Daredevil, starring in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy from 2005 to 2012. [191][192][193] The Dark Knight remained in the top-ten highest-grossing films for ten weeks, and became the film to surpass $400million soonest (18 days) and $500million (45 days). He developed the character's voice by mixing a high-pitch and low-pitch, which was inspired by ventriloquist performances. The Blu-ray disc version additionally offers interactive elements describing the production of some scenes. Warner Bros. was concerned public knowledge of Dent's character was poor; the campaign included signs, stickers, and "Dentmobiles" visiting U.S. cities to raise his profile. [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. The Village Voice wrote the performance would have made Ledger a legend even if he had lived. Warner Bros. Pictures prioritized a sequel following the successful reinvention of the Batman film series with Batman Begins. The Dark Knight actors - IMDb [285], The Dark Knight was released on DVD and Blu-ray in December 2008. He was portrayed in the Batman Nolan Film ", "Critics Pick The Best And Worst Films Of 2008", "Dark Knight Honoured in AFI Best-of-year List", "Critics' Choice Movie Awards Winners (Archive)", "The 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards", "British Academy Film Television Award (BAFTA)", British Academy of Film and Television Arts, "Exactly 1 Year After Death, Ledger's Legacy Grows", "Heath Ledger Wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar", "Would Heath Ledger Win If He Were Alive? [78] Christopher wanted to exchange the more natural, scenic settings of Batman Begins such as the Himalayas and caverns for a modern, structured environment the Joker could disassemble. From April to November 2007, filming took place with a $185million budget in Chicago and Hong Kong, and on sets in England. They felt the threat of cinematic villains such as Hannibal Lecter and Darth Vader had been undermined by subsequent films depicting their origins. [100][101] During filming, Christopher added a set-piece of a SWAT van crashing through a concrete barricade. [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. Caine said he forgot his lines during a scene involving one video because of Ledger's "stunning" performance. [w] Christopher said no scenes were deleted because he believed every scene was essential, and that unnecessary material had been cut before filming. The world is cruel. It was so [101][113][114] The thirteen weeks of filming in Chicago was estimated to have generated $45million for the city's economy and thousands of local jobs. [329][335], Directors including Sam Mendes (Skyfall), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther), and David Ayer (Suicide Squad), have cited it as an influence on their work, and Steven Spielberg listed it among his favorite films. Having deduced Batman's feelings for Rachel, the Joker reveals she and Dent are being held separately in buildings rigged to explode. [as] At the 13th Satellite Awards, The Dark Knight received one award for Sound Editing or Mixing (Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo). In Batman vs. Robin #5, Damian and the other DC heroes still on Lazarus Island are given a major dilemma to weigh. [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). [ae] The Dark Knight was available in sixty-two countries by the end of August, although Warner Bros. decided not to release it in China, blaming "a number of pre-release conditions as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film". [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". Once Dent experiences a significant traumatic event in the loss of Rachel and his own disfigurement, he quickly abandons his noble former self to seek his own form of justice. WebThe Dark Knight Rises With their appearances in this movie, Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, and Gary Oldman have each appeared in three Batman movies. In 2012, Tom Hardy's metamorphosis into Gotham juggernaut Bane was the stuff of legend. Corbould's team built the Batpod, which is based on a prototype Crowley and Christopher built by combining different commercial model components. It was an exhausting process. This, paired with the gritty realism not usually seen in superhero movies, is why many fans regard the Dark Knight trilogy as their favorite Batman movie adaptation. [305][306] The Dark Knight Coaster, an indoor roller coaster, opened in May 2008 at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. I couldn't talk. Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008, leading to widespread interest from the press and public regarding his performance. 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. [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. The ensemble cast includes Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman. [313] Author Andrew Klavan said Batman is a stand-in for then-U.S. president George W. Bush and justified the breaching of "boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that [Batman] will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past". [251] Howard and Zimmer were recognized for Best Motion Picture Score at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. [311][314] Klavan's interpretation was criticized by some publications that considered The Dark Knight anti-war, proposing society must not abandon the rule of law to combat lawlessness or risk creating the conditions for escalation. This Time, It's Different", "Internet Meme: "Everyone Loses Their Minds" Meme (The Joker; The Dark Knight)", "Everyone Loses Their Minds The Joker Meme", "Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time", "Readers' Poll: The 15 Greatest Superhero Movies", "The Flip Side Of Justice: The Two-faced Spirit Of The Dark Knight", "What Do You Believe In? [392], Ledger's Joker is considered one of the greatest cinematic villains; several publications placed his portrayal second only to Darth Vader. is among the film's most famous and oft-quoted pieces of dialog,[bo] alongside "everyone loses their minds," and Dent's line "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain", as well as Pennyworth's line "some men just want to watch the world burn". "[aj] Others criticized the dark, grim, intense, and self-serious tone as lacking any elements of fun or fantasy. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. A block in Broadway was closed for the event, which included a live performance of the film score by Howard and Zimmer. Batman subdues the Joker but refuses to kill him. Their efforts are derailed by the Joker, an anarchistic mastermind who seeks to test how far Batman will go to save the city from chaos. Dark Knight See More. [418][419][420] The Dark Knight Rises was a financial success, surpassing the box office of The Dark Knight,[421] and was generally well received by critics but proved more divisive with audiences.[bq]. [95] The Joker's homemade videos were filmed and mainly directed by Ledger. [ab] The film benefited from repeat viewings by younger audiences and had broad appeal, with 52% of the audience being male and an equal number of those under 25 years old, and those of 25 or older. [289] The Dark Knight sold 3million copies across both formats on its launch day in the U.S., Canada, and the UK; Blu-ray discs comprised about 25%30% of the salesaround 600,000 units. [35][44][45] Christopher found writing the Joker the easiest aspect of the script. [302], A direct-to-DVD animated film, Batman: Gotham Knight, was released in July 2008. [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. [154][157][158] He attempted to develop original sounds with synthesizers, trying to create an "offputting" result by instructing musicians to start with a single note and gradually shift to the second over a three-minute period; the musicians found this difficult because it was the opposite of their training. [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. [bb] A 2018 retrospective by The Hollywood Reporter said The Dark Knight taught filmmakers "comic book characters are malleable. When it was released in July, The Dark Knight received acclaim for its mature tone and themes, visual style, and performancesparticularly that of Ledger, who received many posthumous awards including Academy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe awards for Best Supporting Actor, making The Dark Knight the first comic-book film to receive major industry awards. You'll seeI'll show you when the chips are down, these civilized people they'll eat each other. [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. Actor Michael Keaton played the caped crusader Batman [415] The Dark Knight was also voted the greatest superhero movie by readers of Rolling Stone (2014),[416] and as one of New Zealand's favorite films (2015). Warner Bros. considered its strategy a success, delaying the appearance of the first "poorly-lit" camcorder version until 3848 hours after its earliest global release in Australia. And the only morality in a cruel world is chance. [x], The Dark Knight's marketing campaign was developed by alternate reality game (ARG) development company 42 Entertainment. But you were wrong. Christian Bale Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Of this group, West is the only one to have also played Batman in [157] Following Ledger's death, Zimmer considered discarding the theme for a more traditional one but he and Howard believed they should honor Ledger's performance. Industry professionals considered the campaign innovative and successful. Christopher wanted the team to focus on countering the negative reaction to Ledger's casting and controlling the revelation of the Joker's appearance. [101][112] A scene of Batman surveying the city from a rooftop edge was filmed atop Willis Tower, Chicago's tallest building. While Christian Bale started out among the youngest Batman actors, he wrapped up the character at 38, the same age as most. A U.S.-centric effort involved people recovering cellphones made by Nokiaa brand partner to the filmfrom a cake, which led to an early screening of the film's bank-heist prologue before its public release in December. After submitting the draft to Warner Bros., Jonathan spent a further two months refining it until Christopher had finished directing The Prestige. Based on the DC Comics supervillain of the same name, the Joker is depicted as a psychopathic criminal mastermind with a warped, sadistic sense of humor. [234] Several reviewers regarded Gyllenhaal as an improvement over Holmes, although others said they found difficulty caring about the character and that Gyllenhaal, while more talented than her predecessor, was miscast. [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". 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. The Nolans identified the traits common to his media incarnations and were influenced by the character's comic-book appearances as well as the villain Dr. Mabuse from the films of Fritz Lang. Ben Affleck Is Batman: 16 Actors Who Played the Dark Knight [331], Before The Dark Knight, superhero films closely emulated their comic-book source material, and though the genre had seen significant successes such as Superman (1978), Batman (1989), X-Men (2000), and Spider-Man (2002), they were often considered disposable entertainment that did not garner much industry respect. [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. How Old Was Christian Bale's Batman in the Dark Knight Trilogy? Unbiased. [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. [160][161][162] Globally, fans photographed letters on signs to form a ransom note. Over 17,000 people voted the film into the top ten of American Cinematographer's "Best-Shot Film of 19982008" list,[411] and listeners of BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra named it their eighth-favorite film. Batman chooses to become a symbol of criminality by taking the blame for Dent's crimes and preserving him as a symbol of good, maintaining the hope of Gotham's residents. [172][173], Compared to 2007's $9.7billion box-office take, in 2008, lower revenues were expected due to the large number of comedies competing against each other and the release of films with dark tones, such as The Dark Knight, during a period of rising living costs and election fatigue in the U.S. [310][319] Dent represents the fulfillment of American idealism, a noble person who can work within the confines of the law and allow Batman to retire, but the fear and chaos embodied by the Joker taints that idealism and corrupts Dent absolutely. [s][t] For The Dark Knight, Pfister chose to combine the "rust-style" visuals of Batman Begins with the "dusk"-like color scheme of The Prestige (cobalt blues, greens, blacks, and whites), in part to address over-dark scenes in Batman Begins. [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. [m], Ledger spent about a month secluding himself in a hotel room while reading relevant comic books. Christopher wanted several Rottweiler dogs in the scene but locating a dog-handler willing to simultaneously manage several dogs was difficult. [66] Dent's desire to work outside the law is seen in his support of Batman's vigilantism to accomplish what he cannot. [f], With Christopher's help, his brother Jonathan spent six months developing the story into a draft screenplay. 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 [41] Influenced by films such as The Godfather (1972) and Heat (1995), and maintaining Batman Begins's tone, their finished script bore more resemblance to a crime drama than a traditional superhero film. The campaign concluded in July with displays of the Bat-Signal in Chicago and New York City that were eventually defaced by the Joker. Unprejudiced. ", "Heath Ledger Golden Globe Nod Boosts Oscar Momentum", "No Joke: Ledger Earns Posthumous Oscar Nod", "The History Of Comic Book Movies at the Oscars", "Everyone Who Has Won A Posthumous Oscar", "Why So Serious? : The Secret History of Batman in Japan, List of Batman television series cast members, Yearly highest-grossing films in the United States, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, List of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada, Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Action Movie, Mainichi Film Award for Foreign Film Best One Award, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Saturn Award for Best Action or Adventure Film, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Dark_Knight&oldid=1142591448, Films about kidnapping in the United States, Films about organized crime in the United States, Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award-winning performance, Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance, Films that won the Best Sound Editing Academy Award, Films with screenplays by Christopher Nolan, United States National Film Registry films, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Pages using Sister project links with wikidata mismatch, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Characters appearing in comic books published, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 07:57. [aa] It set further records for the highest-grossing single-day ($67.2million on the Friday), Sunday ($43.6million), midnight opening ($18.5million, from 3,000 midnight screenings), and IMAX opening ($6.3million from about 94 locations), as well as the second-highest-grossing Saturday ($47.7million) behind Spider-Man 3, and contributed to the highest-grossing weekend on record ($253.6million). [97] Pfister described it as a week of patience and learning because of the four-day wait for the IMAX footage to be processed. [81][94] To avoid attention, filming in Chicago took place under the working title Rory's First Kiss but the production's true nature was quickly uncovered by media publications. [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. [89] Filming moved to England throughout May, returning to Chicago in June. The new Joker is played by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, best known for his recent portrayal of Druig in Marvels Eternals. [bm] The "pencil trick" scene, in which Joker makes a pencil disappear by slamming a mobster's head on it, is considered an iconic scene and among the film's most famous. 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. ", "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? [232][233] Christopher's action direction was criticized, especially during fight scenes where it could be difficult to see things clearly,[227][228] although the prologue bank heist was praised as among the film's best. Dark Knight [310][318] Although the Joker wears disguising makeup, he is not hiding behind a mask and is the same person with or without makeup. ($27.8million) and Hancock ($14million) in its third weekend. The Dark Knight was the first major motion picture to be filmed with high-resolution IMAX cameras. 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 [i] Christopher and Jonathan later realized they had inadvertently written their version similarly to Joker's first appearance in Batman #1 (1940). His fighting style was designed to appear improvised and erratic. Freeze) and Uma Thurman (Poison Ivy) fell [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). The destruction of Wayne Manor in Batman Begins provided an opportunity to move Wayne to a modern, sparse penthouse, reflecting his loneliness. The sequel, The Dark Knight Rises, suffered upsets during filming. 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.
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