Official "The Dark Knight" SPOILER Thread

[The Mike]

Nice posting Mike, what are you the Michael Moore of message boards!

I just find the news....you do with it what you will.

 

[scubasteve]

I just find the news....you do with it what you will.

 

[The Mike]

Check this out:

We thought Batman's big-screen revival was doomed, admits Christian Bale
By David Bentley on Aug 12, 08 01:50 PM in Film gossip

CHRISTIAN BALE, who plays Bruce Wayne and his caped crusader alter-ego in blockbuster The Dark Knight, says everyone involved in the new Batman franchise at one point thought it was doomed.

Bale, 34, said it had been a huge risk to attempt a revival of the comicbook hero after Joel Schumacher's flamboyant failure, Batman and Robin, in 1997.

In Batman and Robin, George Clooney played Bruce Wayne/Batman, Chris O'Donnell returned as Robin, Alicia Silverstone joined the duo as Batgirl, and the villains were Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. The garish sets and hammy performances were poorly received and critically mauled. The movie cost $125million but crucially failed to recoup that on home turf, making only $103million in the US. A further $130million came from overseas box office but the overall figure was still seen as weak and the movie regarded as a disaster.

A planned sequel, Batman Triumphant, which would have featured the Scarecrow (with Jeff Goldblum, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd, or Nicolas Cage in line for the role) and Harley Quinn (written as the Joker's daughter) was scrapped.

The hero was hauled back out of the Batcave in 2005 with the acclaimed Batman Begins, introducing a darker, grittier tone and restarting the film franchise with a grounded origin story. Its sequel The Dark Knight is a record-breaking success at the box office.

But Bale said no-one was sure in the early days that the public had any more interest in the caped crusader after Schumacher's film had made the franchise into a toxic no-go zone.

He said: "Before we were involved, the Batman franchise had gone to pot - everyone knows that.

"And to be honest, when we took it on, it was a big gamble; an awful lot of people thought we were destined for failure."

Well, the gamble paid off, with The Dark Knight now setting a new benchmark for comicbook adaptations.

But, as a fascinating analysis by Portfolio.com shows, the franchise's returns have swooped lower over time.

Although the analysis only includes USA earnings for each Batman movie, and fails to take into account international box office takings, it's still an interesting comparison.

The figures, adjusted for inflation so they are comparable, show that Keaton earned $8.7million for Batman and then $15.4million for Batman Returns, Val Kilmer got $9.9million for Batman Forever, George Clooney was paid $13.4million for Batman and Robin, and Christian Bale was given a $10million paycheck for Batman Begins.

Comparisons between budget and box office to determine the film's returns show a diminishing scale - 618 per cent profit on Batman, 103 per cent on Batman Returns, 84 per cent on Batman Forever, -14 per cent on Batman and Robin and then, the start of an upswing, 36 per cent on Batman Begins. It will be interesting to see how The Dark Knight slots into the that chart.

 

[The Mike]

Goyer explains what happens to the Joker in his draft for Escape from Supermax. So I'd expect he has the TDK follow up treatment following suit:

David Goyer, writer for The Dark Knight, states, "His name is a throwaway. He’s on a cell…You don’t actually see him, just his name on a cell. It’s a real Easter Egg. That’s one cross-pollination we would stay away from [doing more with].”

The film, which revolves around Green Arrow's incarceration and subsequent escape from prison, allegedly will have villains from all over the DC Universe, featuring “Superman villains, Green Lantern villains, and Wonder Woman villains,” according to Goyer.

 

[Khev]

Even weeks later I'm still in awe of this movie. It has already joined The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back, and Aliens as one of my favorite films of all time.

 

[EVILFACE]

 

[DarkArtist81]

Hilarious.

 

[jml969]

Well saw it again and the theater was still packed!!

 

[Bigfoot-X]

Well saw it again and the theater was still packed!!

Me too! Watched the 12:00am screening this morning and it was still packed. I don't remember when was the last time we had a movie, 1 month after opening still screening to pack theaters!

 

[The Mike]

The film just beat Star Wars to become the number 2 money making film of all time.

The reign of Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight may finally be over as six new movies made it difficult to sustain the top spot after four weeks in residence there. Even so, yesterday it passed the unadjusted gross of George Lucas' 1977 sci-fi classic Star Wars to become the 2nd highest grossing movie domestically with an astounding five-week box office gross of $471.5 million. (Star Wars' unadjusted gross was $461 million including a number of re-releases since its debut thirty years ago.)

 

[barbelith]

The film just beat Star Wars to become the number 2 money making film of all time.

Adjusted for inflation or in the empty nominal sense?

 

[EVILFACE]

Inflation is skewed. Bottom dollar, TDK is number 2.

 

[Riko]

en de hype continues

 

[Riko]

Although the analysis only includes USA earnings for each Batman movie, and fails to take into account international box office takings, it's still an interesting comparison.

The figures, adjusted for inflation so they are comparable, show that Keaton earned $8.7million for Batman and then $15.4million for Batman Returns, Val Kilmer got $9.9million for Batman Forever, George Clooney was paid $13.4million for Batman and Robin, and Christian Bale was given a $10million paycheck for Batman Begins.

Comparisons between budget and box office to determine the film's returns show a diminishing scale - 618 per cent profit on Batman, 103 per cent on Batman Returns, 84 per cent on Batman Forever, -14 per cent on Batman and Robin and then, the start of an upswing, 36 per cent on Batman Begins. It will be interesting to see how The Dark Knight slots into the that chart.

 

[The Ringer]

The Riddler!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love those teasers!

 

[CelticPredator]

en de hype continues

Yeah, I know thats fake and all, but why does every villian have to be The Joker 2? Riddler should have posters like that. Not sure WHAT he should have....but its shouldnt be like that.

 

[The Ringer]

I think they look pretty good for being false.

 

[jml969]

If the Riddler was the villain in the third film, I hope his outfit would be kept in the real world- Nolan sense. I don't want to see a bunch of question marks all over some one piece spandex- a la Jim Carrey. Someone mentioned Johnny Depp which would be cool. How about Kevin Spacey? He always seems to play the smartest guy in all his movies and he certainly could play a dark character.

 

[Riko]

 

[Zoolander]

If the Riddler was the villain in the third film, I hope his outfit would be kept in the real world- Nolan sense. I don't want to see a bunch of question marks all over some one piece spandex- a la Jim Carrey. Someone mentioned Johnny Depp which would be cool. How about Kevin Spacey? He always seems to play the smartest guy in all his movies and he certainly could play a dark character.

yeah somehow I don't see Nolan going with green spandex