The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan has been given the honour of having his hands and feet cast in cement in the Grauman's Chinese Theatre forecourt on Hollywood Boulevard.

The honour, reserved for some of Hollywood's biggest names, has come early in the 41-year-old director's critically lauded career, making him one of the youngest to be chosen.

Nolan, whose final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, is due for release on 20 July, has enjoyed a rare career in which all of his films have received almost unanimous praise.

He was joined at the event by some of his latest film's cast, including Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Dark Knight Rises, which will see Bale's Batman come face to face with his biggest challenge yet in the form of Tom Hardy's Bane, is highly anticipated after the record-breaking success of The Dark Knight, which featured a career best by the late Heath Ledger.

Plot details for the film had been kept quite tightly under wraps, although the film's official site recently released a series of production notes, which reveal a few secrets. 

Although it is not known what Nolan will take on as his next project, he has hinted that he would be interested in a James Bond film, a style which he referenced heavily in the latter scenes of Inception.

Nolan shows off the marks on his hands after pressing them into the concrete and thus immortalising him in the Grauman's Hall of Fame.

Christopher Nolan, 41, is one of the youngest directors to have their hand and foot prints pressed into the cement of the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Nolan was joined at the event by some of the cast of The Dark Knight Rises, the last of his Batman trilogy. Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Caine all made an appearance.

Gary Oldman will return to play the role of Commissioner Gordon, one of Batman's most trusted allies, in the last part of Nolan's Batman trilogy.

Christian Bale, who has played Batman three times with Nolan as his director, hugs him at the event.

Christopher Nolan's hands and feet are printed in cement on Hollywood Boulevard