As J. Peterman once said, "I am smack dab in the middle of a good old-fashioned cat fight!" While recently discussing her role in next year's Bat-sequel The Dark Knight, Maggie Gyllenhaal dunked Katie Holmes into a Dawson's Creek of verbal abuse. Gyllenhaal is taking over the role of Rachel Dawes, which Holmes originated in 2005's Batman Begins. Check out this quote from Gyllenhaal, but you might want to put a jacket on first: "I'm not thinking of it as a role that anyone's played before. I'm not walking into Katie Holmes' performance. I'm thinking of it as an opportunity to play somebody who's alive and smart. Chris (Nolan) asked me to do this because he wanted me, not because he wants some generic lady in a dress." Daaaaaamn! No she didn't!

I'm not sure Holmes really deserves any more negativity at this point. She's in a mercilessly mocked marriage that no one seems to take seriously, she's got a new baby, and she hasn't exactly been adored by the critics. Holmes certainly gave a pretty weak performance in Batman Begins, but let's give the gal a break here, no? What do you guys think about this, is Gyllenhaal being too harsh on Holmes? In the interview, Gyllenhaal also mentions that she might give the Jackie Chan thing a try in the film: "I'm really excited about it. I mean, it's not some silly action movie. Chris Nolan is directing, Christian Bale's starring. I'm really excited and curious about doing a couple of stunts in Batman." Why do all "serious actors" feel they have to justify being in action movies? They always have to point out how different and superior this one is to all the others, or its "I'm only doing this crap so I can finance my pet project -- a tone poem about migrant Chinese workers." You want to do an action movie, silly or otherwise, do it! We don't need to hear that you'd normally be above such frivolous projects.

Sources have told Comingsoon.net and and some other outlets that a teaser trailer for The Dark Knight will make a double-premiere on July 27, both on prints of The Simpsons Movie as it hits theaters across America, and during the Warner Bros. ComicCon presentation earlier that morning. For the last few weeks, we've been hearing that it was simply too soon for anything of substance to be unveiled at ComicCon for The Dark Knight, but really, how hard is it to cut a teaser together? If it's cleverly done, you can get by with only seconds of useable footage from the film, and it doesn't have to be money-shot footage. Looks like the powers-that-be have come around to that way of thinking. If all of this is legit, it would, of course, be the first time footage from the film has been seen anywhere, although some fans have gotten so impatient that they've actually crafted some fan trailers to keep themselves satiated in the meantime.

So what secrets are left about the production? We're still not completely sure who Anthony Michael Hall is playing, although source after source has claimed to know that he is playing Edward Nygma, a.k.a. The Riddler. It's also still up for debate whether Aaron Eckhart will transform into Harvey Dent in this film, or whether that's being saved for the next one. We're also fairly sure that Harley Quinn will not be making an appearance in the film, despite some earlier rumors that Sarah Michelle Gellar was up for that role. What about the role of the cop, Renee Montoya? Still no word on that either, although it's likely to be a small part even if its cast. Stay tuned to Cinematical for all the latest.

Any Guardian sit-down worth its salt has to include a not-so subtle evaluation of the star's interview habits, and this new one with Maggie Gyllenhaal is no exception. "She sits directly opposite me, her feet planted firmly on the floor," the interviewer tells us. "She asks for a camomile tea and coolly, in a tone that brooks no argument, requests that the assembled public relations people leave the room while we conduct the interview." After this evaluation, it's off to the races, with Gyllenhaal delving into everything from her trepidation about doing Secretary -- "in the wrong hands, in even slightly the wrong hands, even in just slightly less intelligent hands, this movie could say something really weird" -- to everything that went into her performance in Sherrybaby. She's especially frank when it comes to the movie's sex scenes. "I find those scenes hard to watch," she says. "But when I was making them, I was thinking how Sherry would be thinking: I've been in prison for three years, I want to c*me."

Gyllenhaal also owns up to some tussles with directors over the years, but she's too polite to name names. When asked about what her most difficult acting experience has been so far, she replies that she once "realized very early on in a shoot that I was at odds with the director, and I had to go through the whole shoot trying to figure out how to stay alive as an actress, when I was being squashed by the director." For the record, it wasn't Oliver Stone -- she says that she loved working with him, and describes him as being "nuts, but totally inspiring." As for the movie she's shooting right now, The Dark Knight, Gyllenhaal has nothing but praise for how she's being treated. "Doing Batman has shocked me at every turn. When I started, I thought 'Well, it's a huge movie, I'll just do my best to put what I can into it. But, in fact, they've been really hungry for my ideas, for my views. It's great! They've been asking for more!"

Some photos of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart working on the Chicago set of The Dark Knight have found their way online. This is the first chance we've had to see whether or not Gyllenhaal would have some radical new look as Rachel Dawes, or if she'd be more or less the same old Maggie. Looks like the latter, although we can see that she's going to be wearing a rather severe overcoat in at least one scene. In the photo to the right, she's doing what actors do -- having long cell-phone calls while hair and make-up people work around them. In another photo, we see two wardrobe people fiddling around with her coat while she just stands there. The Eckhart photos are even less eventful -- just him apparently getting into a cab.

We recently passed on to you some new photos of the electronically souped-up Batsuit as well as the Joker clown car, but there haven't been many shots of the actors leaking online lately. We're still waiting for some clear, high-res photos of Heath Ledger as The Joker or of Christian Bale doing his thing as Bruce Wayne. Or the real prize -- William Fichtner as Bank Manager! And sooner or later, we'll know for sure if Cillian Murphy is going to be returning as Scarecrow. As the production continues -- I think it's moving on to London soon -- there will surely be more photos and information leaking out, and we'll continue to bring it to you.

Oooh, the rumor mill is hopping a bit today with an interesting piece of Dark Knight casting news that may or may not be true. As per usual, you'll have to take the following with a huge grain of salt. Apparently, an unnamed independent writer-producer was interested in casting Sarah Michelle Gellar in one of his (or her) upcoming films, which starts shooting this May. However, Gellar's reps ultimately turned down the offer saying that the film could conflict with her schedule for Batman. Um, really? That's news to all of us! Has Sarah Michelle Gellar secretly signed on to star in The Dark Knight? And if so, who is she playing?

If it is indeed true, then that probably means we're looking at two major female roles. We already know that Maggie Gyllenhaal has signed on to star, and that she's replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Hmm, perhaps that means Gellar would play ... Harley Quinn. Regardless, two females probably means Harley Quinn will indeed be a character in the film. Quinn originated during the Batman animated series, but her backstory wasn't revealed until the 1994 graphic novel Mad Love. The novel explains that Quinn was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum where she volunteered to evaluate The Joker. She later fell in love with the maniac, helped him escape from the Asylum and became his partner-in-crime.

In my opinion, Gellar is at her best when she plays devilish characters (see: Cruel Intentions). So -- and I'm probably in the minority here -- I think she'd be great as Harley Quinn. Cinematical attempted to contact Gellar's reps for a comment, though as of now we haven't yet heard back. Everyone is keeping real quiet on this one -- but, if we hear more, you'll be the first to know.

[via AICN]

And I couldn't be more excited. Variety tells us tonight that Maggie Gyllenhaal (who was once rumored alongside folks like Rachel McAdams and Emily Blunt) is in final talks to play Rachel Dawes in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (which, of course, is the sequel to Batman Begins.) Gyllenhaal will replace Katie Holmes as the love interest of Christian Bale, and Batman fans around the world are cheering with glee. I swear, I can hear them -- cant you? They're cheering!

There was never a good reason given for Holmes' departure; some thought hubby Tom Cruise did not approve of the role, while others felt she was just interested in another project. Needless to say, fans of the first film never quite took to Holmes in the role of Dawes, and now that Gyllenhaal -- with her cool, smooth and sometimes edgy persona -- is in the picture, you'll be hard-pressed to find a negative reaction as The Dark Knight officially heads into production. In the pic, Batman will face off against his arch-nemesis, The Joker (Heath Ledger), while Aaron Eckhart arrives on the scene as Harvey Dent, Gotham district attorney. Dent, as we all know, will at some point make a transformation and become the villain Two Face. Big Batman news, folks! Thoughts? Concerns?