[201][208] Its reissue in the run-up to the Oscars enabled the film to exceed $1billion in February,[209] and it ultimately earned $1.003billion. The plot follows the vigilante Batman, police lieutenant James Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent, who form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. [34][52] Ledger said he had some trepidation in succeeding Nicholson in the role but that the challenge excited him.
The Dark Knight actors - IMDb The release has a slipcover box-art that revealed a "Jokerized" version underneath, and contains featurettes on Batman's equipment, the psychology used in the film, six episodes of the fictional news program Gotham Tonight, and a gallery of concept art, posters, and Joker cards. [179][194][195] The film was playing in fewer than 100 theaters when it received a 300-theater relaunch in late January 2009 to raise its profile during nominations for the 81st Academy Awards. At the police station, Batman interrogates the Joker, who says he finds Batman entertaining and has no intention of killing him. [2][27] The Dark Knight features several cameo appearances, including Cillian Murphy, who reprises his role as Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow from Batman Begins;[28][29] musical performer Matt Skiba;[30] as well as United States Senator and life-long Batman fan Patrick Leahy, who has appeared in or voiced characters in other Batman media. [140] Production designer Nathan Crowley designed the Batpod (Batcycle) because Christopher did not want to extensively re-use the Tumbler. Their efforts are derailed by the Joker, an an Five Things The Dark Knight Did Differently, And Better, Than The Rest", "Academy Expands Best-Picture Pool To 10", "Warner Tests Renting Film On Facebook For Web Cash", "Seven Christopher Nolan Films Heading To 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray", "Warner Bros. Consumer Products Names Mattel Global Toy Licensee For, "New Hot Toys 1/6th Scale Batman Stands 32 Cm Tall With Over 32 Points Of Articulation", "Batman Almost Got An Open-World Game 3 Years Before, "Hollywood Finally Learned The Right Lessons From, "How Many Superheroes Does It Take To Tire A Genre? This made it the second-highest-grossing film of the year behind Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This led people to a website where they could submit their e-mail addresses to reveal a pixel of a concealed Joker image; about 97,000 e-mail addresses and 20 hours were required to reveal the image in full, which was well-received. It was so The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2020. Goyer developed an outline for two sequels, but Christopher remained unsure how to continue the Batman Begins narrative while keeping it consistent and relevant, though he was interested in utilizing the Joker in Begins's grounded, realistic style. Like Huntress, Damian Wayne has a complicated history in the comics, dating back to 1987's Batman: Son of the Demon (Mike W. Barr, Jerry Bingham, and John [177], On July 18, 2008, The Dark Knight was widely released in the U.S. and Canada in a record 4,366 theaters on an estimated 9,200 screens.
Batman [10], Focusing on Dent meant Bruce Wayne / Batman was written as a generally static character who did not undergo drastic character development. He lacks any identity or origin, representing the uncertainty, unknowability, and fear of terrorism, although he does not follow any political ideology. Oscars Snub Dark Knight For Top Awards", "How Much Has Changed Since Oscar Expanded Best Picture Nominations? [ac] It retained the number-one position in its second weekend with a total gross of $75.2million, ahead of the debuting Step Brothers ($31million), giving it the highest-grossing second weekend.
Nico Sy on Instagram: 15th anniversary of The Dark Knight (2008 Industry professionals considered the campaign innovative and successful. The film was released at the beginning of the Blu-ray disc format; it was considered a success, breaking Iron Man's record of 250,000 units sold and indicating the format was growing in popularity. [bc] Its financial, critical, and cultural successes legitimized the genre with film studios at a time when recent films, such as Daredevil, Hulk (both 2003), Fantastic Four (2005), and Superman Returns (2006) had failed to meet expectations. Lucius Fox threatens to stop helping Batman in response, believing he has crossed an ethical boundary, and although Batman agrees these violations are unacceptable and destroys the technology, the film demonstrates he could not have stopped the Joker in time without it. The Joker represents an ideological deviancy; he does not seek personal gain and causes chaos for its own sake, setting a towering pile of cash ablaze to prove "everything burns". [128], Editing was underway in January 2008 when Ledger, aged 28, died from an accidental overdose of a prescription drug. A rumor his commitment to his performance as the Joker had affected his mental state circulated, but this was later refuted. The owners refused permission to film a stunt in which Batman suspends a SWAT team from the building, so this was filmed from the fortieth floor of a separate building site. [58] Because Christopher preferred to capture sound while filming rather than re-recording dialogue in post-production, Ledger's work had been completed before his death, and Christopher did not modify the Joker's narrative in response. WebThe Dark Knight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2008 film of the same name, which is a sequel to Christopher Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins.The soundtrack was released on July 15, 2008, in three editions: CD, limited edition CD digipak, and digital download.The 2-CD Special Edition was released on December 9, [317], Batman and Dent resort to torture or enhanced interrogation to stop the Joker but he remains immune to their efforts because he has a strong belief in his goals. The Dark Knight has been analyzed for its themes of terrorism and the limitations of morality and ethics. It was an exhausting process. [311] Adlakha wrote Dent is framed as a religious icon, his campaign slogan being "I believe in Harvey Dent", and his eventual death leaves his arms spread wide like Jesus on the Cross. [35] They wanted to explore the theme of escalation and the idea that Batman's extraordinary efforts to combat common crimes would lead to an opposing escalation by criminals, attracting the Joker, who uses terrorism as a weapon. [210], The Dark Knight appeared on several lists recognizing the best films of 2008, includes those compiled by Ebert, The Hollywood Reporter, and the American Film Institute. The city mourns Dent as a hero, and the police launch a manhunt for Batman. [252] Ledger won the film's only awards at the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards, 62nd British Academy Film Awards, and 66th Golden Globe Awards, for Best Supporting Actor. Christopher said the title refers to Dent as equally as Batman. [47], Describing how his character had evolved from Batman Begins, Christian Bale said Wayne had changed from a young, naive, and angry man seeking purpose to a hero who is burdened by the realization his war against crime is seemingly endless. "[57] In a November 2007 interview, Ledger said when committing himself to any role, he had difficulty sleeping because he could not relax his mind, and often slept only two hours a night during filming. It allowed for more broadly popular but "respected" films to be nominated, including District 9, The Blind Side, Avatar, and Up, the first animated film to be nominated in two decades. Christopher described Rachel as the emotional connection between Wayne and Dent, ultimately serving as a further personal loss to fuel Wayne's character. WebChristian Bale, who played Batman in The Dark Knight Trilogy (20052012), supported Pattinson, encouraging him to "make [the role] his own" and ignore critics. [138] Chris Corbould, the film's special effects supervisor,[139] oversaw the 700 effect shots Double Negative and Framestore produced; there were relatively few effects compared to equivalent films because Christopher only used computer-generated imaging where practical effects would not suffice. David Wolinsky on Google+ The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. Shortly after, Gunn confirmed that Ben Affleck - who had previously played the Dark Knight in Zack Snyder's films and was originally going to direct the movie that The joker playing card scene in Batman Begins was intended to convey the fallacy of Batman's belief his war on crime would be temporary. [310] The scene in which Batman stands in the ruins of a destroyed building, having failed to prevent the Joker's plot, is reminiscent of the World Trade Center site after September 11.
Batman [222][235][239] Reviews generally agreed the Joker was the best-written character, and that Ledger commanded scenes from the entire cast to create one of the most mesmerizing cinematic villains. [v] Christopher said editing the film became "tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day [during editing] but the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish". The improved Batsuit design let him show more of Bale's Keysi-fighting method training. He wanted to convey elements of the Joker's corrosion, recklessness, and "otherworldliness" by combining electronic and orchestral music, and modifying almost every note after recording to emulate sounds including thunder and razors. Delivery methods of film reels were randomized and copies had a chain of custody to track who had access. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and the second installment in The Dark Knight Trilogy. Maroni has previously been played in live-action by Eric Roberts in The Dark Knight and David Zayas in Gotham. [285], The Dark Knight was released on DVD and Blu-ray in December 2008. Bale likened the WebThe Joker is a fictional character in Christopher Nolan 's 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight, in which he is portrayed by Heath Ledger. [325] The Joker aims to corrupt Dent to prove anyone, even symbols, can be broken. [121] Filming in England concluded at the end of October with a variety of green-screen shots for the truck-chase sequence, and shots of Rachel being thrown from a window were filmed on a set at Cardington. [51], Christopher was aware Nicholson's popular portrayal of the Joker would invite comparisons to his version, and wanted an actor who could cope with the associated scrutiny. [324], Although The Dark Knight presents this as a heroic act, this "noble lie" is used to conceal and manipulate the truth for what a minority determines is the greater good. [81][98], Filming took place in the lobby of One Illinois Center, which served as Wayne's penthouse apartment; bookcases were built to hide the elevators. See More. [o] According to Christopher, Eckhart had the all-American charm and "aura of a good man pushed too far". Emanuel Levy and Manohla Dargis praised the depiction of the characters as possessing both positive and negative aspects, such as Batman's efforts to end crime provoking unintended consequences and a greater response from criminals; Dargis believed The Dark Knight's exploration of chaos, fear, and death, following the September 11 attacks in 2001, represented "that American movies have entered a new era of ambivalence when it comes to their heroes or maybe just superness. It is often said that history repeats itself, and so it did when Ben [61][127] Christopher disputed a report that said a scene of Batman leaping into Victoria Harbour was canceled because of pollution concerns, saying it was a script decision. [217] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+-to-F scale.
Dark Knight: The Actors Who Almost Played Batman In Nolan's The Blu-ray disc version additionally offers interactive elements describing the production of some scenes. [390][391] In 2020, Time Out named it the seventy-second-best action movie ever made. [400] Entertainment Weekly wrote there had not been another villain as interesting or "perversely entertaining" as Joker, and Ledger's performance was considered so defining that future interpretations would be compared against it. [399] In 2022, Variety listed him as the best superhero film performance of the preceding 50 years (Eckhart appears at number 22). However, it was forgotten, and so was the actor who played Batman. [e] Christopher and Goyer did not give their Joker an origin story or a narrative arc, believing it made the character scarier; Christopher described their film as the "rise of the Joker". It broke several box-office records and became the highest-grossing 2008 film, the fourth-highest-grossing film of its time, and the highest-grossing superhero film. For other uses, see, Zimmer based Joker's theme around two notes that would become increasingly "agitated as the track progressed. [h] He considered Dent as having a duality similar to Batman's, providing interesting dramatic potential. Michael B. Jordan cited the character as an inspiration for his character Erik Killmonger in Black Panther. ", "Huge Bat-Signals Projected Over NYC + Chicago", "Warner Bros. Moves Against Web Copies Of, "For Movies, A Summer That's Shy On Sequels", "Top Single Day Grosses By Day of the Week", "Top Single Day Non-opening Grosses By Day of the Week (Tuesday)", "Top Single Day Non-opening Grosses By Day of the Week (Wednesday)", "Warner Bros. Entertainment Wraps Record-Breaking Year", "Review: Heath Ledger's Joker Inflames A Despairing, "The Best Films Of 2008 And There Were A Lot Of Them", "Film Critics' Top 10 Lists All Over The Map", "Editor's Picks: The Ten Best Movies Of 2008", "Harry's Picks for the Top Ten Films Of 2008!!! [as] At the 13th Satellite Awards, The Dark Knight received one award for Sound Editing or Mixing (Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo). [103] Additional segments were filmed on Monroe Street and Randolph Street, and at Randolph Street Station. Anthony Ruivivar: The "Southland" star is the latest actor to voice Batman in the newest animated series, "Beware the Batman," which began airing on Cartoon [bd] The MCU is seen as a successful continuation of what made The Dark Knight a success, combining genres and tones relevant to each respective film while treating the source material seriously, unlike the DC Extended Universe, which more closely emulated the tone of The Dark Knight but failed to replicate its success. Roger Ebert said it, alongside Iron Man, had redefined the potential of superhero films by combining comic-book tropes with real world events. Critic Siddhant Adlakha considered the Joker an analog for countries such as Iraq, Somalia, and Lebanon, which were targeted by U.S. military campaigns and responded with escalation using terrorism. [123][124] The 127-day shoot concluded on November 15, on time and under budget. [35][44][45] Christopher found writing the Joker the easiest aspect of the script. Only Michael Gough and Pat Hingle have done the same thing in the previous Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman franchise. ", "Ledger's Oscar Bid From Beyond The Grave", "Posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger's Joker Performance? [303][304] A video game adaptation, Batman: The Dark Knight, was canceled due to development problems. A block in Broadway was closed for the event, which included a live performance of the film score by Howard and Zimmer. The new Joker is played by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, best known for his recent portrayal of Druig in Marvels Eternals. [59], Christopher wanted to cast an actor with an all-American "heroic presence" for Harvey Dent, something he likened to Robert Redford but with an undercurrent of anger or darkness. ", "The 50 Greatest Movie Villains Of All Time, Ranked", "50 Greatest Superhero Movie Performances of All Time", "The 15 Best Movie Villains of the 21St Century, Ranked", "50 Best Superhero Movie Performances of the Last 50 Years, From Ben Affleck To Zendaya", "The Secret to the Joker's Pencil Trick Is That There Is No Pencil", "11 Things You Never Knew About The Dark Knight", "Top Movie Movements: #95 "Why so serious? [156][157] Howard wrote about ten minutes of music for Dent, wanting to portray him as an American who represents hope, but undergoes an emotional extreme and moral corruption. [32][34][35] Discussions between Warner Bros. Pictures and Christopher began shortly after Batman Begins's theatrical release, and development began following the production of Christopher's The Prestige (2006). [189][190] It retained the number-one position in its third ($42.7million) and fourth ($26.1million) weekends, before falling to second place in its fifth, with a gross of $16.4million, behind the debuting Tropic Thunder ($25.8million).
Scarecrow (The Dark Knight Trilogy) | Batman Wiki | Fandom [210] The Atlantic wrote Iron Man's legacy in launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) could not have happened without the financial and critical success of The Dark Knight, which made comic book adaptations a central focus of film studios. He flips his coin to decide their fates, but Batman tackles him to save Gordon's son, and Dent falls to his death. [2][25][26] Melinda McGraw, Nathan Gamble, and Hannah Gunn portray Gordon's wife Barbara, his son James Jr., and his daughter, respectively. He could not make it work, however, and used two notes with alternating tempos and a "punk" influence. Before the police arrest the Joker, he says although Batman proved incorruptible, his plan to corrupt Dent has succeeded. [aq] Stephen Hunter said the Dent character was underwritten and that Eckhart was incapable of portraying the role as intended. Gyllenhaal collaborated with Christopher on the character's depiction because she wanted Rachel to be important and meaningful in her relatively minor role. Unprejudiced. [311][328] Wayne's butler Alfred also commits a noble lie, concealing Rachel's choice of Dent over Wayne to spare him the pain of her rejection. [108] A former Brach's candy factory on Cicero Avenue scheduled for demolition was used to film the Gotham General Hospital explosion in August 2007. The Joker interrupts the meeting and offers to kill Batman for half of the fortune their accountant, Lau, concealed before fleeing to Hong Kong to avoid extradition. [115][116], Many interior locations for The Dark Knight were filmed on sets at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, and Cardington Airfield, Bedfordshire; these locations include the Bat Bunker, which took six weeks to build in a Cardington hangar. [310][311][318] Critic David Crow wrote Batman's true test is not defeating the Joker but saving Dent, a task at which he fails. Stuntman Buster Reeves was due to double as Batman, but Bale persuaded the filmmakers to let him perform the scene himself. The plot follows the vigilante Batman, police lieutenant James Gordon, and district attorney Harvey Dent, who form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City. The campaign concluded in July with displays of the Bat-Signal in Chicago and New York City that were eventually defaced by the Joker.
Two-Face The Nolans had difficulties refining the script to reduce the running time but after removing so much material they believed it had become incomprehensible, they had added more scenes. As the Joker states to Batman: Their morals, their code it's a bad joke. [107] Exterior footage of the Gotham Prewitt Building, the site of Batman's and the Joker's final confrontation, was filmed at the in-construction Trump International Hotel and Tower. I was absolutely wrecked. Since its release, The Dark Knight has been assessed as one of the greatest superhero films ever made, one of the best films of the 2000s, and one of the best films ever made.
The DCU's Batman Is Breaking a Dark Knight Movie Trend Caglione Jr used a theatrical makeup technique for the application; he instructed Ledger to scrunch up his face so different cracks and textures were created once the makeup was applied and Ledger relaxed. [af][ag] Rereleases have further raised its box-office take to $1.006billion. [273][274][275] The backlash was such that, for the 82nd Academy Awards awards in 2010, the Academy increased the limit for Best Picture nominees from five to ten, a change known as "The Dark Knight Rule". [261][270][271] The Dark Knight also won an award for Best Sound Editing (King), and received six nominations for Best Art Direction (Crowley and Peter Lando), Best Cinematography (Pfister), Best Film Editing (Smith), Best Makeup (Caglione Jr. and O'Sullivan), Best Sound Mixing (Hirschberg, Rizzo, and Ed Novick), and Best Visual Effects (Davis, Corbould, Webber, and Franklin). The response was seen as the culmination of several years of criticism toward the Academy ignoring high-performing, broadly popular films. [120] Nearby residents contacted emergency services believing the explosion was a terrorist attack. Christopher said cameras that could be used on Mount Everest could be used for The Dark Knight, and had cinematographer Wally Pfister and his crew begin training to use the equipment in January 2007 to test its feasibility.
The Dark Knight Trilogy This conveys the protagonists' gradual abandonment of their principles when faced with an extreme foe. [119] By mid-October, interior and exterior scenes of Rachel being held hostage surrounded by barrels of gasoline were filmed at Battersea Power Station. After submitting the draft to Warner Bros., Jonathan spent a further two months refining it until Christopher had finished directing The Prestige. [f], With Christopher's help, his brother Jonathan spent six months developing the story into a draft screenplay. Daredevil, starring in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy from 2005 to 2012. [aw] In 2011, it also became the first major-studio film to be released for rent via digital distribution on Facebook. Pennyworth burns an undelivered message to Wayne from Rachel, who said she chose Dent, and Fox destroys the invasive surveillance network that helped Batman find the Joker. [376] As of 2022, it remains the highest critically rated Batman film according to Rotten Tomatoes, and is often ranked as the best film featuring the character. [310][311][318] Dent is motivated to do good because he identifies himself as good, not through trauma like Batman, and has faith in the legal system. [310], In The Dark Knight's final act, Batman employs an invasive surveillance network by co-opting the phones of Gotham's citizens to locate the Joker, violating their privacy. Wayne Enterprises accountant Coleman Reese deduces Batman's identity and attempts to expose it, but the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital unless Reese is killed. [j] The final scene, in which the Joker states he and Batman are destined to battle forever, was not intended to tease a sequel but to convey the diametrically opposed pair were in an endless conflict because they will not kill each other. [m], Ledger spent about a month secluding himself in a hotel room while reading relevant comic books. [315][316] This is exemplified in the covert alliance formed between Batman, Dent, and Gordon, leading to Rachel's death and Dent's corruption. Costing $7.5million, the 1,213-foot (370m) long attraction places riders in an imitation of Wayne Central Station in Gotham City as they move through areas that are vandalized or controlled by the Joker. [66][147] Hemming designed Joker's overall appearance, which he based on fashion-and-music celebrities to create a modern and trendy look. Wayne struggles to understand the Joker's motives, but his butler Alfred Pennyworth says some simply relish destruction. [w] Christopher said no scenes were deleted because he believed every scene was essential, and that unnecessary material had been cut before filming. [n] Ledger spent a further four months creating a "Joker diary" containing images and elements he believed would resonate with his character, such as finding the disease AIDS humorous. [160] Influenced by the script and the comic books The Killing Joke, The Long Halloween, and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989), 42 Entertainment paced the ARG over annual events, although Warner Bros. rejected their ideas to use Jokerized Santas at Christmas, coffins filled with chattering teeth on Mother's Day (mocking Wayne's late mother), and Batman actors on rooftops due to safety concerns. Film studies professor Todd McGowan said Batman asserts authority over these copycats, telling them to stop because they do not have the same defensive equipment as himself, reaffirming his self-given authority to act as a vigilante. [at] Genre films such as those based on comic books were also generally ignored by Academy voters. In the film, Batman is forced out of his self-imposed retirement following the events of The Dark Knight; he allies with Selina Kyle / Catwoman to take on Bane, a physically imposing revolutionary allied with the League of Shadows that is featured in Batman Begins. [g], Comic-book influences included writer Frank Miller's 1980s works, which portray characters in a serious tone, and the limited series Batman: The Long Halloween (19961997), which explores the relationship between Batman, Dent, and Gordon. They felt the threat of cinematic villains such as Hannibal Lecter and Darth Vader had been undermined by subsequent films depicting their origins. [31], Following the critical and financial success of Batman Begins (2005), the film studio Warner Bros. Pictures prioritized a sequel. [256] Ledger received the award for Best Villain at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards,[257] and at the 35th Saturn Awards, The Dark Knight won awards for Best Action or Adventure Film, Best Supporting Actor (Ledger), Best Writing (Christopher and Jonathan Nolan), Best Music (Howard and Zimmer), and Best Special Effects (Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul J. Franklin, Timothy Webber). [174], The Dark Knight was expected to sell well based on high audience anticipation, positive pre-release reviews, and a record $3.5million in IMAX pre-sales. To the Joker's disbelief, the passengers refuse to kill one another. The Batman: Everyone Who Played The Dark Knight On The Big Screen, Ranked By Mat Elfring and Mason Downey on February 28, 2022 at 12:03PM PST For Batman subdues the Joker but refuses to kill him. The destruction of Wayne Manor in Batman Begins provided an opportunity to move Wayne to a modern, sparse penthouse, reflecting his loneliness. 6 Likes, 1 Comments - Nico Sy (@cakeandsnakes) on Instagram: 15th anniversary of The Dark Knight (2008) featuring the exhibit of Batman (played by [309][310] Batman's vigilante operation arms him with high-tech military equipment against common criminals, and the Joker is the inevitable response and escalation of lawlessness to counter Batman. [34][148][149] The outfit consists of a purple coat, a green vest, an antique shirt, and a thin, 1960s-style tie that Ledger suggested. [48][49][50] Because the new Batsuit allowed him to be more agile, Bale did not increase his muscle mass as much as he had for Batman Begins.
How Old Was Christian Bale's Batman in the Dark Knight Trilogy? [81][99] In July, three weeks were spent filming the truck chase scene, mainly on Wacker Drive, a multi-level street that had to be closed overnight.