Confirmed: Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight

About a month ago I posted this concerning the rumor that Emily Blunt might replace Katie Homes in the new Batman film, The Dark Knight.

Well, as it turns out the role won't go to Blunt. According to Variety, Maggie Gyllenhaal will be Holme's replacement. She will play the character of Rachel Dawes who is Bruce Wayne's childhood friend and now lover.

The film is set to open in the summer of 2008 and the cast also includes some of the players from Batman Begins like Christian Bale reprising the role of Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon. The new faces are Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart who will play The Joker and Two Face respectively.

I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with this news. I think Gyllenhaal is a terrific actress and hopefully her casting is an indication that the Rachel Dawes character will have more depth to it and plays a more important role in the story than just being Wayne's love interest.