Batman : The Dark Knight Blog

Archive for November, 2008

Posted by Matt Asay

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but movie fans like to show their love for a great movie by stealing it, as data from TorrentFreak on The Dark Knight downloads suggests. With over one million downloads in just a week, The Dark Knight is quickly on its way to earning the dubious honor of being the most pirated movie of 2008.
The Dark Knight(Credit: Warner Brothers)

What a perverse message to send to the movie studios: we love your product so much that we refuse to pay for it. How do we expect the industry to invest in more movies like The Dark Knight if we aren’t willing to fund that investment?

Microsoft’s Thomas Rubin, chief counsel for Intellectual Property Strategy, recently told the UK Association of Online Publishers that “the ‘information wants to be free’ approach not only does not work, actually it has been a disaster for almost all newspapers.” While Rubin’s words were somewhat self-serving, designed as they were to position Microsoft as the “safe” technology partner to the industry, to Google’s detriment, he still has a point, and one that correlates to online video.

Yes, many people steal online music and video because they simply want a more convenient way to consume it. Rubin suggests that “It turn(s) out that most people do not want to steal music–they just want convenient online access to it,” and I agree with that. Back when Fellowship of the Ring came out, I downloaded the movie from an IRC network and watched it for months before it hit retail. However, I also bought both the standard and extended versions, plus I saw the movie three times in the theaters. New Line Cinema made its money from me, and I got to conveniently watch the movie well before its retail release.

Yet my desire for convenience shouldn’t have trumped New Line Cinema’s desire for control and profit. I had no right–legal or moral–to pirate the movie to satisfy my own whims. I was wrong, and that wrong could well end up ensuring that fewer “Dark Knights” and “Fellowships” get created.

As consumers, whether of movies, software, or other digital goods, we do ourselves a disservice when we steal. I hate to rely on a Microsoft executive to teach this lesson, but Rubin’s comments on the newspaper industry are instructive here:

Google continues to struggle to find a way to monetize the user-generated, amateur content on YouTube. As entertaining as some of it may be, it has so far proven to be of little commercial value.

Now let’s contrast that with Google News. Put aside, for a moment, the concerns that many have expressed that Google is profiting by using others’ content without permission. Consider just the economics. Google’s vice president of search revealed this summer that Google News, a product that was put together in a weekend and that is run by automated search algorithms, generates $100 million in revenue for its business. That’s no small sum, especially when one considers the negligible investment and extremely high margins. What it demonstrates is that quality content does have great value. Only in this case, as has been pointed out, the $100 million is a bonanza enjoyed by Google, not the creators.

Clearly this can’t be the future for publishing.

Rubin is right. As technology providers, we need to foster new, convenient, and safe technologies and, hence, business models for content providers to make their products available online as wares, not warez.

Sure, it’s easy to download The Dark Knight, and may even impress your friends. But do we really want YouTube entertainment? Hulu has thrived precisely because it has blended control of content with quality of content, while YouTube continues to struggle toward profitability on the back of its user-generated content model.

We may well get what we pay for. Go buy The Dark Knight now.

Last summer, I wrote how Warner Bros. celebrated that it was able to prevent all but one unwatchable pirated copy of The Dark Knight from appearing on the Web.

Well, this time the pirates won.

According to Ernesto over at TorrentFreak, DVD-quality copies leaked to the Web last week at P2P sites. The DVD version of the movie, the latest in the Batman series, doesn’t go on sale in the United States until December 9.

A Warner Bros. spokesman declined to comment.

This from TorrentFreak: “From the looks of it, Batman will crush Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and Transformers, as it will easily become this year’s most pirated movie.”

Last July, Warner Bros. went on the offensive to plug any leaks. Anywhere the grainy and poorly lit copy–allegedly taken with a Handycam–appeared online, Warner sent a take-down letter.

The studio said then: “It is impossible to monitor every single screening at every theater worldwide to prevent it from being camcorded. Sadly, it is inevitable that an illegal copy of the film will eventually surface. What was a true accomplishment and unprecedented given the amount of interest and Internet buzz about The Dark Knight was despite hundreds of pre-release press, review, and promotional screenings worldwide, not a single copy of the film leaked prior to the official release.”

Anne Lu – Celebrity News Service News Writer

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) – “The Dark Knight” star Aaron Eckhart has been tapped to battle aliens in L.A. in a new sci-fi action flick, “Battle: Los Angeles.”

The 40-year-old actor, who played villain Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the smash 2008 Batman film, will be playing the leader of a platoon in combat against invading aliens.

Jonathan Liebesman will be directing for Columbia, while Neal Moritz and his Original Film company are producing, as per the Hollywood Reporter.

The new project puts Eckhart on the lead role on an action movie for the first time. He had been involved in less mainstream films, including 1997’s “In The Company of Men,” in which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and the Satellite Award for Outstanding New Talent.

He will next be seen in a romantic drama film alongside Jennifer Aniston in “Traveling.”

The Dark Knight made $24,290 on Thursday, November 6. Its weekend receipts are still not known, but it was only shown on 125 here in the States so I can’t assume it is going to be a huge number. However, $992,811,316 is a HUGE number and that is The Dark Knight’s current foreign tally made up of $528,315,892 domestically and $464,495,424 from foreign markets. The film may still be $72,472,296 shy of Titanic’s #1 spot at the top of the all-time box office, but to be less than $8 million away from $1 billion isn’t a bad consolation prize.

As of right now The Dark Knight is fourth in all-time worldwide gross with the top five looking like this:

1. Titanic ($1.842 billion)
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.119 billion)
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1.066 billion)
4. The Dark Knight ($992.8 million)
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ($976.5 million)

I swear to you, that Titanic figure is ASTRONOMICAL!

Warner Bros. is currently ramping up on promoting the flick for Oscar consideration and has opened up their For Your Consideration website with a snazzy spot for the flick (check it out here) as well as allowing you to download the script written by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, which you can get directly right here.

I still believe The Dark Knight will earn a Best Picture nomination and an assured nomination for Heath Ledger for Supporting Actor and perhaps a score nomination for Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. Technical nominations are almost assured, but I am sure fanboys will be on the edge of their seats waiting to see if it gets nominated for the big one. The Academy would be stupid not to nominate it for Best Picture seeing how it would guarantee monstrous ratings for the show itself, but as of right now is 100% deserved. Sure, some late 2008 flicks could be better, but right now there aren’t many that top it.

I’ll be paying close attention to that worldwide gross and let yah know once it hits $1 billion. However, one has to wonder just how much more is in The Dark Knight box-office tank because with it set to hit DVD and Blu-ray on December 9 and Warner set to ship more than 1 million copies of the upcoming Blu-ray release, which represents the largest initial shipment of any Blu-ray title ever is certain to all but end its theatrical run. Numbers wise, that release compares to the current Blu-ray record holder, Iron Man, which is the current Blu-ray bestseller at around a half million copies in its first week.

In other Batman related news Hüseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of the southeastern city of Batman, is set to sue Christopher Nolan and not Batman creator DC Comics saying, “The royalty of the name ‘Batman’ belongs to us … There is only one Batman in the world. The American producers used the name of our city without informing us.” Get the full take on this moron right here and thanks to SlashFilm for the heads up.
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THE amazing Batpod bike from Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight will be a major feature at the Carole Nash International Motorcycle and Scooter Show, to be held at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, from Saturday, November 29 to Sunday, December 7.

This awesome machine will be on display every day in Hall 2 of the exhibition centre and Bike Show fans can catch up on the amazing machine in action, in an exclusive The Dark Knight DVD competition.

Batman’s bike was designed by production designer Nathan Crowley and director Christopher Nolan, then built by special FX supervisor Chris Corbould and his team. The machine was ridden for the movie by legendary stuntman Jean-Pierre Goy.

The Batpod has 20″ front and rear tyres and is powered by a high-performance, water-cooled, single-cylinder engine – geared toward the lower end for faster acceleration. The exhaust is routed through the hollow aluminum tubing used for the frame of the bike. In the film, the bike is armed with grappling hooks, cannons, and machine guns. Six models were constructed for the film’s production.

Steering isn’t by hand but by shoulder, since there aren’t handlebars. Instead, there are shields that fit each arm like sleeves and have the ability to rotate around the bike’s frame. The two foot pegs are set 3 ½ feet apart on either side of the tank, which the rider lies on, belly down.

The Dark Knight, which will be released on the 8th December 2008, will be available on Blu-ray Disc for £26.99 SRP and 2 Disc Special Edition DVD for £22.99 RRP. There are five copies of the DVD to be won via the Bikeshow website.

Finlay McAllan, Managing Director of MCI Exhibitions added, “The Batpod is a fantastic attraction for the Show. I have no doubt that it will be a hit with visitors of all ages. With The Dark Knight soon to be released on to DVD we feel really lucky to have such an iconic machine at the Show.”

Tickets can be booked for the event by phoning 0844 5812345 or going online to www.theticketfactory.com

The blockbuster ‘The Dark Knight’ can add another notch to its list of achievements: high-def record-breaker.

Not content to smash worldwide attendance records during its theatrical run this summer, the $500 million-plus grossing sequel is now poised to storm the next-gen record books by becoming the first Blu-ray title to ship more than a million units.

Though Warner has declined to confirm exact shipment totals, Video Business is reporting that the studio will ship in excess of 1M copies of ‘The Dark Knight’ in time for the Blu-ray’s December 9 street date, which is believed to be a first for the format.

‘The Dark Knight’ was always expected to be one of the format’s biggest-ever sellers since it was first announced for Blu-ray release back in October. Should the one million-shipped total hold true come December, the release will handedly top previous Blu-ray sales pacesetters ‘Casino Royale’ (which became the first next-gen title to sell over 100,000K units back in March 2007) and ‘Transformers’ (which is reported to have sold in excess of 500,000 copies on Blu).

Warner will release ‘The Dark Knight’ on Blu-ray December 9 in standard two-disc (MSRP $35.99) and collectible Limited Edition ($64.99) versions.

Looking at the old Batman of our parent’s generation and the dark modern icon he has become, it’s hard to believe that they even came from the same comic, let alone that they are the same person. Our idea of a superhero movie has undoubtedly evolved with the passage of time, changing from the classic battle between good and evil, to exploring the depth and humanity, to the heroes themselves.

However, “The Dark Knight” goes far above and beyond what anyone could expect from a superhero movie, not only intricately weaving a brilliant, dark, and sinister plot but also exploring the themes of crime and punishment, vigilantism, and corruption. “The Dark Knight” is easily a modern masterpiece, transcending the Batman universe altogether and becoming a stand-alone blockbuster that explores the psychology of crime and the morality of justice. “The Dark Knight” starts out with Gotham City’s underworld up in arms over the issue of Batman. With the masked vigilante taking down mob bosses and the newly elected District Attorney Harvey Dent rooting out corruption in the city, mob dealings have been brought to a standstill. However, a new face-painted psychopath named the Joker has arrived in the city and promises to take out the source of the problem: the Batman. The Joker is a new type of criminal, one who doesn’t steal for the money but simply because it creates chaos. As the Joker weaves his way into the city underworld, he creates confusion wherever he goes as he aims to corrupt the city’s the most untouchable figure: Gotham’s supposed “White Knight” Harvey Dent.

The Dark Knight’s plot is twisted as it is deep and dark. The plot takes attention away from Batman’s problems with his past and his parents’ death, and focuses primarily on the arrival of the Joker and Dent. The introduction of two new characters into the series set the stage for this blockbuster, as the image of the white knight created by Dent is juxtaposed by the twisted darkness and chaos surrounding the Joker. The arrival of Harvey Dent explores the issue of legally pursuing justice against criminals as opposed to Batman’s vigilantism. Aaron Eckhart is amazing as Dent, and brilliantly portrays him as the incorruptible force against Gotham’s mobs. Dent is not just a character in the movie; he is a source of hope for both the audience and the characters of the film. Eckhart’s performance truly shines however after his brutal accident and subsequent transformation into Two-Face. As Two-Face, Eckhart is not just brutal but realistically scary. I cannot wait to see how Two-Face will be included in the next Batman films, as surely Eckhart is the perfect man for the role. However, the character who undeniably makes the movie is the Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger. To say Ledger’s performance was perfect is an understatement. Ledger transforms the Joker, bringing his very presence off the screen to alter your perception of what crime drama is about.

His acting and voice-work are dead-on to the Joker’s. Ledger combines the Joker’s penchant for dark comedy with his ability to create chaos wherever he goes. The result is that the Joker becomes critical to the theme of the movie, to point out the madness of society through his sick and ironic jokes; for example, ordering his men to back-stab each other while a robbery is still in progress, or one cleverly written scene involving a ferry full of passengers and another full of criminals, or another scene where he burns his reward money just to see the reaction from the mob. The Joker is an amazing villain, fulfilling his role of simultaneously providing the humor of the movie as well as being one of the most downright messed up characters we’ve seen in years. Batman, Dent, and the Joker intertwine beautifully, creating a trio that draws out some of the movie’s biggest questions on crime, justice, and morality. I cannot think of anything wrong to point out in the movie. The setting, atmosphere, plot, and acting are executed perfectly.

It’s hard to imagine how the sequel will ever top this one, and I doubt it will. I can see the Batman series forever living in the shadow of “The Dark Knight,” never being able to top the standard that this movie has set. It is only a shame that we will not be able to enjoy the presence of the Joker in another movie due to Heath Ledger’s tragic death. It’s almost a poignant, poetic ending to the movie; we’re given the year’s greatest film and in return, fate takes away the actor who made it so great. We’re never going to see that same Joker again, and that makes “The Dark Knight” even more valuable as a movie. Batman is amazing, and as cliche as it sounds, if you only see one movie this year, make it “The Dark Knight.” It’s more than just a comic film, and also redefines the entire superhero movie genre. “The Dark Knight” is one movie you want to see while it’s still on the big screen.