I'm sure everyone expected The Dark Knight to close with a Heath Ledger "in memoriam" after the fade to black. So it will. Warner Bros. has released the text of the dedication that will accompany the film, and it reads:
"In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe"
Wickliffe (the IMDb has him as "Comway" but other sources, as well as the dedication, say "Conway") is the Maori special-effects technician who was killed in a stunt car accident last September. He was on a camera truck following the Batmobile around a racetrack when the truck spun out of control and crashed into a tree. It's very classy of Chris Nolan & Co., I think, to tribute Wickliffe in the same line as the far more famous and publicly-mourned Ledger. Their whole handling of Ledger's death has been on the money; they haven't shied away from showcasing his performance in the marketing, but nor have they given the slightest indication that they're attempting to exploit its profile. The result: going to see the movie doesn't feel the least bit skeevy or off, at least for me.
I am a bit concerned about the possible posthumous Oscar campaign though, especially after Peter Travers semi-officially got it off the ground last week. Since Ledger almost certainly wouldn't have had a shot at it for this role were he still alive, I'm afraid the notion of the "posthumous Oscar" would overwhelm his actual performance, which looks fantastic.
A brand new clip from The Dark Knight has landed over at WhySoSerious.com (see it above or over on that site), and in it we get to watch Two Face make what I imagine will be his first appearance in the film. Don't worry spoiler-nerds, they don't actually show you his face (like they'd ruin that one on a random Monday night in June) -- but we see him from a side angle and briefly hear his voice. I truly hope this isn't some sort of very very short tease over to the third film and that Two Face is an actual character in the movie for a little while. Then again, perhaps it'd be better if he wasn't in it; cut down on the number of villains and all that. However, Christopher Nolan has said that this is Harvey Dent's story and not the Joker's. The latter maniac just happens to be wreaking havoc on Gotham while the real plot develops around Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
Look, all I know is that I really want to see this sucker, like, yesterday. 32 days till July 18th. Sweet!
With only a month to go until The Dark Knight, all the viral fun seems to have disappeared, taking anything newsworthy along with it. I'm actually very glad they haven't bombarded us (yet) with clips and television spots, as I want to see this film as unspoiled as possible. I know I'm not alone in that.
But the temptation is still there to see just a little bit more, and two new videos have satisfied that quite nicely. One is on the making of the clown masks sported by the Joker's gang. It is quite short, but it is a fun little insight into the character and his gang of creeps. The second is all about shooting for IMAX, much of which has been repeated from the featurette that has been up on IMAX's site for months. However, the much of the footage in between the techno-speak is new, awesome, and spoiler free. It's just enough Dark Knight to keep you going another month ...
Finally, the wait is over! The second full length trailer for The Dark Knightis up and it is all kinds of cool. Unlike the feeling left by the two Incredible Hulk trailers, I feel like there's plenty of scary Joker goodness waiting for me in the theatre.
Maybe it was the long wait, maybe it's just that there's a point of excitement one reaches, but this trailer seems kind of ... understated? I don't want to say flat, because it is anything but -- yet compared to the explosions and shrill laughter of the first, this one suddenly brought Batman back into the real world. When the bootleg was leaked, my e-mail box was flooded with people complaining that Ledger was too "gritty" and "realistic" in his performance. I don't share the complaints, but the Joker is definitely missing the eerie, superhuman element. I like it, but I can see why many might not.
Love the foreshadowing surrounding poor Harvey Dent. I'm already half in love with the handsome D.A.; I can't wait to see how Nolan handles his fall from grace. Watch it, and rave about it. Or complain. I think this might be the trailer that divides an audience -- I'm watching the comments to see! The Dark Knight hits theatres July 18th.
Are any of you super-fans? I'm talking about the type of fanatic who will buy every single thing associated with a beloved franchise or movie -- from toys to posters -- plus any video store or movie theater paraphernalia that can be scored. If you are, what do you do if you love Christopher Nolan's take on Batman? More specifically, what happens if you run out of wall space? Do you keep them on rotation?* More posters for The Dark Knight have popped up online, over at Omelet.com, and you can check out one of them above.
I'm really digging these obscured-face posters (although not so much the action shots). They're eerie and simple, yet they say so much -- especially with the inclusion of Harvey Dent. It alludes to this whole Two-Face scenario, as well as the way each man chooses to fight -- with games, with weapons, and with politics. I just wish we didn't have to wait so long to see it! Yes, when we've been anxiously awaiting the dark world of Batman, and Heath Ledger's last complete performance, July 18 is too far away.
*And what do you do when the next movie you love comes out? Do you ever have retro months where everything from one movie comes out of storage?
This impressive-looking new (final?) poster for The Dark Knight recently appeared on the film's fun viral website, WhySoSerious.com. If nothing else, it has to be the most intimidating piece of advertising we've seen for a modern comic book movie. God bless Christopher Nolan for refusing to make anything about this franchise remotely cartoonish. How the hell Batman actually imprinted the flaming bat signal onto that skyscraper, I'm dying to know.
The website also contains a note reading "Four Days," which presumably means that one more trailer will appear on Monday, April 28th. (At least, that's what the folks at ComingSoon.net speculate, and I tend to agree.) If I didn't feel duty-bound to watch it, I probably wouldn't: this is one of the few summer flicks I'm dying to see unspoiled. Nolan makes movies, not frivolous money-making throwaways, and I think The Dark Knight will be no exception.
My favorite piece of Dark Knight artwork, by the way, remains this international poster (the first one, not the second), which was my desktop background for quite a while. It really seems to capture the essence of these new movies.
Holy "Where the hell did this one come from" Batman! In a last ditch effort to win back fans, Warner Bros. has apparently convinced both Christian Baleand Brandon Routh to reprise the roles of Batman and Superman for their upcoming live-action Justice League of America film (currently titled Justice League Mortal). A press release just sent to Cinematical comes with this hilarious quote from a studio rep: "Brandon wasn't too hard to convince; he half-jokingly told us he's dreamt about this opportunity every night for the past several months."
Both men have signed a three-picture deal, which means Warners has plans to extend Justice League beyond the initial film, due out in 2009. Currently, there's no word on whether Armie Hammer (the actor supposed to play Batman) will still appear in some capacity, be it as a younger version of Batman or as a random extra in a background shot. On why he ultimately decided to take the role when there's a good chance it could confuse fans and screw up Nolan's franchise, Bale said, "I don't see me taking on this role getting in the way of anything, aside from someone else's paycheck. The script is awesome. Batman is awesome. Brendon and I look forward to taking this one to the next level."
Sounds like the studio is finally getting serious about this film, bringing on two actors with established fanbases -- guys they know will bolster the flick's box office. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, like what happens to Bryan Singer's The Man of Steel now and will Chris Nolan even go ahead with a third Batman film with Bale doing JLA? Well, one thing is for sure: This whole project just got a lot more interesting ...
The New York Times has a few new stills from The Dark Knightaccompanying their excellent article. I didn't have to log in, so it doesn't look like registration is required to read or view. If it is, and all you want are the photos (for shame!), Superhero Hype has them. The one posted above is definitely the best one.
Also, Harvey Dent has gone live with the next viral challenge. It looks like he will be making campaign stops in most major cities -- and he's leaving very choppy voice mails for anyone who's given him a cell phone number. In this election year, I think it will be hilarious to stand on a street corner with a Harvey Dent sign -- and I plan on doing it as soon as I can round up some company.
I apologize for tricking you with that headline. You probably even skipped all this text and headed directly for the video, only to be somewhat disappointed that this is in fact not actually a new trailer for The Dark Knight. While Christopher Nolan's latest installment is one of the movies to see in 2008 (aka 2000-Great, according to my friends), the video below is best described as one of the worst films of 1966. Of course, we all love it, don't we? For some reason, Fark.com's hosting of the video claims Leslie H. Martinson's kitchy Batmanis even worse than the two Schumacher installments, but really what would you rather watch? If you didn't say this big-screen spin-off of the Batman TV series, then you clearly don't know how to have fun.
Anyway, this isn't the best-edited piece of parody to grace YouTube, but there are a lot of well-synced clips and that shot of the businessman getting zapped is delightfully awful. I personally love Cesar Romero as the Joker and can't get enough. I also really like what was done with the "little fight in you" section of the Dark Knight trailer: The Joker fights Bruce Wayne, who suddenly becomes Batman for the "then you'll love me" line. Sure, it's not as cute as Maggie Gyllenhaal kicking her brother's boyfriend in the nuts, but it's pretty funny. Anyway, you can check out the real Dark Knight trailer -- though you already have, unless you don't know what's good for you -- over here.
Yes, there is another new Joker picture out there, because when one gets released, it's inevitable that more will follow. The latest image from The Dark Knight comes courtesy of Wizard magazine, and has been thrown up by Coming Soon. We've seen Heath Ledger's Joker in the back seat of a car, and with his signature green vest, so now we've got the vest and classic purple coat. Unfortunately, he's looking even more aged in this picture, kind of like all of his face makeup began to wrinkle and crack after a long day of work. (Or like he's sporting a night facial mask -- those things always crinkle at the nose.) Still, he looks darn cool in the outfit, and they've done a great job of making him look like the maniacal Joker, but also within the somber darkness of Christopher Nolan's Gotham. You can click on the image to see it in its full glory.
Hopefully now that a bunch of Joker pics have been released, showing everything from feet to faces, and we've seen Batman, Rachel Dawes, and Lucius Fox, we'll finally get to see what Nolan has made of the other guys. It's time we see Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent, Anthony Michael Hall's Mike Engel, and Eric Roberts' Salvatore Maroni...not to mention Michael Jai White's Gamble. Luckily, we're closing in on the 6-month push, so we should see lots more goodies soon.
It's been more than five months since The Dark Knightbegan shooting in Chicago, but the Batman Beginssequel is very far from being completed. Currently the movie is filming in England, and according to Variety, the production is on its way to Hong Kong, where it will film a number of scenes this fall. Locations will include Central District, which is the city's business district, and Western District, which is ironically the least Westernized part of Hong Kong. The movie may also feature the Symphony of Lights, a touristy light and laser show that occurs nightly around Victoria Harbor. The shoot is scheduled to last nine days, and will happen in November.
Variety claims the HK sequences will be the first time Batman is depicted on-screen fighting crime outside Gotham. But it isn't likely the trade really knows the plot or what scenes will actually be filmed in the Chinese city. Anyway, Batman Begins did already show us Bruce Wayne in China, of course it was prior to becoming the Caped Crusader and he wasn't exactly fighting crime. The trade does point out that it is also unknown whether Hong Kong will be called Hong Kong in the movie, or if it will have a fictional name, a la Gotham. However, considering there's an actual graphic novel titled Batman: Hong Kong, I assume the DC Universe's acknowledgment of the city will extend to the movie franchise. In any case, The Dark Knight will reportedly be the highest profile film to shoot in the former British colony in many years.
In other, more tragic Dark Knight news, a crew member was killed on the set yesterday afternoon when he drove a 4x4 camera truck into a tree. According to BBC News, the sequel was doing a test run for a sequence involving the Batmobile near Chertsey, Surrey, England. The unnamed crew member, a special effects technician, was pronounced on the scene, an effects facility in Longcross. Surrey Police and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating the incident.
Jean-Claude Van Damme's blue beret-wearing ways did not appeal to the masses, but this doesn't mean that Capcom won't try again. Over the past year, a new foray into the video game world of Street Fighterhas been in the works. The last news came in July, when a script review was out. This time around, the focus will be on tough girl fighter Chun Li and her quest for justice -- she seeks revenge for the murder of her father. Now screenwriter Justin Marks is doing "a polish," and Variety is reporting that the production has tapped its director -- Andrzej Bartkowiak.
The director has some martial arts under his belt with Romeo Must Die, as well as some experience with video game adaptations -- he's the name behind Doom. Bartkowiak is also an experienced cinematographer -- having a hand in everything from Terms of Endearment and Twins to Dante's Peak and Lethal Weapon 4. So he's got the experience, but considering the fact that Doom actually grossed less than the first Street Fighter, which was about a decade earlier, what's the point? Usually when franchises or flicks are freshened, there's some sort of hope behind it. Christopher Nolan made many giddy with excitement when he took over Batman, and he delivered. What on earth can we expect, or hope for, with this project?
As J. Peterman once said, "I am smack dab in the middle of a good old-fashioned cat fight!" While recently discussing her role in next year's Bat-sequel The Dark Knight, Maggie Gyllenhaal dunked Katie Holmes into a Dawson's Creek of verbal abuse. Gyllenhaal is taking over the role of Rachel Dawes, which Holmes originated in 2005's Batman Begins. Check out this quote from Gyllenhaal, but you might want to put a jacket on first: "I'm not thinking of it as a role that anyone's played before. I'm not walking into Katie Holmes' performance. I'm thinking of it as an opportunity to play somebody who's alive and smart. Chris (Nolan) asked me to do this because he wanted me, not because he wants some generic lady in a dress." Daaaaaamn! No she didn't!
I'm not sure Holmes really deserves any more negativity at this point. She's in a mercilessly mocked marriage that no one seems to take seriously, she's got a new baby, and she hasn't exactly been adored by the critics. Holmes certainly gave a pretty weak performance in Batman Begins, but let's give the gal a break here, no? What do you guys think about this, is Gyllenhaal being too harsh on Holmes? In the interview, Gyllenhaal also mentions that she might give the Jackie Chan thing a try in the film: "I'm really excited about it. I mean, it's not some silly action movie. Chris Nolan is directing, Christian Bale's starring. I'm really excited and curious about doing a couple of stunts in Batman." Why do all "serious actors" feel they have to justify being in action movies? They always have to point out how different and superior this one is to all the others, or its "I'm only doing this crap so I can finance my pet project -- a tone poem about migrant Chinese workers." You want to do an action movie, silly or otherwise, do it! We don't need to hear that you'd normally be above such frivolous projects.
From the hardcore comic geeks to the general moviegoers -- everyone seems to have loved Batman Begins. Like, a lot. Which explains why we're writing little articles about next summer's sequel twice a day. The Dark Knight will bring back most of the cast from the first film (although Katie Holmes has been (thankfully) replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal) and offer up new additions like Heath Ledger as The Joker!
Over the last few weeks we've gotten reports on Batsuits, Batbikes and Bat-marketing galore, but our pal JoBlo has an inside scoop from someone on the set! Visit the Emporium to read the full report (mild spoiler warning), but here's just a little snip to whet your appetite: "The Joker does not look as grotesque as he did in the photo on the harveydent site. He has long hair with green highlights in it, he was wearing a long purple jacket with a blue sport coat under it, purple gloves and I regret to say I forget the color of his pants. But anyways, he comes in shooting and people are being hurt and killed left and right, he's looking for Harvey Dent (his first line says so). As Joker is hitting people along the way (he's slapping extras!), comes in Batman in that new suit that was in Entertainment Weekly this week. They fight, it's all long and drawn out and during this, JOKER DOES HIS LAUGH."
Dang. As if I weren't already slobbering over the thought of Christopher Nolan's follow-up ... this article did the trick. I only hope I can remain somewhat spoiler-free before the flick hits theaters next July! If you've missed any of our recent Dark Knight coverage, please do click here, here and here. And here, here and here. (And here.) And here, here and here. That's it. And here.
The Joker is a larger than life character -- and he's about to get even bigger. The Dark Knight will be the first feature film partly shot in the 70mm IMAX format. Christopher Nolan is shooting four action sequences on IMAX, including the introduction of Heath Ledger as The Joker. "You can't do this on any home theater," Nolan says. "Batman has some of the most extraordinary characters in pop culture. We wanted the Joker to have the grandest entrance possible." And this won't be like when you go see Kickin' It Old Skool: The IMAX Experience, and it's just a larger, more stretched out image. These scenes are actually being shot on IMAX film. "There's simply nothing like seeing a movie that way," Nolan tells USA Today. "It's more immersive for the audience. I wish I could shoot the entire thing this way."
So why can't he? Well, for starters, there are only 280 IMAX theaters operating worldwide, and less than 100 show feature films. In addition, IMAX film is 10 times the size of standard, it's much more expensive, and it has to be shot using large, cumbersome cameras. Oh, and "they're loud," says Nolan. "We had to figure a way to eliminate sound so we could shoot dialogue." If you can't get to an IMAX theater, you'll still experience a hike in picture quality. In traditional movie houses, the scenes will appear more vivid, as though they were shot in hi-definition.
Below you'll find two official, newly released shots from The Dark Knight. The first is an IMAX shot of what appears to be a bank robbery gone awry. And the second shot is the first fully confirmed photo of The Joker in full hair and makeup. Pretty cool, huh? What do you think of the look?
I'm sure everyone expected The Dark Knight to close with a Heath Ledger "in memoriam" after the fade to black. So it will. Warner Bros. has released the text of the dedication that will accompany the film, and it reads: 
I apologize for tricking you with that headline. You probably even skipped all this text and headed directly for the video, only to be somewhat disappointed that this is in fact not actually a new trailer for 
It's been more than five months since 
Jean-Claude Van Damme's 
As J. Peterman once said, "I am smack dab in the middle of a 
From the hardcore comic geeks to the general moviegoers -- everyone seems to have loved 
