Back in November we brought you a report that Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Thor), Naomi Watts (Dream House), Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower), Anne Hathaway (One Day), Keira Knightley (A Dangerous Method) and Blake Lively (Green Lantern) were all vying for two completely different female lead roles in The Dark Knight Rises.

Now, THR reports that Keira Knightley, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Biel are due to test for roles in director Christopher Nolan‘s final installment in his trip to Gotham City within the next two weeks. Charlotte Riley and Kate Mara are reportedly scheduled to test as well. Mara is currently engaged to Tom Hardy, who is rumored to be playing Hugo Strange in the film but, officially has an unspecified starring role.

Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans) has also been scheduled to test but, as we previously reported, Arterton scored the female lead opposite Jeremy Renner in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, which may present a scheduling conflict with the production of The Dark Knight Rises.

Even though all of this testing is underway, the latest rumors (neither confirmed or denied by the studio) say that Eva Green and Naomi Watts have already locked in the female lead roles in the film. Green is rumored to be playing Talia al Guhl, and Watts is rumored to be playing Vicki Vale.

Collider also reports that there are designs for a new, sleeker Batmobile / Tumbler and a renovated, more modern Batcave equipped with the Batcomputer and a storage area for the newly redesigned Batsuits in Christopher Nolan‘s forthcoming bat-film.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated to hit theaters on July 20th, 2012.