Paul Thomas Anderson Is A Fan of Nolan's Batman Films

Here's a cool little morsel for fans of Paul Thomas Anderson. The director of The Master, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and more has spoken out about Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and surprisingly, he's a fan. Cigarettes and Red Vines has a transcript of a recent PTA interview (via Slashfilm) in which he said:

I’ve never really been asked to do [big tentpole blockbusters]. You look at what Christopher Nolan did with Batman, that’s like the meeting of the highest level of artistic skill & a kind of commerciality and appeal to a wide range of people which is what anybody would want. It’s kind of unparalleled actually, and they don’t come to me with those. And that’s alright.

Interesting. It seems like Anderson almost wishes that a studio would offer him a big project like that, but if he did take on a blockbuster tentpole, I can't imagine how it would end up. That's part of the reason everyone was so excited to see a Darren Aronofsky-directed version of The Wolverine before it eventually went to 3:10 to Yuma director James Mangold. How do guys who have made mostly arthouse pictures reconcile those sensibilities with big budgets and superhero storylines? Nolan has arguably done it best, and it's cool to hear that PTA recognizes the artistry in the work of his peer without acting pretentious and pretending like superhero films are below him in some way.

But hey, now that Nolan is stepping down from the director's chair in the Batman franchise, the slot is currently vacant. What do you think about the concept of Paul Thomas Anderson directing the next Batman movie?