Heath Ledger To Play The Joker

Heath Ledger will play The Joker in the sequel to 'Batman Begins'.

Hollywood bosses confirmed that they have cast the Oscar nominated
'Brokeback Mountain' star as the villain in 'The Dark Knight' on Monday
(08.01.06).

Director Christopher Nolan said: "Our challenge in casting The Joker was to
find an actor who is not just extraordinarily talented but fearless.

Watching Heath Ledger's interpretation of this iconic character taking on
Christian Bale's Batman is going to be incredible."

The president of production at Warner Brothers Pictures, Jeff Robinov,
added: "Chris' unique vision is what made 'Batman Begins' such an
outstanding film and we could not imagine anyone else at the helm of 'The
Dark Knight'.

"We also can't wait to see two such formidable actors as Christian and Heath
face off with each other as Batman and The Joker."

The last time fans of the franchise saw The Joker appear on the big screen
was in Tim Burton's original 1989 movie, 'Batman'.

In that movie, the iconic character was portrayed by Hollywood legend Jack
Nicholson.

'Batman Begins' - which starred Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy
and Michael Caine - was one of the most successful films of last year taking
more than $370 million at the box office worldwide.