Batman : The Dark Knight Blog

Archive for October, 2008

Through the announcement of L’Oreal Paris 2008 AFI Awards’ nominees, it is unveiled that Heath Ledger, Eric Bana and Nicole Kidman are among those nominated for the international AFI award.

See larger image

Heath Ledger’s thrilling performance as Batman’s psychotic villain, Joker, in “The Dark Knight” has brought him recognition from Australian Film Institute. On Wednesday, October 29 as the Australian Film Institute announced the nominees for L’Oreal Paris 2008 AFI Awards in Sydney, it was revealed that the late actor has been listed among the nominees for the international AFI award.

With the nod, Ledger is on the run for the title of AFI International Award for Best Actor. In the category, he will be contending with Eric Bana for “The Other Boleyn Girl”, Russell Crowe for “American Gangster” and Jack Thompson for “Leatherheads”. The actor who passed away late January 2008 has won the title in 2006 for his performance as homosexual cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain”.

Beside the Best Actor category, AFI International Award also saw Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Judy Davis and Rachel Griffiths as the contenders of Best Actress category. Blanchett and Kidman received the gong for their acts in feature films, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and “The Golden Compass” respectively, while Davis and Griffiths for their characters’ portrayal in television series, “The Starter Wife” and “Brothers & Sisters” respectively.

The 50th Australian Film Institute Awards will be honoring the best in films for 2008 on Saturday, December 6. The gala will be held at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. The awards’ nominations were dominated by low-budget drama “The Black Balloon” with 11 counts on its hands. The complete list of this year nominees can be read at AFI’s official site.

The Dark Knight will be released Dec. 9 in both a standard and Limited Edition box. Both versions are in widescreen 2.4:1 1080p video with 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. The deluxe set includes 2 discs, a Bat-Pod display case, art galleries and movie extras such as behind the scenes. You can pre-order at Amazon now for $47.95, temporarily marked down from $64.99.

Sony’s high-def Blu-ray Disc format reached 1000 titles last week, with 841 titles now available and 185 scheduled for future release. The average price of a Blu-ray Disc on Amazon.com currently stands at $23, which has been gradually going down over the last 30 days. Blu-ray players are also dropping in price, with major retailers offering players for less than $230.

The best selling Blu-ray title right now is The Dark Knight (+ Digital Copy and BD Live) available for pre-order at $24.95. It is followed by Journey to the Center of the Earth (2-D and Limited-Edition 3-D) which is also selling for $24.95. Coming in third and fourth in top sales are Incredible Hulk ($23.95) and Iron Man ($25.95). Do we see a pattern here? With the exception of Journey to the Center of the Earth top selling discs all come from comic book origins.

In contrast, the best selling DVD on Amazon is currently Tinker Bell, followed by Journey to the Center of the Earth and Sleeping Beauty (Two-Disc Platinum Edition).

Not only is Disney leading top selling DVDs, they also announced an upcoming Blu-ray Disc. A 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition of “Pinocchio” is scheduled for release March 10, 2008.

Christian Bale in ‘The Dark Knight ‘As the comic world waits to hear official news about whether or not Chris Nolan will come back to the “Batman” franchise and which villains will have the Caped Crusader reaching for the Bat-Aspirin, over on Batman-On-Film, reports are trickling in that production on the upcoming sequel to “The Dark Knight” could be farther along than Warner Bros. is letting on.

Granted, these reports come from unnamed sources, so take all this as fun speculation, but rumors coming out of Chicago say that pre-pre-production has commenced — specifically, set builders, stuntmen and film crews are currently being hired for the project. As Batman-On-Film states, it’s not out of the ordinary for these types of jobs to be filled this early on (since these are roles that can’t be filled at the last minute), but it’s still looking like February 2009 will be the official pre-production start date.

In the meantime, Bat-fans can pass the hours waiting for official word on the film by counting down the days until “The Dark Knight” DVD is released on December 9, with over three hours of bonus footage and a tons of other specials that will leave fans with bigger smiles than the Joker’s.

So what do you say, Batman fans? Do the rumors of a “Dark Knight” sequel already moving forward have you excited? Or are you waiting for official word from Warner Bros.? Let’s hear what you have to say in the comments.

Batman: The Brave And The Bold Comes To Cartoon Network

Batman isn’t going at it alone this time! From Warner Bros. Animation comes the latest interpretation of the classic Batman franchise. Our caped crusader is teamed up with heroes from across the DC Universe, delivering nonstop action and adventure with a touch of comic relief. Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Aquaman and countless others will get a chance to uphold justice alongside Batman. Though still based in Gotham, Batman will frequ
ently find himself outside city limits, facing situations that are both unfamiliar and exhilarating. With formidable foes around every corner, Batman will still rely on his stealth, resourcefulness and limitless supply of cool gadgets to bring justice home.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a 30-minute animated action/adventure created by Warner Bros. Animation and executive produced by Sam Register.

Production & Animation: Warner Bros. Animation

Executive Producer: Sam Register

Producers: James Tucker, Linda M. Steiner

Line Producer: Amy McKenna

Story Editor: Michael Jelenic

Animation Directors: Ben Jones, Brandon Vietti ,Michael Chang

Launch date: Batman: The Brave and the Bold is slated to premiere on Cartoon Network in 2008.

Despite rumors to the contrary, it looks like Christopher Nolan may now indeed be signed to direct a sequel to The Dark Knight. The newest edition of Production Weekly went out this morning, and they list Nolan as the official director of Batman 3, along with Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman in the cast.

They further confirm some of the rumors which were swirling around earlier this week, listing Batman 3 as slated to go into pre-production in February of 2009. On Wednesday IESB.net attempted to debunk the rumors of the film’s imminent pre-production when they were told by a WB exec that the film “is not in pre-production and is not getting ready to shoot”. That’s not necessarily wrong. It’s not in pre-production and it’s not getting ready to shoot… right now. It will however be in pre-production this coming February.

Production Weekly is not normally prone to exaggeration. In theory, they get all of their information directly from official sources and not internet rumors. Still, it’s somewhat surprising that Warner Bros. would give that information to Production Weekly before they’re able to make a big, splashy announcement themselves. This Batman franchise is sort of a big deal after all.
By Josh Tyler