking here. We had previously heard $150 million but maybe Nolan has asked for a little more, waiving a Batman mask in front of execs as a reminder that it's money he won for them after all. At this point all we still know is that Inception is about the "archectiture of the mind" and as we know that he's a huge fan of Blade Runner, one wonders if that's the scale he is aiming for here. This ain't no small stop gap ala The Prestige. This is a full summer blockbuster which WB clearly have high hopes for. The movie stars... Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead, a CEO-type. Marion Cotillard the exec's wife. Ellen Page is a young college graduate student and sidekick to DiCaprio. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an associate working for DiCaprio, and Tom Hardy is another member of the team. Ken Watanabe is the villain, a man blackmailing DiCaprio. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight actors Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine have small roles (Caine's maybe only take a day or two's filming) but their details have not yet been disclosed. The movie is due out. via - /film
