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Cinematographer Wally Pfister describes the movie's treacherous, James Bond-like shoot.By Eric Ditzian Leonardo DiCaprio in "Inception" Photo: Warner Bros. "Inception" won its second-straight weekend at the box office, the thriller's stellar buzz conquering the #1 aspirations of Angelina Jolie's "Salt." Moviegoers simply couldn't get enough of Leonardo DiCaprio and his team of fantastical bandits who machine-gun their way through one action-heavy dream state after another. MTV News has already explored the intricacies of some of those eye-popping "Inception" scenes, from a wacky zero-gravity fight scene to a super slow-motion crash sequence to a shot of Paris folding itself up into a cube. Now, we turn our attention to a snowy scene in which Leo and his crew ski and shoot their way through a world that calls to mind some classic James Bond flicks like "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and "For Your Eyes Only." That's no coincidence, according to cinematographer Wally Pfister. "We were wondering, 'How are we going to capture that action?' " he recalled. "We went back to watch Bond films." With those Bond movies in mind, the production took over a shuttered ski resort in Calgary and built a massive set. The shoot took a full two weeks to capture — the final weeks of principle photography. "We were running around with a lot of handheld cameras," Pfister explained. "And I had a wonderful ski cameraman who could handle the camera while skiing down the slope, so we were able to get dynamic footage." For a while, though, the filmmakers were worried they wouldn't even get a chance to roll their cameras. "The scariest thing about that situation was that after we built this huge set, we found ourselves praying for snow," he said. "It could have gone either way. It was eight months of biting our nails hoping we'd get some snow. We were prepared to make some snow, but there's no way we would have gotten the images we wanted without real snow. "You've got to be careful what you hope for, because we got a blizzard," he added with a laugh. "It made shooting difficult and cold and uncomfortable." As the snow swept in, the crew turned toward Nolan, a director with a couple enormous productions already on his résumé. After his experience on "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," Nolan has become — at least in the eyes of his team — nothing short of presidential in his authority and confidence. "Chris is our commander-in-chief, and I'm one of the field generals, and we get out there and it's combat," Pfister said. "It's like a military operation in terms of precision, blended with artistic inspiration. We were able to get visceral action sequences and also a fascinating and fun bit of storytelling." Check out everything we've got on "Inception." For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. Related Videos 'Inception' Clips MTV Rough Cut: 'Inception'

Christopher Nolan 'is up against it, because he made such a good movie with 'The Dark Knight,' ' Eckhart says at Comic-Con.By Terri Schwartz, with reporting by Josh Horowitz SAN DIEGO — Any news that will come out of Comic-Con about Christopher Nolan's upcoming "Batman 3." project will most likely be presented at Saturday's Warner Bros. panel, but that didn't stop MTV News' Josh Horowitz from trying to get some information from "The Dark Knight" star Aaron Eckhart. The actor who played "Batman" villain Harvey "Two-Face" Dent stopped by to chat with MTV about his 2011 flick "Battle: Los Angeles," and talk quickly turned to his upcoming projects. Turns out, Eckhart doesn't have anything on the docket for March or April of next year, when "Batman 3" is allegedly set to begin filming. "I'll give Chris a shout-out. You know, I'm available," Eckhart said, earning a laugh from his "Battle: Los Angeles" co-star Michelle Rodriguez. "Or [James] Cameron. Ridley Scott. ['Battle: Los Angeles' director] Jonathan [Liebesman]; I don't know what he's doing. I'm available." Since Two-Face was last seen dead at the end of "The Dark Knight," it isn't a big surprise that Eckhart isn't the most knowledgeable about Nolan's plans, but any comic book fan will say that "death" is never the end for villains. The loss of Heath Ledger, whose Joker was supposed to return in "Batman 3," however, did mean Nolan had to find a new villain to be the centerpiece of the final installment in the rebooted franchise. "Obviously, the script was meant to bring back Heath, and unfortunately that can't happen, so I think starting over is a good thing," Eckhart said. "I'm excited to see. Chris is up against it, because he made such a good movie with 'The Dark Knight,' that he's got to really come up with something good." Speculation about the "Batman 3" villain started immediately after "The Dark Knight" was released, and the latest rumor pins "Inception" star Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Riddler. Eckhart couldn't speak to that rumor specifically but said he thought that the opportunity to start fresh was good for the film. "Chris, he's an exceptional filmmaker from start to finish," he said. "Whenever I hear stuff like that [Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Riddler], if Johnny Depp's going to play the Riddler, I'm into it. I feel like he can go in any direction." When asked if he thinks his time is done in the franchise, Eckhart avoided the question by giving a shout-out to Rodriguez being in the film. Horowitz asked if she should play Catwoman, Poison Ivy or Harley Quinn, but Rodriguez wasn't having it. "I say we come up with our own superheroes," she said. "I think it's time for something new, man." MTV News and MySpace are live at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con! From Seth Rogen and Michael Cera to Anna Kendrick and Bruce Willis, we're talking to some of the world's biggest stars during three daily live streams. So tune in to MTV.com at 3 p.m. ET/ noon PT on Friday and 6 p.m. ET/ 3 p.m. PT on Saturday to watch the fun unfold. And don't forget to check in all week for exclusive interviews, movie clips and much more! Check out everything we've got on "Batman 3." For breaking comic book movie news, columns and more — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.