Actress Katie Holmes has been rumoured to have been dropped from a "Batman Begins" sequel according to sources for Page Six. Movie bosses have been thrilled with the response to "Batman Begins", but Holmes wont reprise her role as district attorney Rachel Dawes reportedly because Warner Bros. is angry her engagement to Tom Cruise has stolen media attention away from the movie.

"Everyone is in agreement that the movie's strength is with Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. [Holmes] won't be in the sequel ... the next romantic interest will be a much stronger actress. Warner is happy that people are now focusing on who'll be playing the Joker rather than Katie and Tom" says a source for the paper. Even amongst its swath of positive reviews, many cited Holmes performance as the one flaw amongst otherwise unanimously acclaimed performances.

Meanwhile, Director Chris Nolan apparently spoke with Laceby News about whether he'd come back to direct a sequel - "If David's writing it, Christian's still Batman, and everyone else is returning.....me not returning would be like the only student of a graduating class skipping the big day to wash the car" said the British helmer.

He dropped some other hints such as "Like Begins, one clear cut villain isn't the plan [though]" and the likelihood of Robin appearing "The studio wasn't interested in Robin. We weren't either. This is a young Batman, so Robin's a few films....not for a few pictures anyway. Dick Grayson's still in a crib somewhere. I seriously doubt I will even be involved when Robin's in the franchise" says Nolan.

Thanks to 'Pint-Drinker', 'eRic' & 'Kenny'.