Although principal photography only recently wrapped on Warner Bros' next tentpole film franchise, Green Lantern, the studio is already hard at work planning for the highly anticipated sequel to The Dark Knight. The latest news on the project has to do with a new, tentative filming location; as executives from Warner Bros want to take advantage of the monumental tax incentives the city has to offer for Christopher Nolan's third Batman installment. It appears the studio's relationship with the New Orleans filming office is at it's peak and neither party wishes for it to end when Green Lantern enters post production in Los Angeles next week.
Location scouting for the untitled Batman project has already begun in Chicago, Illinois, where the two previous films were headquartered. If this new deal finalizes, almost half of principal photography will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana. This deal would be a big help to the studio financially, since it would allow better use of the projected $200 million budget for the film.
The next Batman film is set to begin production between March and April 2011, and is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2012.