Batman : The Dark Knight Blog

Movie plots or scenes usually get leaked to the public well before the film comes out in the theater, but as for the Dark Knight, there was no way that was going to happen. Even Batman himself wouldn’t have been able to convince the producers to take home a script.

Maggie Gyllenhaal says when she was approached with the role of attorney Rachel Dawes in the movie, the movie was driven to her house by an assistant. Then the assistant had to sit in her driveway until she finished it. Only problem was, Maggie was a new mom tending her little girl Ramona, so it took her 20 hours to finish! And the guy stayed in her driveway the entire time. That’s dedication! (And a little bit anal). But it’s definitely worked, since the public only knows what we’ve seen in the trailer.

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here are two picture i’ve find while surfing the net, are they the new Two-Face ?

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by CBR News Team, Editor
Official Press Release

AWARD-WINNING WRITER ALAN BURNETT DISCUSSES “BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHT”

Alan Burnett has spent more consecutive years “in the Batcave” than anyone in animation history.

Not counting his stint on “Super Friends” in 1983, Burnett has constantly helped bring the Batman’s legacy to animation since 1991 - when he began scripting episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series,” the Emmy(R)-winning production widely considered a pivotal moment in American animation.

This summer, the latest animated venture into the Dark Knight’s mythos takes an altogether different approach than anything produced during Burnett’s 17-year association with the character. Burnett served as movie story editor and the writer of the anchoring segment of “Batman Gotham Knight,” the third in the ongoing series of DC Universe animated original PG-13 movies.

“Batman Gotham Knight” is a fresh and exciting new film weaving six interlocking stories that reveal Bruce Wayne’s journey to The Dark Knight, each with stylish art from some of the world’s most revered Japanese animation visionaries. The film features stories written by several of the most talented scribes of film, comic books and animation, including Burnett, Academy Award(R)-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson (”A History of Violence”), David S. Goyer (”Batman Begins:), Jordan Goldberg (Associate Producer, “The Dark Knight”), and award-winning comics writers Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello.

Burnett, Azzarello and Josh Olson, along with producer Bruce Timm, have already confirmed their participation on the panel following the world premiere of “Batman Gotham Knight” at Wizard World Chicago in late June. “Batman Gotham Knight” will arrive July 8, 2008 on DVD and Blu-Ray disc, and will also be available that day On Demand via digital cable and for download through broadband sites. The film is produced as a collaboration between DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation.

Bruce Wayne examines a gun for a moment prior to his confrontation with Deadshot in “Batman Gotham Knight”

An anime fan, Burnett said he was very intrigued and inspired by the idea of allowing Japanese directors to have relatively free reign on the animated look of Batman.

“From a visual point of view, this is the most stylized Batman that’s come out of Warner Bros. — what they’ve done is really eye-catching, and it truly expands his world,” Burnett said. “Their visualization of Gotham City is stunning, and it’s very interesting to see how they’ve envisioned Batman, his environment and his action and movements.”

Burnett’s stellar talents have merited four Emmy Awards, three Annie Awards and two Humanitas Prizes. His work within the Batman realm includes as a series producer on “Batman and Superman” and “Batman Beyond,” and most recently as supervising producer and story editor for Warner Bros. Animation’s four-time Emmy Award-winning series “The Batman.” In the direct-to-DVD arena, Burnett co-produced and co-wrote the animated feature film “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm,” was supervising producer and writer for “Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman,” and served as producer on the feature-length “Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker.”

For “Batman Gotham Knight,” Burnett served as story editor for the entire film, and writer of the sixth and final segment, “Deadshot.” The segment ties together threads from all the film’s chapters as Batman must thwart an unerring assassin whose love of guns and disregard for human life lets him cross lines that even a Dark Knight shies away from.

Burnett said having the opportunity to finally bring the villainous Deadshot to the screen was instant motivation to pen the script. First, “Batman Gotham Knight” provided the perfect vehicle for a villain associated solely with guns - an attitude that flies in direct opposition to Batman’s anti-gun approach to heroism. The anti-gun theme is prevalent throughout the film. Moreover, because television standards do not allow the use of “real” bullets in children’s programming, Deadshot has been kept out of Batman’s animated legacy. For Burnett, this was the first opportunity to portray Deadshot as he is known in comics.

“I’ve always liked Deadshot as a villain, and I really like stories with assassins,” Burnett explained. “The fact that they’re killers, and what they do has impact, automatically heightens the energy of the story.”

In addition to writing the script “Deadshot,” Burnett also story-edited the film, ensuring all six scripts - from six different, widely-acclaimed writers - worked fluidly together to interconnect into one story. The ever-modest Burnett said his job entailed little more than a few alterations for flow and continuity while he attempted to maintain each writer’s individualism.

“I thought it was important to keep the integrity of each writer’s words,” Burnett said. “The writers all pretty much had the same voice for Batman, so I had to change very little dialogue - just small fixes to tie up loose ends, and reinforce transitions and connections between the stories. But I did as little editing as I could because I respected what the writers wrote, and I thought it was important that their voice was heard. Just as the artists made their segments their own, so should the writers.”

Overall, Burnett is pleased with the final product, and excited to see the fans’ reactions to the film - particularly the use of shorter segments to tell great Batman stories.

“For my segment, I think the first Deadshot murder is quite good - there’s a lot of eye candy within the cityscape. The artists added fireworks and balloons and a lot of interesting elements to what ultimately is a cold-blooded murder,” Burnett said. “I like the short-form for Batman, because it feels almost like a 22-page comic book story. In short form, the stakes are elevated from the beginning, and it gives you a chance to really heighten the action quickly - so you can make your points hard and fast and get out.

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It’s All Part of the Plan - The Dark Knight Trailer Hunt on Monday!

April 26, 2008
by Alex Billington
If you live in Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, New York, Kansas City, Toronto, San Francisco, or London you will want to read this. On Thursday night we debuted the kick ass new poster for The Dark Knight as part of the on-going viral marketing game. The website where it was discovered was located at whysoserious.com/itsallpartoftheplan/. However, the site hinted that more would be coming and now its been updated. A new viral hunt will take place on Monday, April 28th in those cities mentioned above and this time I know you’ll want to get involved. I’ll bet anyone $10 that they’ll end up at a movie theater in the area where you’ll be shown the brand new trailer (or even more?) in its entirety. Why do I think that? Read on…

Check back here often for updates or changes.

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OPERATION SLIPKNOT

Gotham Police Major Crimes Unit, in cooperation with the GPD Internal Affairs Division, needs you to help track down numerous offenders that are fugitives from justice. Interestingly, we’ve tracked all of these individuals to the same last known location: Gotham Intercontinental Hotel. But we don’t know where they’ve gone from there.

Call the hotel and convince the concierge to ship you a certain package that’s been sent there for each fugitive. Use the provided intel and whatever means you can to convince him that you’re the intended recipient, your travel plans have changed, and he needs to send the package to you. Once received, you should have all you need to fill in the blanks as to that fugitive’s location.

We will add details about additional fugitives as they become available. Time is of the essence, as we have only a short time before the trail runs cold. Your cooperation in this operation will go a long way. Good luck.

Go to INTEL and get the following message -

You should have received your duplicate care packages by now. If not, contact the concierge at the Intercontinental and have him forward you your original package (reference #’s, as always, the total number of letters in your name followed by your last name shifted forward one letter like 15DBOEPMPSP). He’s been instructed to send no-questions-asked if these reference #’s are used. Do NOT contact me.

Bon Voyage!

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April 16, 2008 08:55am
HEATH Ledger was reportedly told to seek professional help for his personal problems while filming The Dark Knight.
The late Australian actor - who tragically died from an accidental prescription drugs overdose in January - was reportedly warned he had become too obsessed with his portrayal of iconic Batman villain The Joker in the upcoming blockbuster.

A source told FOX News: “Heath refused to talk to anyone out of character.

“If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of The Joker, he would just ignore you.

“He would often come to the set to hang out even on his days off, freaking everyone out. Towards the end of filming, he was warned by people that he had gone too far, but it was almost like he couldn’t connect with those who cared for him anymore.”

Ledger reportedly locked himself in an apartment for an entire month before playing The Joker, who he described as a “psychotic, mass-murdering clown”.

Ledger also admitted he had such trouble sleeping while shooting the film he resorted to taking the prescription drug Ambien.

Sources on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - the movie Ledger was filming when he died - also claimed the actor could not “snap out” of character and seemed to have “lost sense” of who he was.

source

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There’s been plenty of buzz around the test screenings of ‘The Dark Knight’ that recently occurred. One dubious rumor that emerged was that certain scenes featuring the late Heath Ledger would be excised from the film after the audiences had a bad reaction to them.

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How will Warner Bros. sell a summer blockbuster marked by tragedy?
By Kim Masters

Knight’s Tale: Despite persistent rumors that Heath Ledger had not finished recording all his lines for the upcoming Batman movie, Warner Bros. insists that director Christopher Nolan got what he needed while filming.

Warner has kept largely mum about how it will manage its big investment in The Dark Knight after Ledger’s sad and untimely death. The studio is still figuring out what to do not just with the film but with products like T-shirts and toys. In fact, the studio has set a big meeting for today to discuss those merchandising questions.

Warner plans to release the movie as planned in July. Usually, after filming is completed, actors do looping sessions—that is, they record and perfect their lines in a studio. It would be unusual for Nolan to have all the sound that he wants at this early stage but a producer—not associated with this project—tells us that it’s not impossible. “I can’t think of a movie where there were no looped lines whatsoever, but I can think of movies where a main character was not looped,” he says.

On a big-budget franchise picture like The Dark Knight, he adds, looping would be the norm. “When you are doing a movie like Batman, as opposed to The Savages, you loop,” he explains. “You are a perfectionist because you have the money to do it and the studio gives you whatever you want. You go through 17 takes of Heath Ledger saying, ‘I’m the Joker,’ and if it isn’t just right, you loop it.”

Warner could use a voice artist if needed—and there are rumors that the studio will do that. If so, the studio’s denials would be understandable: Warner wouldn’t want the public to be listening for variations in the voice when the movie is released. But the producer assures: “With a good voice artist, you would never know the difference.”

Indeed, when Spartacus was rereleased in 1991, the studio wanted to insert the deleted seduction “snails and oysters” scene between Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier. The footage was there, but the sound was not. Curtis was available to redo his lines; Olivier’s part was seamlessly performed by Anthony Hopkins.

A Warner executive acknowledges that another actor may at least have to provide a Joker voice for such things as a planned theme-park attraction. Some marketing efforts—like an idea that involved calls to fans’ cell phones—may be scrapped.

Dozens of licensing agreements have been in place for months, but another studio source says that relatively few involve Ledger’s image. Many Batman-associated products are aimed at children aged 5 to 9, so, this executive says, Warner was proceeding with a degree of caution even before Ledger’s demise because of the intensity of the Joker’s character in the film. For some products, the cartoon image of the Joker was already being used. And Ledger did photo shoots so that his likeness could be used on certain products such as T-shirts.

Now Warner has to figure out what to do with products bearing that likeness. “You don’t want people to think you’re exploiting his death,” the source explains. “But his character is part of the movie, and he was on board with wanting to do this with his character.” And if Warner doesn’t release the merchandise, “The pirates would come out of the woodwork, and then it’s completely out of control.”

Meanwhile, Warner is likely to alter some of its marketing campaign, which featured Ledger’s image in the early going. A source close to the project says the plan all along was to start with the Joker and then segue to the image of Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face. In the film, Two-Face is in a love triangle with Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was clever to cast Gyllenhaal in the role vacated by Katie Holmes. Both have similar kewpie-doll faces, so it’s not a grating change. And Gyllenhaal brings more weight to the part. That’s one less thing to worry about in a blockbuster that’s already carrying a lot of weight.

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There has been a rather interesting development in terms of my most anticipated movie of 2008, The Dark Knight.

Speaking to The Los Angeles Times, director Christopher Nolan has revealed that The Joker won’t in fact be the key element of the story.

“The Joker, he sort of cuts through the film - he’s got no story arc, he’s just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it’s really extraordinary”, said Nolan.

Revealing the true villain, Nolan adds “Harvey Dent is a tragic figure, and his story is the backbone of this film”.

Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart, is Gotham’s District Attorney who is said to start the movie as himself, and end the movie as Two-Face.

The Joker and Two-Face however aren’t the only two villains who’ll be terrorising Gotham in The Dark Knight as Cillian Murphy will also return to continue his role as Scarecrow. “It’s a dark and complex story,” said Nolan, “and the villains are dark and complex as well.”
I’m already a tiny bit too excited about The Dark Knight and this news certainly isn’t helping my case. Will The Joker be the cause of Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face? Possibly.

Either way, our favourite Dark Knight will have no shortage of villains to go up against. I can only hope the movie doesn’t suffer the same fate as Spiderman 3, where too many villains proved to be a very bad idea.

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by Michelle Graham
While everyone’s eyes are on the cackling Joker in the next Batman feature, The Dark Knight, IGN reports that Christopher Nolan, the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, says perhaps we should focus our attention elsewhere. The Joker may be the most high profile of the characters in Dark Knight, and it’s easy to see why. The Joker is one of the most lasting and iconic figures of pop culture, due in large part to the portrayal by Jack Nicholson in the original Batman. However,in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nolan said:

“Harvey Dent is a tragic figure, and his story is the backbone of this film.”

And to fans of the comic, this makes a lot of sense. Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) is a District Attorney for the city of Gotham, and will feature as the main villian in the next sequel, after he disintegrates into Two Face, a character last played on the big screen by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever, around which time the last Batman franchise started becoming a byword for laughable. Harvey Dent himself has never really been a focus of a Batman movie, and it seems that Nolan intends to change all that, by focusing on the character before he becomes a villain and showing a more human side.

However, Nolan didn’t dismiss the Joker’s character completely whilst lauding Dent’s, he went on to say:

“The Joker, he sort of cuts through (The Dark Knight), … He’s got no story arc, he’s just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it’s really extraordinary.”

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