The Dark Knight #1

[GreenScar]

Originally Posted by TTUBatfan2008

I think Chris Nolan and Heath Ledger have forever changed the portrayal of the Joker that we will see in the comics from now on. I am very glad that Nolan chose to change the character significantly and put his own stamp on it. He is still staying true to the psychological profile of the character, but he has made big changes to the cosmetics of the character. I personally think it's a badass change and I think a lot of people that were whining at first have come around as more pictures and footage have been released.

I agree. Ledger's performance as The Joker is chilling (from the little I've seen). From a success standpoint, I hope the movie isn't too intense for kids. Kids attendance adds a lot to the box office. It's kind of funny that Spider-man (I think) suddenly started shooting webs without his web-shooters (after the success of the movies).

As far as the Joker in comics goes (it's been a long time since I've read) I seem to remember a pretty sadistic Joker in "The Killing Joke." I guess a lot depends on who's writing the material. I think you're right that he'll be portrayed more and more Ledger-like.

There's an interesting article about the recent troubles going on at DC as of late. I didn't know anything about it until I read this article (don't know how true it may be).

[TTUBatfan2008]

Originally Posted by jasonbird

I agree. Ledger's performance as The Joker is chilling (from the little I've seen). From a success standpoint, I hope the movie isn't too intense for kids. Kids attendance adds a lot to the box office. It's kind of funny that Spider-man (I think) suddenly started shooting webs without his web-shooters (after the success of the movies).

As far as the Joker in comics goes (it's been a long time since I've read) I seem to remember a pretty sadistic Joker in "The Killing Joke." I guess a lot depends on who's writing the material. I think you're right that he'll be portrayed more and more Ledger-like.

There's an interesting article about the recent troubles going on at DC as of late. I didn't know anything about it until I read this article (don't know how true it may be).

Regarding the Joker, by changes I was merely referring to his look. He does not have white skin, he doesn't have short hair, and he has scars on his face with smeared lipstick. And his makeup is a mess in half the footage we've seen of him. That is a pretty big departure visually from the Joker in the comics, including The Killing Joke which has a pretty standard style for the Joker's look. But his personality is very much like The Killing Joke or The Long Halloween or Batman #1 (very first Joker appearance). His personality is far closer to the great comics of the Joker than Nicholson's version was. Nicholson's version pretty much was the Joker as presented in the 50's and 60's comics, a bit campier version of the character.

[Blu Titan]

I am looking foward to the new theatrical intrepretation of the Joker. It really adds an element of evil to the character.

[GreenScar]

Originally Posted by TTUBatfan2008

Regarding the Joker, by changes I was merely referring to his look. He does not have white skin, he doesn't have short hair, and he has scars on his face with smeared lipstick. And his makeup is a mess in half the footage we've seen of him. That is a pretty big departure visually from the Joker in the comics, including The Killing Joke which has a pretty standard style for the Joker's look. But his personality is very much like The Killing Joke or The Long Halloween or Batman #1 (very first Joker appearance). His personality is far closer to the great comics of the Joker than Nicholson's version was. Nicholson's version pretty much was the Joker as presented in the 50's and 60's comics, a bit campier version of the character.

Sorry, I misunderstood. Has the Joker appeared in the books lately? I think you're probably spot on. I'd be interested in picking up a new story to see how he's adapted lately. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

[TTUBatfan2008]

Originally Posted by jasonbird

Sorry, I misunderstood. Has the Joker appeared in the books lately? I think you're probably spot on. I'd be interested in picking up a new story to see how he's adapted lately. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

I don't really keep up with the current comics at all to be quite honest. But I do know that Lee Bermejo did a drawing of the Joker around a year before filming began on TDK and his version was incredible, even better than the Ledger version. But not really possible to pull it off in real life. He had a cut smile and longer hair than the traditional Joker, so Nolan definitely used those in his version.





I really feel Heath looks a lot like this next one:

[GreenScar]

Wow! That's chilling!

great artwork. It's definitely a different Joker than I've ever seen in a DC book. Like you said: Even creepier than Ledger's Joker. I'm very excited to see The Dark Knight!

[TTUBatfan2008]

Early tracking released today shows it opening higher than $100 million, and a guy that works for a movie theater and is very good at extrapolating his ticket sales into nationwide numbers says the tracking is LOWBALLING what he thinks it will make. Remember that with this movie, tracking is always going to be lowballing b/c they aren't taking into account IMAX ticket prices. I bet that tacks on an extra $5-10 million to the opening weekend.

[GreenScar]

$100 million + would be tough. Mostly because of runtime. I think it's close to 2.5 hours. It will really have to open on a ton of screens to hit that number with the longer runtime. I'm not saying it won't happen, it's just that there's a lot of movies out there that would have to be dropped to make the large number of screens available.

This movie does seem to have the hype to get it done (provided there's enough showings to hit it).

[Grimshaw23]

I have no doubts whatsoever that this movie will open as big as Iron Man. That means it would hit closes to the $100 Million mark on Opening weekend, but I don't see it making it anywhere near Spider man 3's level of $150 Million.

[TTUBatfan2008]

Originally Posted by jasonbird

$100 million + would be tough. Mostly because of runtime. I think it's close to 2.5 hours. It will really have to open on a ton of screens to hit that number with the longer runtime. I'm not saying it won't happen, it's just that there's a lot of movies out there that would have to be dropped to make the large number of screens available.

This movie does seem to have the hype to get it done (provided there's enough showings to hit it).

Pirates 2 is the same runtime as TDK and it opened to $135 million 2 years ago. Ticket prices have gone up since then, screen counts and theater counts have gone up since then, and TDK has IMAX on its side unlike Pirates. It is going to bust $100 million and I would not be surprised with a $110-120 million opening. It is tracking absolutely huge right now. The awareness level is higher than Indiana Jones at the same point in its release schedule.

[GreenScar]

You are right. At World's End was longer by a little more than 10 minutes. However, the release date was end of May. Before the theaters are bogged down (probably not the right word) with so many big titles. Pirates opened on 4,362 screens. Hence my point of needing a lot of screens to hit a high number. World's End actually opened at just under $115 million. But look at the chart linked; It only had really 3 big movies competing for screens (and Spider-man 3 had been out a month already). This July should be quite different as there are 3 wide releases just the week prior (granted not huge, but will occupy screens nonetheless). Again, I'm not saying it can't do it, the only thing that might hold it back would be screens shown.

Curious, how much do you think it will bring in overall? The figure I've seen thrown around is $225 million.

[mjbethancourt]

It won't be #1. It has a good shot at cracking $300million, but like every summer, some lame 'little kid movie' is going to bury it. Kid movies have a huge advantage: kids drag their parents in, so it's two or three tickets for one person who wants to see it; kids aren't spending their own money, so they're indiscriminant spenders; a lot of kids still get summer vacation, and parents are hard-pressed to keep them entertained for three months; and they'll see the damn thing over and over again. When I was four, I think I dragged my folks in to see 'Empire Strikes Back' something like thirty times (hey, at least I made 'em watch a good movie, instead of some Pixar rubbish).

[TTUBatfan2008]

Originally Posted by jasonbird

You are right. At World's End was longer by a little more than 10 minutes. However, the release date was end of May. Before the theaters are bogged down (probably not the right word) with so many big titles. Pirates opened on 4,362 screens. Hence my point of needing a lot of screens to hit a high number. World's End actually opened at just under $115 million. But look at the chart linked; It only had really 3 big movies competing for screens (and Spider-man 3 had been out a month already). This July should be quite different as there are 3 wide releases just the week prior (granted not huge, but will occupy screens nonetheless). Again, I'm not saying it can't do it, the only thing that might hold it back would be screens shown.

Curious, how much do you think it will bring in overall? The figure I've seen thrown around is $225 million.

Way more than that. Batman Begins adjusts to $220+ million with inflation. This movie will sell quite a few more tickets than BB. I think $260-280 million is likely. But hell, if it makes $110+ million opening weekend, all bets are off and it could break through the $300 million barrier like Iron Man.

[SlmShdy1]

If you guys have Comcast, there is a new episode of Gotham Tonight up.

http://gothamcablenews.com/gotham_tonight.aspx

[TTUBatfan2008]

Originally Posted by SlmShdy1

If you guys have Comcast, there is a new episode of Gotham Tonight up.

http://gothamcablenews.com/gotham_tonight.aspx

I've actually seen it on YouTube. It's pretty cool, basically like an E! True Hollywood Story about Bruce Wayne.

[PS3-Playb3yond]

That third Joker pic looks similar to Ledger's Joker in some ways.

[GreenScar]

Heath Ledger: The Late Actor talks The Dark Knight

Interview posted over at FHM.COM He talks about how he approached the role.

[SlmShdy1]

The alternate trailer is now available in hi-def.

Available in QuickTime and WMV

I hate not having the internet. You miss so much. It looks like The Dark Knight has been selling out and fast.

With less than three weeks remaining till "The Dark Knight" opens on July 18, at 12:01 a.m., Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination, is finding that dozens of showtimes for the film are already sold out.

"The Dark Knight" tickets have been a hot commodity since they first went on sale on Friday, June 20 at Fandango.com. As of this morning, the film is outpacing "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", "Iron Man" and "Sex and the City" as Fandango's fastest ticket-seller of this summer.

"We are currently seeing a surge in advance ticket sales for 'The Dark Knight'," says Ted Hong, vice president of marketing for Fandango. "It makes sense that there's a rush for tickets, as it's the perfect movie to see on the big screen, as supported by our strong ticket sales for both traditional screens and the larger format in IMAX ®. We believe the film is appealing to both comic book and action fans, as well as casual moviegoers."

The late Heath Ledger's potentially Oscar®-worthy performance as The Joker in "The Dark Knight" was cited as top reason for seeing the movie, according to 53% of respondents to Fandango's online survey of moviegoers in June.

[jubei29]

I'd say it's got a shot at the crown.

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008...night-pre.html

"It's tracking much stronger than Spider-Man 3 at the same time in the sales cycle," he said. Director Sam Raimi's second Spidey sequel went on last year to set the record for best opening weekend ever.

[That Purple Stuff]

This in my opinion, is the best Poster yet. Finally one I can hang in my movie room