The final instalment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, had its première in New York, with stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Marion Cotillard.
   Bale says, ‘You saw him make decisions at the end of The Dark Knight which he came to regret they were for the short term not for the long term. … He’s now become a hunted figure and he’s become a recluse even more so than we’ve seen before. He’s let himself go physically and mentally. This is the story of him recovering his purpose.’
   Hardy praised the late Heath Ledger, who played the villain in the previous instalment. ‘He did such amazing work that there’s a responsibility for any actor to play the next villain in the Batman franchise,’ he says.
   Hathaway, in a white, low-cut dress with a peplum and train, said she was ‘proud’ to have played ‘such an iconic role’, namely Catwoman, following in the footsteps of Eartha Kitt, Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry.
   In UK entertainment news, Lord Sugar has signed up for another two years for the British version of The Apprentice.