The Dark Knight Rises ***USE SPOILER TAGS***

[jye4ever]

box office mojo:

The bigger question is whether The Dark Knight Rises can steal the opening weekend record away from The Avengers, which established an insanely high bar when it debuted to $207.4 million in May.

If anyone can beat The Avengers, though, it's Batman, who is arguably the most popular character in American pop culture. 1989's Batman set the opening weekend record at the time with $40.5 million; that was eventually topped by Batman Returns ($45.7 million), which was then beat by Batman Forever ($52.8 million). By the time Batman and Robin opened in 1997, though, the pervading silliness had sullied the franchise, and the movie was a financial disappointment at $107.3 million total.

A popular debate over the past two months has been whether or not The Dark Knight Rises can top the record-setting $207.4 million Avengers debut. It's an uphill battle, for sure: The Avengers had a boost from 3D ticket pricing, and opened at a time when there wasn't really any competition. Additionally, The Dark Knight Rises has an insanely long runtime (164 minutes) which will prevent it from getting in as many showings per screen as The Avengers.

That being said, there are a handful of things working in favor of The Dark Knight Rises. First, the movie is guaranteed to have a much bigger midnight opening than The Avengers. Four years ago, before midnight movies had really taken off, The Dark Knight set a then-record with $18.5 million. The opportunity to be one of the first to see the conclusion has sparked ridiculous midnight demand among fanboys, and theaters are adding more and more showtimes to accommodate this demand. At 3,700 midnight locations, The Dark Knight Rises should earn at least $30 million, which gives it an early leg up on The Avengers ($18.7 million).

Also thanks to the proliferation of digital projection, theaters should be well-suited to handle the surge of opening weekend demand for The Dark Knight Rises. Yes, Ice Age: Continental Drift and to a lesser extent The Amazing Spider-Man will hold on to most of their screens, but other movies are going to get pushed aside to make room for Batman (at the Arclight theaters in Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, for example, the movie appears to be playing on at least six out of 14 screens this weekend). Tracking indicates that there's more pre-release interest in The Dark Knight Rises than in The Avengers, and if that gap is significant enough, then The Dark Knight Rises can overcome its ticket price disadvantage and claim the all-time opening weekend record.

Since the main selling point appears to be that it is the final installment, a good way to come up with a range for the opening weekend of The Dark Knight Rises is by looking back at other popular series finales. For its five-day opening, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King earned $124.1 million, which was a 22 percent improvement over The Two Towers. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith jumped 44 percent over its predecessor with a $158.4 million four-day start, while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was up 35 percent to $169.2 million over opening weekend. Based on these figures, The Dark Knight Rises should be in line for somewhere between $193 million and $228 million.

Thanks to an attention-grabbing campaign, the exorbitant pent-up demand, and the insane popularity of its predecessor, it's likely that the movie winds up on the higher end of this range, and barely beats The Avengers's $207.4 million record.

Weekend Forecast (July 20-22)
1. The Dark Knight Rises - $214.7 million (new record)
2. Ice Age 4 - $26.6 million (-43%)
3. The Amazing Spider-Man - $16.7 million (-51%)

 

[intothevoid]

This is a great little review, by non other than Neal Adams!

https://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/07/18/dark-knight-rises-a-guest-review-by-neal-adams/

THIS REVIEW is 100% SPOILER-FREE


Neal Adams (Courtesy of Continuity Studios)

I listened to the vibes out there, and they said, “How can anybody beat the ‘Avengers’ movie? Even Batman?”

Well, “The Dark Knight Rises” does NOT beat “The Avengers. ” The reason? It is a totally different kind of movie — to compare them is an empty exercise.

“The Dark Knight Rises,” it turns out, is a classic Batman epic. How can I relate it to you? A Greek tragedy? “The Iliad”? “Macbeth”? It’s a giant movie. “Avengers” was a great comic-book movie. “The Dark Knight Rises” is a great epic.

OK, you’re getting the feeling that I had a good time Monday. Sure, it was over-long, but every minute on the screen had a great performance by a great actor. For those of us who followed Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s career from “3rd Rock From the Sun,” there’s no doubt that he has come into his own. Michael Caine brought tears to my eyes — and I don’t cry at anything. And Anne Hathaway: Why were they hiding her in the previews? Because she was an incredible surprise. What a great job she did. Gangly and wobbly? Not a bit. She was sleek and sexy. Christian Bale was powerful, and intense.Then there’s Gary Oldman — please stop me, somebody — we’ve all watched Gary Oldman rise to become one of our great actors. I didn’t even know he was a Brit. Could there have been a greater Commissioner Gordon? The answer is “No.” His role, alone, his adventure in the movie, was worth the price of the ticket. I would carve out his role and make a separate movie of it.

Did the story and writing team (Christopher and Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer) spend a year writing this? This is the movie that all serious comic-book-related filmmakers will strive to beat in the next decade. Perhaps they will beat it. I don’t know how. It’s trite to say, “It was a long movie, but it was worth it.” Pretend I just said it. I would have gladly watched two hours more. I can’t even imagine what was left on the cutting room floor.

But now let me tell you a story of why you should not trust this review.


Neal Adams’ drawing that was presented to Christopher Nolan as a birthday gift. (Courtesy of Neal Adams)

I was working in my studio — this is back before “Batman Begins” came out in 2005 — and the phone rings. Someone named David Goyer would like to come up and say hello.

Marilyn, my wife, wrangler, and our studio’s producer, reminds me with withering gaze, “It’s the ‘Blade’ writer-director, and the ‘Batman Begins’ screenwriter.”

“Oh…Kay. When?”

“Twenty minutes.”


Tom Hardy as Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises” (Marcel Thomas / FilmMagic)

“A comic-book guy?”

“No …” (Then she makes that frustrated sound.) “David Goyer, who wrote/directed ‘Blade’ and who’s writing the Batman movie.”

“Okay cool,” I think out loud. I loved “Blade.”

It also turns out he’s a really nice guy. He’s a fan. David is a true fan … and he wondered if I would do a Batman vs. Ra’s al Ghul drawing that he could give to Chris Nolan … for his birthday.

Right then, did I think that they would do a great, right-on version of Batman? I did … and they did.

And so, we’ve seen the work of these comic-book fans, these Batman fans. And here is the third in the trilogy. Would they let us down?

This is why I say you shouldn’t trust me. Read all the reviews. I’m too close. There’s a grin pasted on my face a mile wide. I’ve seen an epic and masterful film, based soundly on all the good work of a handful of writers and artists … and mine as well. Oscar trophies for a comic-book movie? You bet!

– Neal Adams

He happens to agree with my notion that Avengers and TDKR (and TDK in my view) are completely different types of films too.

 

[intothevoid]

box office mojo:

The bigger question is whether The Dark Knight Rises can steal the opening weekend record away from The Avengers, which established an insanely high bar when it debuted to $207.4 million in May.

If anyone can beat The Avengers, though, it's Batman, who is arguably the most popular character in American pop culture. 1989's Batman set the opening weekend record at the time with $40.5 million; that was eventually topped by Batman Returns ($45.7 million), which was then beat by Batman Forever ($52.8 million). By the time Batman and Robin opened in 1997, though, the pervading silliness had sullied the franchise, and the movie was a financial disappointment at $107.3 million total.

A popular debate over the past two months has been whether or not The Dark Knight Rises can top the record-setting $207.4 million Avengers debut. It's an uphill battle, for sure: The Avengers had a boost from 3D ticket pricing, and opened at a time when there wasn't really any competition. Additionally, The Dark Knight Rises has an insanely long runtime (164 minutes) which will prevent it from getting in as many showings per screen as The Avengers.

That being said, there are a handful of things working in favor of The Dark Knight Rises. First, the movie is guaranteed to have a much bigger midnight opening than The Avengers. Four years ago, before midnight movies had really taken off, The Dark Knight set a then-record with $18.5 million. The opportunity to be one of the first to see the conclusion has sparked ridiculous midnight demand among fanboys, and theaters are adding more and more showtimes to accommodate this demand. At 3,700 midnight locations, The Dark Knight Rises should earn at least $30 million, which gives it an early leg up on The Avengers ($18.7 million).

Also thanks to the proliferation of digital projection, theaters should be well-suited to handle the surge of opening weekend demand for The Dark Knight Rises. Yes, Ice Age: Continental Drift and to a lesser extent The Amazing Spider-Man will hold on to most of their screens, but other movies are going to get pushed aside to make room for Batman (at the Arclight theaters in Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, for example, the movie appears to be playing on at least six out of 14 screens this weekend). Tracking indicates that there's more pre-release interest in The Dark Knight Rises than in The Avengers, and if that gap is significant enough, then The Dark Knight Rises can overcome its ticket price disadvantage and claim the all-time opening weekend record.

Since the main selling point appears to be that it is the final installment, a good way to come up with a range for the opening weekend of The Dark Knight Rises is by looking back at other popular series finales. For its five-day opening, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King earned $124.1 million, which was a 22 percent improvement over The Two Towers. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith jumped 44 percent over its predecessor with a $158.4 million four-day start, while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was up 35 percent to $169.2 million over opening weekend. Based on these figures, The Dark Knight Rises should be in line for somewhere between $193 million and $228 million.

Thanks to an attention-grabbing campaign, the exorbitant pent-up demand, and the insane popularity of its predecessor, it's likely that the movie winds up on the higher end of this range, and barely beats The Avengers's $207.4 million record.

Weekend Forecast (July 20-22)
1. The Dark Knight Rises - $214.7 million (new record)
2. Ice Age 4 - $26.6 million (-43%)
3. The Amazing Spider-Man - $16.7 million (-51%)

The closer it gets the more I think it can beat the Avengers record. The demand for opening weekend tickets here in the UK is NUTS. Someone just paid £145 ($220+) for an opening night seat

 

[jye4ever]

Holy crap it's tomorrow, pinch me DiFabio.

It's been a painful wait since TDK and the TDKR announcement, hasn't it.

Let me see what I've been thru in these 5 long years.

My fridge broke, that's one.

I just want to hug someone, Lambocat, Zachcat, Alex.

 

[intothevoid]

Holy crap it's tomorrow, pinch me DiFabio.

It's been a painful wait since TDK and the TDKR announcement, hasn't it.

Let me see what I've been thru in these 5 long years.

My fridge broke, that's one.

I just want to hug someone, Lambocat, Zachcat, Alex, where art thou.

 

[Voorhees27]

 

[MaulFan]

The closer it gets the more I think it can beat the Avengers record. The demand for opening weekend tickets here in the UK is NUTS. Someone just paid £145 ($220+) for an opening night seat

I think the hype for this film will unquestionably lead to a huge opening weekend and even first week, but with the runtime and the way the story sounds like it's going to be, I'm not sure that financial success will sustain long term, I think after a week or two, it's going to die down and be riding on the few super fans who keep seeing it over and over to soak up the last of Nolan's Batman films, but i don't think there'll be enough of those people to hit TDK type numbers.

 

[jye4ever]

I think the hype for this film will unquestionably lead to a huge opening weekend and even first week, but with the runtime and the way the story sounds like it's going to be, I'm not sure that financial success will sustain long term, I think after a week or two, it's going to die down and be riding on the few super fans who keep seeing it over and over to soak up the last of Nolan's Batman films, but i don't think there'll be enough of those people to hit TDK type numbers.

 

[crows]

Holy crap it's tomorrow, pinch me DiFabio.

It's been a painful wait since TDK and the TDKR announcement, hasn't it.

Let me see what I've been thru in these 5 long years.

My fridge broke, that's one.

I just want to hug someone, Lambocat, Zachcat, Alex.

Ill pinch you, in the butt

 

[jye4ever]

Ill pinch you, in the butt

Nammmmmmmmm Halppppppppp

 

[lambo944]

Holy crap it's tomorrow, pinch me DiFabio.

It's been a painful wait since TDK and the TDKR announcement, hasn't it.

Let me see what I've been thru in these 5 long years.

My fridge broke, that's one.

I just want to hug someone, Lambocat, Zachcat, Alex.

 

[Nightwing]

 

[lforigno]

Just got done with a private screening and it was simply amazing. I cannot wait to see it again. Avoid any spoilers at all costs it made the film that much more enjoyable.

 

[jye4ever]

Same league as void's 5 fingers cat slap and Nam's card throwing cat.

 

[jye4ever]

Just got done with a private screening and it was simply amazing. I cannot wait to see it again. Avoid any spoilers at all costs it made the film that much more enjoyable.

Release Nolan or I'm calling the cops.

 

[lforigno]

Hahahaha. Honestly though I truly felt this may be the best of the trilogy and you guys are going to love it.

 

[lambo944]

Same league as void's 5 fingers cat slap and Nam's card throwing cat.

Release Nolan or I'm calling the cops.

 

[intothevoid]

Hahahaha. Honestly though I truly felt this may be the best of the trilogy and you guys are going to love it.

 

[MaulFan]

Hahahaha. Honestly though I truly felt this may be the best of the trilogy and you guys are going to love it.

Would you say it's a good marriage of the best traits of Begins and TDK in a single film?

 

[lforigno]

Would you say it's a good marriage of the best traits of Begins and TDK in a single film?

Without a doubt. This film truly makes this story a great trilogy.