Christopher Nolan Scouting Filming Locations in Asia for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

For the director's third and final installment of his Batman film series, Nolan is apparently planning on taking the Caped Crusader back towards international territory.

In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne traveled across the world battling criminals in an effort to avenge the death of his parents. After training with the League of Shadows, he returned to Gotham City to become the vigilante known as Batman. The Dark Knight showed Wayne and his alter ego Batman returning to the Far East to dole out justice again.

Now, it appears that director Christopher Nolan has more international plans for The Dark Knight Rises. The LA Times' Hero Complex has revealed the director's travel plans through their Twitter feed:

"Chris Nolan is under the weather and scouting locations in Asia for 'DK Rises' but excited about Globes noms."

The noms they are referring to regard the recently announced Golden Globe Nominations, of which Nolan's Inception claimed a stake in four categories: Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score. The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled to begin production in late spring 2011, with a theatrical release date of July 20th, 2012.

A finalized draft for the film was allegedly just delivered to the studio with a shoot planned to begin in May of 2011, targeting a July 20, 2012 release.