Dark Knight Producer Talks Heath Ledger

MoviesOnline caught up yesterday with producer Charles Roven (“Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Get Smart”) at the Los Angeles press day for his latest film, “The Bank Job” which opens nationwide on March 7^th. We talked to him briefly about the tragic death of Heath Ledger who plays the Joker in the upcoming “The Dark Knight.” Roven also updated us on “Get Smart” and the status of “The Flash.” Here’s what he had to tell us:

Q: In light of yesterday's tragic news out of New York, do you expect conversations about the Dark Knight marketing? Will you need to adjust anything out of sensitivity?

CHARLES ROVEN: I just want to say one thing about Heath Ledger and that'll just sort of sum up everything I want to say about it. He was a good friend of mine both personally and professionally. We did two films together, one of which is The Dark Knight and he was really a great guy and an incredibly brilliant actor. Wherever he is in the universe right now, I hope he's happy. Really anything else you need to know about The Dark Knight right now, you should talk to Warner Brothers about.

Q: You also have Get Smart in production. How's that going?

CHARLES ROVEN: Get Smart's been a fantastic experience and making The Dark Knight's been a fantastic experience really.

Q: You have actually two Get Smart movies in production. What about the Get Bruce and Lloyd spinoff?

CHARLES ROVEN: Yes, Warners is doing that as an ancillary- - it's an interesting thing to see how that works out. I have not really had that much involvement with that but the stars of it are definitely in from Get Smart.

Q: How's Steve Carell as an action hero?

CHARLES ROVEN: Steve Carell is just, you know, I think he can do anything. I don't know if you've had a chance to see anything on Get Smart but it sort of gives you an idea of what he's capable of if you've seen something. I think that the audiences that have had an opportunity to see the movie in its preview period or research screening preview period have just really enjoyed the movie incredibly. We're really happy about that.

Q: What's going on with The Flash?

CHARLES ROVEN: You know, we're stuck right now with the writer's strike. We've got a writer, we've got a director, we’ve just gotta wait until the strike's over.