The Blind Side

This article is about the 2009 feature film about an American football player. For the 1993 made-for-TV thriller, see Blind Side (film).

The Blind Side
theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Lee Hancock
Produced by	Broderick Johnson Andrew Kosove Gil Netter
Written by	John Lee Hancock Michael Lewis Book
Starring	Sandra Bullock Tim McGraw Quinton Aaron Kathy Bates
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	Alar Kivilo
Editing by	Mark Livolsi
Studio	Alcon Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	November 20, 2009 (2009-11-20)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$29 million
Gross revenue	$184,387,000

The Blind Side is a 2009 American drama sport film written and directed by John Lee Hancock, and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who plays for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringings, through his years at Wingate Christian School (a fictional representation of Briarcrest Christian School), his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, and on to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football.

The film stars Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, Oher's adoptive parents, and Kathy Bates as Miss Sue, Oher's tutor. The movie also features appearances by several current and former National Collegiate Athletic Association coaches, including Houston Nutt, Ed Orgeron, Phillip Fulmer, Nick Saban, Lou Holtz and Tommy Tuberville, and recruiting analyst Tom Lemming.

Plot

This section may require copy-editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (December 2009)

For nearly 17 years Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) has been in foster care with many foster parents. But every time he is sent to a new foster home, he runs off. One of his foster parents enrolls him into a Christian school, after the father convinces the coach that "Big Mike" is a natural athlete. The coach convinces the school principal and other teachers to enroll him into the school.

After school one day, Michael meets SJ (Jae Head), who quickly befriends Michael. Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) is an interior designer, mother to SJ and Collins (Lily Collins), and wife to Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw). After a cultural festival at school Leigh Anne notices Michael walking on the road, shivering in the freezing cold. She pities his situation and takes him home. Even though she does a good deed, Sean worries to Leigh Anne whether Michael might steal anything from her home. The next morning, much to her dismay, she finds Michael missing. She follows Michael on to the street and asks him to spend Thanksgiving with her family. Slowly, Michael starts becoming a part of the family, even as Leigh Anne's friends warn her that Michael could affect SJ and Collin's social life. Nonetheless, SJ and Michael become buddies. Leigh Anne goes to the school about Michael's academic performance and is surprised to learn that even though he has scored low in essentially every aspect, he was scored in the 98th percentile in 'protective instincts.' Sean also starts liking Michael and gives the Tuohys as the emergency contact in case of any problem regarding Michael, and also talks to the school coach to get Michael enrolled in to the school football team. Leigh Anne decides to legally adopt Michael (which will allow him to get a driver's license) and convinces Sean to do so.

Michael performs very well on the football field and catches the eye of many college coaches from around the state. SJ tells Michael that his mother cannot stand Tennessee. Leigh Anne comes to know that to get a NCAA Division I Scholarship, Michael needs a 2.5 GPA; his currently is very low. To improve his performance in academics, they hire a private tutor. The teachers at his school also take a special interest in him and start giving his tests verbally rather than in written format. During one of his private tutor classes his tutor, Miss Sue (Kathy Bates), tells him that the FBI bury the body parts of the unrecognized dead people under the football field of University of Tennessee.^{[clarification needed]} Michael's heart aches and this is possibly shown as a reason for Michael opting to join University of Mississippi ending with a 2.52 GPA. All goes well and one day Michael receives a call from the NCAA, who suspect that the Tuohys forced Michael to select Mississippi, rather than Tennessee, his home-town team. The investigator also tells him that both the parent Tuohys were from Mississippi and his school coach also got a better job after Michael's fame.

Michael leaves the investigation room and confronts Leigh Anne, and asks her if she wanted him to select Mississippi. Michael runs from his home and goes to his own locality, where brothers friends confront him and abuse his relation with the Tuohys. A fight ensues, where Michael narrowly avoids a gunshot by lifting one of the gangsters' hands holding the gun above his head, and Michael soon flees the scene. Leigh Anne waits for Michael at home but he doesn't show up. Leigh Anne, fearing that she has made a mistake, goes in search of Michael. Michael calls Leigh Anne, and they meet again at a neighborhood laundromat. Leigh Anne asks if he really wanted to play football. She tells him that she will accept his decision. Michael goes back to the investigator and tell her that the only reason he choose Mississippi was because his whole family has always gone to school at Mississippi. Michael gets accepted to Ole Miss with a scholarship for football. Leaving Michael at school, Leigh Anne feels happy on her way back home for what she has done for Michael, from what could have been his future if she hadn't met him.

The Film ends with the 2009 NFL Draft, showing Michael Oher being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.

Cast

• Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy
• Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy
• Kathy Bates as Miss Sue
• Quinton Aaron as Michael "Big Mike" Oher
• Lily Collins as Collins Tuohy
• Jae Head as Sean ("S.J.") Tuohy, Jr.
• Ray McKinnon as Coach Cotton
• Kim Dickens as Mrs. Boswell
• Adriane Lenox as Denise Oher
• Catherine Dyer as Mrs. Smith

Production

The Blind Side is a film of Alcon Entertainment and a distribution of Warner Bros.. The film was partially filmed at The Atlanta International School and The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, and features many of their students. The film premiered on November 17 in New York City and New Orleans, and opened in theaters on November 20 in the United States and Canada.

According to Reuters, the film's production budget was $29 million. Sandra Bullock took a pay cut and agreed to receive a percentage of the profits.

Reception

Critical reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 71% of 129 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.3 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that "It might strike some viewers as a little too pat, but The Blind Side has the benefit of strong source material and a strong performance from Sandra Bullock." Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 58%, based on a sample of 24 reviews. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 53 based on 28 reviews.

Ann Hornaday of Washington Post gave a positive review of the film writing: "There's been something off-putting about the ad campaign for 'The Blind Side,' a drama about a white woman who adopts an African American high school student, from trailers trafficking in nearly every troubling African American stereotype in movies (from the Magical Negro to the surly low-level bureaucrat), to posters featuring the patronizing image of Sandra Bullock gently leading her looming, gentle giant of a son down a football field. It turns out that 'The Blind Side' is much better than its ads... Grounded in the direct, disarming truth of their experience, the movie has a straightforward lack of cheap sentiment that saves it from being either too maudlin or saccharine-sweet."

Betsy Sharkey writing for Los Angeles Times "Wisely, Hancock has given the film as much humor as heart, whether it's Michael bench-pressing SJ or Leigh Anne calling in plays to a very irritated high school coach." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called the film "a feel-good movie that never stops feeling good. The film is based on a true story..., but you never honestly feel that Hancock has captured what's true about it... He's so devoted to showing us what upbeat, selfless folks Leigh Anne and her family are that the movie never quite gets around to discovering what any of those far superior saintly-family TV shows surely would have: a dramatic conflict... what The Blind Side offers is a kind of liberal Hollywood version of conservative values: all rock-solid valor, all the time. The result isn't solid at all — it's more like cotton-candy uplift. C"

Michael Medved gave The Blind Side four stars out of four, calling the film "..funny, touching, [and] enormously satisfying.." Medved added that, "Sandra Bullock's Oscar worthy performance is without question the best work of her career."

In a review by Christian Hamaker it was noted: "The film's treatment of religion, while not as explicit as some Christian viewers might hope, is marred only by a misquoted Bible verse on a school sign—a jarring error in this otherwise warmhearted, true-life crowd-pleaser."

In 2009, Sandra Bullock was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in The Blind Side.

Box office

The Blind Side opened in 3,110 theaters on its opening weekend, the weekend of November 20, 2009. It grossed a very strong $34,510,000 in its opening weekend, the second highest gross of that weekend. It was the highest-grossing opening weekend of Sandra Bullock's career. The per-theater average for The Blind Side's opening weekend was $11,096. In its opening weekend, the movie already proved to be a financial success, having a budget of just $29,000,000. It proved to have remarkable staying power, taking in an additional $9.5 million, bringing its gross to $60,125,000 by the weekend of November 27, 2009. The movie enjoyed a very rare greater success for the second weekend than it did in its opening weekend, taking in an estimated $40 million, an increase of 18 percent, from November 27 to November 29, 2009, bringing its gross to $100,250,000. In its third weekend, the movie continued its trend of rare feats by moving up to the number one position with $20.4 million in sales after spending the previous two weekends in second place for a total gross of $128.8 million. In its fourth weekend, it moved down to second place, dropping a slim 23% with an estimated $15.5 million for a domestic total of $150.2 million as of December 13, 2009.

After its fifth weekend, the film became the highest grossing sports film ever, as well as the highest grossing film of Sandra Bullock's career.

Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)

Sherlock Holmes
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Guy Ritchie
Produced by	Joel Silver Lionel Wigram Susan Downey Dan Lin
Written by	Michael Robert Johnson Anthony Peckham Simon Kinberg (Screenplay) Lionel Wigram (Story) Arthur Conan Doyle (Characters)
Starring	Robert Downey, Jr. Jude Law Rachel McAdams Mark Strong Eddie Marsan William Hope
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Editing by	James Herbert
Studio	Silver Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures
Release date(s)	December 25, 2009 (2009-12-25) (United States) December 26, 2009 (2009-12-26) (United Kingdom)
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Gross revenue	$65,380,000

Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character of the same name. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin. The screenplay by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg is based on Lionel Wigram's story and Doyle's characters. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law respectively portray Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The film was released in the United States on December 25, 2009 and on December 26, 2009 in the UK and the Pacific.

Plot

The film, set in London of 1891, opens with Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) racing to prevent a human sacrifice ritual conducted by Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). Holmes and Watson stop the sacrifice just in time and neutralize Lord Blackwood, after which the police, led by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), arrive and arrest him.

Within prison, Lord Blackwood triggers panic, even causing a prison warden to be struck down with a seizure. Holmes, on the other hand, has been bored silly in the three months between Blackwood's capture and his impending execution.

Watson has met a girl named Mary (Kelly Reilly) whom he intends to wed, and will be moving out of his apartment. This upsets Holmes as he fears he will lose the close bond he built up with Watson. Meanwhile, Holmes gets re-acquainted with Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), the only person who has managed to fool him twice. She offers him a sum of money to pursue a case, and leaves his apartment. Holmes disguises himself as a vagrant and trails Adler to a coach, within which sits a man whose face is not seen but who has a wrist mounted pistol which he uses to threaten the disguised Holmes.

The day before his execution, Blackwood asks to meet with Holmes. Holmes notices that Blackwood has scrawled occult symbols and inscriptions on the walls of his prison cell, and Blackwood warns Holmes that death will not be an obstacle to him. He states that three more murders will occur, and there is nothing Holmes can do about it.

Blackwood is subsequently hanged and Watson himself personally verifies that Blackwood has no pulse and is clinically dead. Three days after he is buried, the stones that sealed his tomb are found shattered, and a witness claims he saw Blackwood leave the tomb alive. Holmes and Watson are called to the scene to investigate. When the coffin is removed, instead of Blackwood's corpse, they find the body of a red haired midget, the very man Irene Adler had asked him to find.

With Blackwood apparently back from the dead, London is astir with rumors about his dark powers, and Holmes and Watson resume their hunt to track him down and uncover the mystery of his resurrection. During their search, they find a room filled with dead, hung pigs. The two discover that they have been followed by Ms. Adler, who was trapped by Blackwood, she is bound and cleave-gagged on a factory conveyor belt. Holmes braves the flames and blades to save her, securing her trust. Watson follows Blackwood but is caught by a tripwire and sets off a massive explosion. He calls for Holmes, but is caught in the explosion, and is badly injured.

Holmes' and Watson's adventures lead them to uncover an occult-dabbling secret society known as the Temple of the Four Orders (similar in vein to secret societies such as the Order of the Eastern Star, the Freemasons, the Illuminati and the Rosicrucians), with Blackwood eventually leading it on a quest for world domination. Blackwood leaves many (apparently supernatural) murders in his wake, and manages to take control of the secret society. Blackwood uses the influence of the police to have the police hunt down Holmes and bring him to Parliament, where Lord Coward inadvertently gives Holmes the clues he needs to reveal Blackwood plans to launch a major attack on the British parliament.

Holmes and Watson discover a machine designed to release a chemical gas, hidden in the sewers under parliament but Adler manages to disarm it. When his plan fails Blackwood flees and in a battle on the construction site of the Tower Bridge, Holmes reveals all of the scientific methods behind Blackwood's seemingly supernatural resurrection, powers, and murders. Blackwood falls and gets tangled in some chains used for the construction; when they finally untangle, one gets caught around his neck and he is accidentally (and ironically) hanged. Above London, Holmes handcuffs himself to Ms. Adler until she explains her motives to become involved with the case. She explains that the mysterious caped man in the carriage is one Professor Moriarty, who had used the battle to covertly steal an important component of the machine. Adler warns Holmes that Moriarty is 'just as brilliant as he is, and infinitely more devious'. Holmes leaves Adler, and returns to explain to Watson how Blackwood managed to fake his death. The film ends with Holmes learning of a new case involving Professor Moriarty.

Cast

• Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. Downey was visiting Joel Silver's offices with his wife, producer Susan Downey, when he learned about the project. Ritchie initially felt Downey was too old for the role because he wanted the film to show a younger Holmes on a learning curve like Batman Begins. Ritchie decided to take a chance on casting him in the role, and Downey told the BBC that "I think me and Guy are well-suited to working together. The more I look into the books, the more fantastic it becomes. Holmes is such a weirdo." Downey also revealed what his wife had to say: "that when you read the description of the guy — quirky and kind of nuts — it could be a description of me." Downey intends to focus more on Holmes's patriotic side and his bohemianism, and felt that his work on Chaplin has prepared him for an English accent. Ritchie feels his accent is "flawless". Both Downey and Ritchie are martial arts enthusiasts, and have been inspired by the Bartitsu mentioned in the 1901 story The Adventure of the Empty House. Downey lost weight for the part, because during a chat he had with Chris Martin, Martin recommended that Holmes look "gaunt" and "skinny".

• Jude Law as Dr. John Watson, Holmes's ally, a surgeon and a war veteran. Law is not portraying the bumbling fool that actor Nigel Bruce popularized in the 1930s–40s films. Law previously appeared in the Granada Television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in an episode based on The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place. Being a Holmes fan, Law recognized there was material unexplored in other adaptations and was intrigued by Downey's casting; Law was cast because he had a positive meeting with Downey and concurred the film would have to explore Holmes and Watson's friendship. Downey believed by emphasizing Watson's qualities as a former soldier, a doctor, a womaniser and a gambler, it would make for a more interesting foil for Holmes. Law made a notebook of phrases from the stories to improvise into his dialogue. Ritchie originally envisioned Russell Crowe in the role.
• Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, a femme fatale from New Jersey who outwitted Holmes twice, earning his grudging respect. In the film, Adler is no longer married to Godfrey Norton and needs Holmes' help for the case. Downey convinced Ritchie to cast McAdams, arguing she would not look too young to be his love interest.
• Mark Strong as Lord Henry Blackwood, a dark lord and the main antagonist.
• Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan. Watson wishes to settle down with her, causing a conflict with Holmes.
• Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade.
• Ed Tolputt as Adler's employer, seen only as a figure in shadow and later identified by her as Professor Moriarty.
• Hans Matheson as Lord Coward, Secretary of State

Production

Producer Lionel Wigram remarked that for around ten years, he had been thinking of new ways to depict Sherlock Holmes. "I realized the images I was seeing in my head [when reading the stories] were different to the images I'd seen in previous films." He imagined "a much more modern, more bohemian character, who dresses more like an artist or a poet", namely Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. After leaving his position as executive for Warner Bros. in 2006, Wigram sought a larger scope to the story so it could attract a large audience, and amalgamated various Holmes stories to flesh it out further. Lord Blackwood is based on Aleister Crowley (although, partly named for horror novelist Algernon Blackwood), which was due to Doyle's own fascination with the occult. The producer felt he was "almost clever" pitting Holmes, who has an almost supernatural ability to solve crimes, against a supposedly supernatural villain. Wigram wrote and John Watkiss drew a 25-page comic book about Holmes in place of a spec script. Professor Moriarty's existence is hinted in the script to set up the sequels.

In March 2007, Warner Bros. chose to produce, seeing similarities in the concept with Batman Begins. Arthur Conan Doyle's estate had some involvement in sorting out legal issues, although the stories are in the public domain in the United States. Neil Marshall was set to direct, but Guy Ritchie signed on to direct in June 2008. When a child at boarding school, Ritchie and other pupils listened to the Holmes stories through dormitory loudspeakers. "Holmes used to talk me to sleep every night when I was seven years old," he said. Therefore, his image of Holmes differed from the films. He wanted to make his film more "authentic" to Doyle, explaining, "There's quite a lot of intense action sequences in the stories, [and] sometimes that hasn't been reflected in the movies." Holmes' "brilliance will percolate into the action", and the film will show that his "intellect was as much of a curse as it was a blessing". Ritchie sought to make Sherlock Holmes a "very contemporary film as far as the tone and texture", because it has been "a relatively long time since there's been a film version that people embraced".

Filming began in October 2008. The crew shot at Freemasons' Hall and St Paul's Cathedral.^[18] Filming was done in Manchester's Northern Quarter, while the Town Hall was used for a fight scene (which required smashing stained glass windows). They shot the opening scene for three days at St Bartholomew-the-Great church in London, and shot on the river Thames at Wapping for a scene involving a steamboat on 7 November. Filming continued at Stanley Dock and Clarence Dock in Liverpool. Street scenes were filmed in cobbled alleyways in Chatham and Manchester. Brompton Cemetery in London was used for a key scene, and the palatial 19th-century interior of the Reform Club stood in for the Café Royal. Scenes from the interior of 221B Baker Street were shot on a sound stage at Leavesden Studios.

In late November 2008, stunt man Robert Maillet was filming a fight scene at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, and accidentally punched Robert Downey, Jr. in the face, causing Downey to be bloodied and knocked down, but not knocked unconscious as originally reported. The Sun reported that on November 28, a tank truck caught fire, forcing filming to stop for two hours. When filming at St John's Street in December, the schedule had to be shortened from 13 to nine days because locals complained about how they would always have to park cars elsewhere during the shoot. In January 2009, filming moved to Brooklyn.

Ritchie wanted his Holmes' costume to play against the popular image of the character, joking "there is only one person in history who ever wore [a deerstalker]". Downey selected the character's fedora. The director kept to the tradition of making Holmes and Watson's apartment quite messy, and had it decorated with artifacts and scientific objects from the continents they would have visited.

Music

Director Guy Ritchie used the soundtrack from The Dark Knight by Zimmer as temporary music during editing. Zimmer was pleased when Ritchie asked him to do the score but told him to do something completely different. Zimmer described his score to Ritchie as the sound of the Pogues joining a Romanian orchestra. For the musical accompaniment, composer Hans Zimmer used a banjo, squeaky violins, and a "broken pub piano". At first Zimmer had his own piano detuned, but found that it sounded out of tune. He asked his assistant to locate a broken piano. The first piano they located was passed over as it obviously had been cared for, but the second one was the one they used in the production. Zimmer said "We rented 20th Century Fox’s underground car park one Sunday and did hideous things to a piano."

Tracklist

1. Discombobulate (2:25)
2. Is It Poison, Nanny? (2:53)
3. I Never Woke Up In Handcuffs Before (1:44)
4. My Mind Rebels At Stagnation (4:31)
5. Data, Data, Data (2:15)
6. He's Killed The Dog Again (3:15)
7. Marital Sabotage (3:44)
8. Not In Blood, But In Bond (2:13)
9. Ah, Putrefaction (1:50)
10. Panic, Shear Bloody Panic (2:38)
11. Psychological Recovery... 6 Months (18:18)
12. Catatonictes (6:44)

The single Unstoppable by E.S. Posthumus was used in the trailers for the film.

Classification

According to the MPAA web site, the film is rated PG-13 in the United States for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images, and a scene of suggestive material. For comparison it's rated 12A (under-12s must be accompanied by someone 18 or over) in the UK for containing "moderate violence".

Release

The film had its world premiere on December 14, 2009 in London and was subsequently released worldwide on December 25, 2009 (December 26 in the UK).

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 69% of 136 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.2 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that "Guy Ritchie's directorial style might not be quite the best fit for an update on the legendary detective, but Sherlock Holmes benefits from the elementary appeal of a strong performance by Robert Downey, Jr." Among the site's notable critics, 50% gave the film a positive write-up, based on a sample of 28. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 57 based on 33 reviews.

Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars saying "Guy Ritchie's film is filled with sensational sights, over-the-top characters and a desperate struggle atop Tower Bridge, which is still under construction. It's likely to be enjoyed by today's action fans. But block bookings are not likely from the Baker Street Irregulars."

A. O. Scott of the New York Times was more reserved saying "intelligence has never ranked high among either Mr. Ritchie’s interests or his attributes as a filmmaker. His primary desire ... has always been to be cool: to make cool movies about cool guys with cool stuff. Yes, 'Sherlock Holmes' is kind of cool. But that’s not really a compliment.... There are worse things than loutish, laddish cool, and as a series of poses and stunts, 'Sherlock Holmes' is intermittently diverting."

Box Office

The film opened to an estimated $65,380,000 in its first weekend, placing in second at the box office to Avatar, which grossed $75 million. The film earned a strong per-theater average of $18,031 from its 3,626 theaters.

Awards and nominations

On December 15, 2009, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominees for the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards with Robert Downey, Jr. nominated for the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. In addition, the Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated Hans Zimmer for Best Score

Spider-Man

Spider-Man
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Sam Raimi
Produced by	Laura Ziskin Ian Bryce Associate Producer: Heidi Fugeman Steven P. Saeta Co-Producer: Grant Curtis Executive Producer: Avi Arad Stan Lee
Written by	Screenplay: David Koepp Scott Rosenberg (uncredited) Alvin Sargent (uncredited) Comic Book: Stan Lee Steve Ditko
Starring	Tobey Maguire Willem Dafoe Kirsten Dunst James Franco Cliff Robertson Rosemary Harris J. K. Simmons Bill Nunn Jack Betts Stanley Anderson Ron Perkins
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Don Burgess
Editing by	Arthur Coburn Bob Murawski
Studio	Marvel Entertainment Laura Ziskins Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	May 3, 2002 (2002-05-03)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$140 million
Gross revenue	$821,708,55
Followed by	Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The first installment in the Spider-Man series, the film, directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp, stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, and Willem Dafoe.

The film begins with Peter Parker, a high school student, being bitten by a genetically altered spider. After misusing his newly-given abilities, which indirectly causes the death of his Uncle Ben, he becomes the heroic Spider-Man. Peter hopes to win the heart of Mary Jane Watson, the girl he has loved since he was a boy. Meanwhile, he must battle the villainous Green Goblin, the alter ego of the father of his best friend, Harry Osborn.

After being stuck in development hell for nearly 25 years, the film was released on May 3, 2002, by Columbia Pictures, to excellent reviews and a record-breaking opening weekend. With $821.71 million worldwide, it was 2002's third-highest-grossing film and is the 21st-highest-grossing film of all time. Spider-Man was, for its time, the most successful film based on a comic book. The film's success has led to three sequels, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man 4 is set to be released worldwide on May 4, 2011. Spider-Man 3, like Spider-Man, would set a new record for opening-weekend gross.

Plot

Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, and Mary Jane Watson visit a genetics laboratory at Columbia University with their high school class. While taking photos in the laboratory, Peter is bitten on the hand by a genetically engineered "super spider." Feeling unwell, he passes out shortly after his arrival home.

The next morning, Peter wakes to find that his vision is now naturally clear and that his previously thin figure has physically metamorphosed to become more muscular. At school later, he emits web strings from his wrists and has quick-enough reflexes to avoid being injured in a fight with bully Flash Thompson. As Peter infers that the spider's bite has given him spider-like abilities, he escapes school for buildings elsewhere, where he develops his new skills, quickly learning to scale walls, to jump long between building rooftops, and to swing via web.

Meanwhile, scientist and owner of Oscorp Norman Osborn, Harry's father, is attempting to preserve his company's military contract, knowing that losing it will bankrupt his business. He experiments on himself with his company's new, but possibly unstable performance-enhancing chemical vapor. The performance-enhancer increases his speed, strength, and stamina. The vapor having also made him insane, he easily murders his assistant, Mendel Stromm. A few days later, Norman kills several scientists (among them General Slocum) who threaten to drive Norman out of business. After seeing Flash pick up Mary Jane for a date in a fancy new sports car, Peter thumbs through the local classifieds. He sees a wrestling-tournament ad offering $3,000 to any participant who survives in the ring for three minutes. Figuring the purse to be enough for a car that will impress Mary Jane, Peter enters the tournament, unbeknownst to his aunt and uncle. Driving him on tournament day, Uncle Ben expresses concern for Peter, advising, "With great power comes great responsibility." Peter lashes out in frustration and leaves.

For the fight, Peter has chosen the name the Human Spider, but the ring announcer doesn't like it, opting to announce him as "Spider-Man," instead. Peter defeats his opponent, Bonesaw McGraw, but the man in charge only gives him $100 in prize money, using the excuse that he won in two minutes despite the ad's explicit claim of "three" minutes. When Peter turns around to go, a thief comes into the office, but Peter, in revenge for the promoter's deception, does nothing to stop the burglar from escaping with the promoter's gate money. Not long after, Peter finds his uncle on the sidewalk, shot by a carjacker; he holds his uncle's hand as he dies in Peter's arms. Peter tracks down the carjacker, only to find, to his horror, that it's the same thief he earlier allowed to escape. The murderer then threatens to shoot Peter; this makes Peter furious and he breaks his wrist before he can pull the trigger, then the murderer falls out a window to his death.

Upon graduating from high school, Peter decides to use his abilities to fight injustice. He dons both a new costume and a new persona: Spider-Man. When he arrives in newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson's office with the only clear images of Spider-Man, he is hired as a freelance photographer. Norman, upon finding out that Oscorp's board members plan to sell the company, attacks and murders them at the World Unity Fair, but Spider-Man arrives to drive him off before he can do any more harm. Jameson quickly dubs Norman's persona the "Green Goblin". The Goblin later kidnaps Spider-Man to offer him a place at his side, but Spider-Man refuses, knowing that it is the right thing to do. At the Osborns and Parkers' Thanksgiving dinner, Norman figures out, unbeknownst to Peter, Spider-Man's true identity; that night, the Green Goblin attacks Aunt May.

As Aunt May recovers in the hospital, Mary Jane admits to Peter a crush on Spider-Man, her frequent rescuer. She inquires whether Spider-Man ever asks about her; Peter reflects on his own feelings and Mary Jane is so moved that she holds Peter's hand at which point, Harry enters. Feeling betrayed by both his girlfriend and his best friend, Harry tells his father of whom Peter loves the most, unknowingly revealing to the Green Goblin Spider-Man's biggest weakness. The Goblin then takes Mary Jane and a Roosevelt Island Tramway car full of kids hostage on the Queensboro Bridge, and Spider-Man arrives, just as Goblin has planned. The Goblin forces him to choose whom to save, dropping both Mary Jane and the tramway car simultaneously, but Spider-Man manages to save them all. The two fight but the Goblin overpowers Spider-Man and throws him into the abandoned Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island.

Goblin boasts of how he will later kill Mary Jane, but the tables turn as an enraged Spider-Man dominates him and forces him to unmask. As Norman contritely begs for forgiveness, his alter-ego slyly, via remote control, positions his glider to impale Spider-Man. The superhero avoids the attack, leading the glider to impale Norman instead. Norman uses his last breath to state merely, "Peter, don't tell Harry." Badly beaten and with his mask and costume tron up, Spider-Man brings a now dead Norman to the latter's apartment. Just as he has laid the body down, Harry arrives, stunned and angered, but the darkness prevents Peter's reveal. Harry turns to pull a gun from a drawer, but Spider-Man is already gone by the time he has turned back.

Upon the conclusion of Norman’s funeral, before leaving, Harry vows to Peter that he will kill Spider-Man as vengeance for his own father's death; Peter is all he has left now, he says. Mary Jane confesses her love to Peter and kisses him, but Peter hides his true feelings, feeling that he must protect her from Spider-Man's enemies' attention. Walking away from a now distraught MJ, he recalls Uncle Ben's famous words, "With great power comes great responsibility," and accepts his new life as Spider-Man.

Cast and characters

Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: Born in 1984, Parker is an academically brilliant but socially inept student who is bitten by a genetically modified spider and gains spider-like abilities. Maguire was cast as Peter in July 2000, having been Sam Raimi's primary choice for the role after he saw The Cider House Rules. The studio was initially hesitant to cast someone who did not seem to fit the ranks of "adrenaline-pumping, tail-kicking titans", but Maguire managed to impress studio executives with his audition. The actor was signed for a deal in the range of $3 to $4 million with higher salary options for two sequels. To prepare, Maguire was trained by a physical trainer, a yoga instructor, a martial arts expert, and a climbing expert, taking several months to improve his physique. Maguire studied spiders and worked with a wire man to simulate the arachnidlike motion, and had a special diet.

The studio had expressed interest in actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Freddie Prinze, Jr, Chris Klein, Wes Bentley, and Heath Ledger. DiCaprio had been considered by James Cameron for the role in 1995, while Raimi joked of Prinze that "[he] won't even be allowed to buy a ticket to see this film." In addition, actors Scott Speedman, Jay Rodan, and James Franco were involved in screen tests for the lead role.

• Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin: CEO of Oscorp who tests an unstable strength enhancer on himself and becomes the insane and powerful Green Goblin. Unaware of Spider-Man's true identity, he also sees himself as a father figure for Peter, ignoring his own son, Harry. Dafoe was cast as Osborn in November 2000. Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, and Jim Carrey turned down the role. Dafoe insisted on wearing the uncomfortable costume as he felt that a stuntman would not convey the character's necessary body language. The 580-piece suit took half an hour to put on.

• Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson: The girl whom Peter Parker has developed a crush since he was six years old. Mary Jane has an abusive father, and aspires to become an actress, but becomes a waitress at a run down diner, a fact she hides from her boyfriend Harry. Before Raimi cast Dunst, he had expressed his interest in casting Alicia Witt.^[14] Dunst decided to audition after learning Maguire had been cast, feeling the film would have a more independent feel. Dunst earned the role a month before shooting in an audition in Berlin.

• James Franco as Harry Osborn: Before being cast as Peter's best friend and flatmate, Franco had screen tested for Spider-Man himself.

• Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker: The husband to May Parker and uncle of Peter Parker, a fired electrician who is trying to find a new job. He is killed by a carjacker whom Peter failed to stop, and leaves Peter with the message, "With great power comes great responsibility."

• Rosemary Harris as May Parker: The wife to Ben Parker and the aunt of Peter Parker. May is a devout Christian who is highly aware of Peter's love for Mary Jane.

• J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson: The grouchy publisher of the Daily Bugle who considers Spider-Man a criminal. Nonetheless he has a good side and pays Peter for photos of Spider-Man, and refuses to tell the Green Goblin the identity of the photographer.

• Joe Manganiello as Flash Thompson: A repugnant high school student who bullies Peter, and is defeated in a fight after Peter inherits his spider powers.

• Michael Papajohn as The Carjacker: The criminal who robs the wrestling manager who stiffs Peter Parker for his ring performance and murders Ben Parker (although the murderer was retconned as Flint Marko (Sandman) in Spider-Man 3). He was killed from falling from a window when confronted by Peter.

• Bill Nunn as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson: The kindly editor at the Daily Bugle, who on occasion helps Peter.

• Elizabeth Banks as Betty Brant: As seen in past Spider-Man comics, Betty Brant is Jameson's secretary who has a bit of a soft spot for Peter.

Bruce Campbell, a long-time colleague of director Sam Raimi, cameoed as the announcer at the wrestling ring Peter takes part in. Raimi himself appeared off-screen, throwing popcorn at Peter as he enters the arena to wrestle Bonesaw McGraw (played by former professional wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage). Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee also had a cameo, in which he asks Peter, "Hey kid, would you like a pair of these glasses? They're the kind they wore in X-Men." The scene was cut, and Lee only briefly appears in the film to grab a young girl from falling debris during the battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin in Times Square.

Production

Development

For more details on this topic, see Spider-Man (film series)#Development.

Although Sony Pictures acquired the "Cameron material" from MGM/UA, in April 1999 the studio announced they were not hiring James Cameron himself to direct the film. The studio lined up Roland Emmerich, Tim Burton, Chris Columbus, and David Fincher as potential directors. Fincher did not want to depict the origin story, pitching the film as being based on The Night Gwen Stacy Died storyline, but the studio disagreed. Sam Raimi was attached to direct in January 2000, for a summer 2001 release. He had been a big fan of the comic book during his youth, and his passion for Spider-Man earned him the job.

Cameron's "scriptment" became the basis of David Koepp's first-draft screenplay, often word for word. Cameron's versions of the Marvel villains Electro and Sandman remained the antagonists. Koepp's rewrite substituted the Green Goblin as the primary antagonist and added Doctor Octopus as a secondary villain. Raimi felt the Green Goblin and the surrogate father-son theme between Norman Osborn and Peter Parker would be more interesting. In June, Columbia hired Scott Rosenberg to rewrite of Koepp's material. Remaining a constant in all the rewrites was the "organic webshooter" idea from the Cameron "scriptment". Raimi felt he would stretch the audience's suspension of disbelief too far to have Peter invent mechanical webshooters.

Rosenberg removed Doctor Octopus and created several new action sequences. Raimi felt adding a third origin story would make the film too complex. Sequences removed from the final film had Spider-Man protecting Fargas, the wheelchair-using Oscorp executive from the Goblin, and Spider-Man defusing a hostage situation on a train. As production neared, producer Laura Ziskin hired her husband, award-winning writer Alvin Sargent, to polish the dialogue, primarily between Peter and Mary Jane. Columbia offered David Koepp's name to the WGA as sole screenwriter, despite the fact that it had acquired Cameron's script and hired two subsequent writers. Without reading and comparing any of the material, the Writers Guild approved sole credit to Koepp.

Filming

With Spider-Man cast, filming was set to begin the following November in New York City and on Sony soundstages. The film was set for release a year later, but when the film was postponed to be released on May 3, 2002, filming officially began on January 8, 2001 in Culver City. Sony's Stage 29 was used for Peter's Forest Hills home, and Stage 27 was used for the wrestling sequence where Peter takes on Bonesaw McGraw (Randy Savage). Stage 27 was also used for the complex Times Square sequence where Spider-Man and the Goblin battle for the first time, where a three-story set with a breakaway balcony piece was built. The scene also required shooting in Downey, California. On March 6, 45-year-old construction worker Tim Holcombe was killed when a forklift modified as a construction crane crashed into a construction basket that he was in. The following court case led to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health to fine Sony $58,805.

In Los Angeles, locations included the Natural History Museum (for the Columbia University lab where Peter is bitten and receives his powers), the Pacific Electricity Building (the Daily Bugle offices) and Greystone Mansion (for the interiors of Norman Osborn's home). In April, some of the Spider-Man costumes were stolen, and Sony put up a $25,000 reward, although they were never returned. Production moved to New York City for two weeks, taking in locations such as the Queensboro Bridge, the exterior of Columbia University's Low Library, the Flatiron Building, the outside of the New York Public Library, and a rooftop garden in the Rockefeller Center.^[29] The crew returned to Los Angeles where production and filming ended in June.

Design

Spider-Man and the Green Goblin in combat. Spider-man's costume was made up of a single piece with a mask. The Green Goblin's costume was made up of 580 different pieces.

Although it wound up being faithful to the comics, many designs were made for Spider-Man's costumes: one concept costume designer James Acheson became fond of had a red emblem over a black costume. To create Spider-Man's costume, Maguire was fitted for the skintight suit, being covered with layers of substance to create the suit's shape. It was designed as a single piece, except for the mask. The webbing, which accented the costume, was cut by computer. The mask eye lenses were designed to have a mirror look.

The Green Goblin's costume was created after Willem Dafoe was cast, as Dafoe rejected the initially bulky designs created beforehand. The finished design focused on a more streamlined and athletic feel, and the mask in particular was created to be an extreme cartoon version of his face, focusing on his long cheekbones. Some of the early designs were heavily inspired by black ops. One popular idea among the concept artists was to have the Goblin accompanied by adolescent women in costume and have their own gliders. Raimi hated the idea.

Effects

Visual effects supervisor John Dykstra was hired to produce the visual effects for Spider-Man in May 2000. He convinced Raimi to make many of the stunts computer generated, as they would have been physically impossible. Raimi had used more traditional special effects in his previous films and learned a lot about using computers during production. Raimi worked hard to plan all the sequences of Spider-Man swinging from buildings, which he described as, "ballet in the sky." The complexity of such sequences meant the budget rose from an initially planned $70 million to around $100 million. Shots were made more complicated because of the main characters' individual color schemes, so Spider-Man and the Green Goblin had to be shot separately for effects shots: Spider-Man was shot in front of a greenscreen, while the Green Goblin was shot against bluescreen. Shooting them together would have resulted in one character being erased from a shot.

Saki said the biggest difficulty of creating Spider-Man was that as the character was masked, it immediately lost a lot of characterization. Without the context of eyes or mouth, a lot of body language had to be put in so that there would be emotional content. Raimi wanted to convey the essence of Spider-Man as being, "the transition that occurs between him being a young man going through puberty and being a superhero." Dykstra said his crew of animators had never reached such a level of sophistication to give subtle hints of still making Spider-Man feel like a human being. When two studio executives were shown shots of the computer generated character, they believed it was actually Maguire performing stunts. In addition, Dykstra's crew had to composite areas of New York City and replaced every car in shots with digital models. Raimi did not want it to feel entirely like animation, so none of the shots were 100% computer generated.

Release

Original Spider-Man teaser poster, which was recalled from theatres following 9/11

After the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 11, 2001, Sony recalled teaser posters which showed a close-up of Spider-Man's face with the New York skyline (including, prominently, the World Trade Center towers) reflected in his eyes. The movie's original teaser trailer, released in 2001, featured a mini-movie plot involving a group of bank robbers escaping in a helicopter, which gets caught from behind and propelled backward into what at first appears to be a net, then is shown to be a gigantic spider web spun between the two towers at the World Trade Center. According to Sony the trailer did not contain any actual footage from the film itself and is consequently one of the most popular "Special Shoot" trailers since Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The trailer was pulled after the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks, but can be found on the Internet.

Before Spider-Man's British theatrical release in June 2002, the BBFC gave the film a '12' certificate. Due to Spider-Man's popularity with younger children, this prompted much controversy. The BBFC defended their decision, arguing that the film could have been given a '15'. Despite this, North Norfolk and Breckland District Councils, in East Anglia, changed it to a 'PG', and Tameside council, Manchester, denoted it a 'PG-12'. The United States rated it "PG-13". In late August, the BBFC relaxed their policy to '12A', leading Sony to re-release the film.

Critical reception

Critical reaction to the film was well received by critics. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes calculated a 90% overall approval based on 207 reviews, and it scored an 85% Cream of the Crop rating from major news outlets. The casting, mainly Tobey Maguire, is often cited as one of the high points of the film. Eric Harrison, of the Houston Chronicle, was initially skeptical of the casting of Tobey Maguire, but, after seeing the film, he stated, "within seconds, however, it becomes hard to imagine anyone else in the role." USA Today critic Mike Clark believed the casting rivaled that of 1978's Superman. Owen Gleiberman, of Entertainment Weekly, had mixed feelings about the casting, particularly Tobey Maguire. "Maguire, winning as he is, never quite gets the chance to bring the two sides of Spidey — the boy and the man, the romantic and the avenger — together." The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt thought, "the filmmakers' imaginations work in overdrive from the clever design of the cobwebby opening credits and Spider-Man and M.J.'s upside down kiss — after one of his many rescues of her — to a finale that leaves character relationships open ended for future adventures."

Not all of the criticism was good, as LA Weekly's Manohla Dargis wrote, "It isn't that Spider-Man is inherently unsuited for live-action translation; it's just that he's not particularly interesting or, well, animated." Giving it 2.5/4 stars, Roger Ebert felt the film lacked a decent action element; "Consider the scene where Spider-Man is given a cruel choice between saving Mary Jane or a cable car full of school kids. He tries to save both, so that everyone dangles from webbing that seems about to pull loose. The visuals here could have given an impression of the enormous weights and tensions involved, but instead the scene seems more like a bloodless storyboard of the idea." Stylistically, there was heavy criticism of the Green Goblin's costume, which led Richard George of IGN to comment years later, "We're not saying the comic book costume is exactly thrilling, but the Goblin armor (the helmet in particular) from Spider-Man is almost comically bad... Not only is it not frightening, it prohibits expression."

Box office performance

Spider-Man was a major commercial success, becoming the first film to pass the $100 million mark in a single weekend. With the release in the United States and Canada on May 3, 2002 on 7,500 screens at 3,615 theaters, the film earned $39,406,872 on its opening day, averaging $10,901 per theater ($5,524.25 per screen). The film earned a total of $114,844,116 during its opening weekend, averaging $31,769 per theater ($15,312.55 per screen) and became the fastest theatrical release to reach $100 million at the time, crossing the milestone in three days. The film's three-day record was later surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in 2006. Spider-Man also set an all-time record for the highest earnings in a single day with $43,622,264 on May 4, 2002, a record later surpassed by Shrek 2 in 2004. The film stayed at the top position in its second weekend, dropping only 38% in its second weekend, grossing another $71,417,527, averaging $19,755.89 per theater ($9,522.34 per screen) and bringing the ten-day total to $223,040,031. The film dropped to the second position in its third weekend, behind Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, but still made $45,036,912, dropping only 37%, averaging $12,458 per theater, and bringing the seventeen-day tally to $285,573,668. It stayed at the second position in its fourth weekend, grossing $35,814,844 over the four-day Memorial Day frame, dropping only 21% while expanding to 3,876 theaters, averaging $9,240 over four days, and bringing the 25-day gross to $333,641,492. In the box office, Spider-Man became the highest grossing film of 2002 with $403,706,375 in the United States and Canada, defeating The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Spider-Man currently ranks eighth in the all-time U.S. and Canada box office. The film also grossed $821,708,551 worldwide, ranks the third highest-grossing film of 2002 behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, currently placing it eighteenth in worldwide box office ranks.

Awards

The film has won several awards ranging from Teen Choice Awards to the Saturn Awards, and was even nominated for two Academy Awards ("Best Visual Effects" and "Best Sound"). While only Danny Elfman brought home a Saturn Award, Raimi, Maguire, and Dunst were all nominated for their respective positions. It also took home the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Motion Picture."

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Christopher Nolan
Produced by	Christopher Nolan Charles Roven Emma Thomas
Written by	Screenplay: Christopher Nolan Jonathan Nolan Story: David S. Goyer Christopher Nolan Comic book: Bob Kane Bill Finger
Starring	Christian Bale Michael Caine Heath Ledger Gary Oldman Aaron Eckhart Maggie Gyllenhaal Morgan Freeman
Music by	Hans Zimmer James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Wally Pfister
Editing by	Lee Smith
Studio	Legendary Pictures Syncopy Films DC Comics
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	July 16, 2008 (2008-07-16) July 18, 2008 (2008-07-18) (United States) July 24, 2008 (2008-07-24) (United Kingdom)
Running time	152 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$185 million
Gross revenue	$1,001,921,825
Preceded by	Batman Begins

The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero crime thriller film directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role. The film follows Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), District Attorney Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart), Assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and Police Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and their struggles and journey in combating the new rising threat of a criminal who goes by the name of the "Joker" (Heath Ledger).

Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face's origin. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used an IMAX camera to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film. On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger died from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and moviegoing public. Warner Bros. had initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screen shots of Ledger as the Joker, but after Ledger's death, the studio refocused its promotional campaign.

The film was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom. Before its box office debut in North America, record numbers of advance tickets were sold for The Dark Knight. It was greeted with positive reviews upon release, and became only the second film to earn more than $500 million at the North American box office, setting numerous other records in the process. It is also the fourth highest grossing film worldwide, and only the fourth film to earn more than $1 billion, worldwide. film received numerous awards nominations and two Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Supporting Actor for Ledger's performance.

Plot

In Gotham City, the Joker robs a mob bank with his accomplices, whom he tricks into killing one another, ultimately killing the last one himself. While investigating the robbery, Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon contemplate including new district attorney Harvey Dent in their plan to eradicate the mob. However, Batman wonders if Dent can be trusted. Wayne runs into Rachel Dawes and Dent, who are dating, and after talking to Dent, he realizes Dent's sincerity and decides to host a fundraiser for him. Mob bosses Sal Maroni, Gambol, and the Chechen meet with other underworld gangsters to discuss both Batman and Dent, who have been cracking down on the mobster's operations. Lau, a Chinese mafia accountant, informs them that he has hidden their money and fled to Hong Kong in an attempt to preempt Gordon's plan to seize the mobsters' funds and hide from Dent's jurisdiction. The Joker appears and offers to kill Batman for half of the mafia's money, but they flatly refuse and Gambol places a bounty on the Joker's head. Not long after, the Joker kills Gambol and takes control of his men.

In Hong Kong, Batman captures Lau using a skyhook, and delivers him to the Gotham City police, where Lau agrees to testify against the mob. Dent and Gordon arrest the mob, and in retaliation the Joker issues an ultimatum to Gotham: people will die each day until Batman reveals his identity. When Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and the judge presiding over the mob trials are killed, the public readily blames Batman, prompting Wayne to decide to reveal his identity. Before Bruce can turn himself in, Dent holds a press conference to try and persuade the public not to sell Batman out just because of one terrorist. However the public, though grateful for everything Batman has done for the city, insists that things have now reached a point where Batman must make the sacrifice, so Dent announces that he himself is Batman and is arrested as part of a plan to draw the Joker out of hiding. The Joker attempts to ambush the police convoy carrying Dent, but Batman and Gordon intervene and capture him. In recognition of his actions, Gordon is appointed the new police commissioner.

Later that night, Dent and Dawes disappear. At the police station, Batman interrogates the Joker, who reveals that Dent's and Dawes' police escorts were corrupt police and have placed them in warehouses rigged with explosives on opposite sides of the city—far enough apart so that Batman cannot save them both. Batman leaves to save Dawes, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. With the aid of a smuggled bomb, the Joker escapes police custody with Lau. Batman arrives, but finds Dent instead of Dawes. Batman successfully saves Dent, but the ensuing explosion disfigures Dent's face. Gordon arrives at Dawes' location too late, and she perishes when the bomb detonates. Unable to cope with this new level of chaos, Maroni goes to Gordon and offers him the Joker's location. Aboard a cargo ship, the Joker burns Lau to death atop a pile of half the mob's money, and has the Chechen killed before taking control of his men.

Meanwhile, an M&A lawyer working as a consultant to Wayne Enterprises, Coleman Reese, finds out Batman's identity and after failing to blackmail the company, decides to go public. However, realizing that he does what he does only because of Batman, the Joker changes his mind about revealing Batman's identity and issues a public ultimatum: either Reese is killed within the hour, or he will blow up a hospital. When attempts on Reese's life are foiled, the Joker goes to the evacuated hospital, disguised as a nurse, and frees Dent from his restraints, convincing him to exact revenge on the people whose corruption led to Dawes' death. Dent begins by flipping a coin to decide if he should kill the Joker, and spares him. The Joker destroys the hospital on his way out, and then escapes with a hijacked bus full of hospital patients.

Out of the hospital, Dent goes on a personal vendetta, confronting Maroni and the corrupt cops one by one and flipping his coin to decide their fates. Now with complete control over the Gotham mob, the Joker announces to the public that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule. With the bridges and tunnels out of the city closed due to a warning by the Joker, authorities begin evacuating people by ferry. The Joker has explosives placed on two of the ferries—one ferry with convicts, who were evacuated in an effort to keep the Joker from freeing them, and the other with civilians—telling the passengers the only way to save themselves is to trigger the explosives on the other ferry; otherwise, he will destroy both at midnight. Batman locates the Joker and the hostages he has taken. Realizing the Joker has disguised the hostages as his own men, Batman is forced to attack both Gordon's SWAT team and the Joker's henchmen to save the real hostages.

The Joker's plan to destroy the ferries fails after the passengers on both decide not to destroy each other. Batman finds the Joker, and after a brief fight, is able to subdue him, preventing him from destroying both ferries. When Batman refuses to kill the Joker, the Joker acknowledges that Batman is truly incorruptible, but that Dent was not, and that he has unleashed Dent upon the city. Leaving the Joker for the SWAT team, Batman searches for Dent. At the remains of the building where Dawes died, Batman finds Dent holding Gordon and his family at gunpoint. Dent judges the innocence of Batman, himself, and Gordon's son through three coin tosses. As the result of the first two flips, he shoots Batman in the abdomen and spares himself. Before Dent can determine the boy's fate, Batman, who was wearing body armor, tackles him over the side of the building. Gordon's son is saved, but Dent and Batman fall to the ground below resulting in Dent's death.^[7] Knowing that the citizens of Gotham will lose hope and all morale if Dent's rampage becomes public news, Batman convinces Gordon to hold him responsible for the murders. Images are shown of Gordon delivering the eulogy at Dent's funeral and smashing the Bat-Signal. Police swarm the building, and Batman flees as Gordon and his son watch.

Cast

Cast and crew of The Dark Knight at the European premiere in London. From left to right: Director Christopher Nolan, producers Emma Thomas and Charles Roven, actors Monique Curnen, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, a billionaire dedicated to protecting Gotham City from the criminal underworld by night. Bale said he was confident in his choice to return in the role because of the positive response to his display in Batman Begins. He continued training in the Keysi Fighting Method and performed many of his own stunts, but did not gain as much muscle as in the previous film because the new Batsuit allowed him to move with greater agility.^[10] Bale described Batman's dilemma as whether "[his crusade is] something that has an end. Can he quit and have an ordinary life? The kind of manic intensity someone has to have to maintain the passion and the anger that they felt as a child, takes an effort after a while, to keep doing that. At some point, you have to exorcise your demons." He added, "Now you have not just a young man in pain attempting to find some kind of an answer, you have somebody who actually has power, who is burdened by that power, and is having to recognize the difference between attaining that power and holding on to it." Bale felt Batman's personality had been strongly established in the first film, so it was unlikely his character would be overshadowed by the villains, stating: "I have no problem with competing with someone else. And that's going to make a better movie."

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Heath Ledger as The Joker. Before Ledger was confirmed to play the Joker in July 2006, Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, and Robin Williams publicly expressed interest in the role. Yet Nolan had wanted to work with Ledger on a number of projects in the past (though he had been unable to do so), and was agreeable to Ledger's anarchic interpretation of the character.^[When Ledger saw Batman Begins, he had realized a way to make the character work consistent with the film's tone: he described his Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".

To prepare for the role, Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's posture, voice, and personality, and kept a diary, in which he recorded the Joker's thoughts and feelings. While he initially found it difficult, Ledger eventually generated a voice unlike Jack Nicholson's character in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film.^[21][22] He was also given Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which he "really tried to read and put it down" Ledger also cited A Clockwork Orange and Sid Vicious as "a very early starting point for Christian [Bale] and I. But we kind of flew far away from that pretty quickly and into another world altogether." "There's a bit of everything in him. There's nothing that consistent," Ledger said, and added, "There are a few more surprises to him.Ledger was allowed to shoot and mostly direct the videos the Joker sends out as warnings. Each take Ledger made was different from the last. Nolan was impressed enough with the first video shoot that he chose to not be present when Ledger shot the video with a kidnapped reporter (Anthony Michael Hall

Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent / Two-Face, the district attorney who is hailed as Gotham's "White Knight". Dent's battle with the Joker transforms Dent into a murderous, disfigured vigilante called "Two-Face". sees Dent as his heir, demonstrating his realization that Batman will be a lifelong mission, and furthering the tragedy of Dent's downfall. Nolan and David S. Goyer had originally considered using Dent in Batman Begins, but they replaced him with the new character Rachel Dawes when they realized they "couldn't do him justice" Before Eckhart was cast in February 2007, Liev Schreiber Josh Lucas,Ryan Phillippe had expressed interest in the role, while Mark Ruffalo auditioned.Hugh Jackman was also considered for the part of Dent. Nolan chose Eckhart, whom he had considered for the lead role in Memento, citing his "extraordinary" ability as an actor, his embodiment of "that kind of chiselled, American hero quality" projected by Robert Redford, and his subtextual "edge".

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Eckhart was "interested in good guys gone wrong", and had played corrupt men in films such as The Black Dahlia, Thank You for Smoking, and In the Company of Men. Whereas Two-Face is an evil villain in the comics, Nolan chose to portray him as a twisted vigilante to emphasize his role as Batman's counterpart. Eckhart explained, "[He] is still true to himself. He's a crime fighter, he's not killing good people. He's not a bad guy, not purely." For Dent, Eckhart "kept on thinking about the Kennedys", particularly Robert F. Kennedy, who was "idealistic, held a grudge and took on the Mob". He had his hair lightened and styled to make him appear more dashing. Nolan told Eckhart to not make Two-Face "jokey with slurping sounds or ticks".

Gary Oldman as James Gordon, a lieutenant in the Gotham City Police Department and one of the few police officers who is not corrupt. He forms a tenuous, unofficial alliance with Batman and Dent. When the Joker assassinates Police Commissioner Loeb, Mayor Garcia gives Gordon the position. Oldman described his character as "incorruptible, virtuous, strong, heroic, but understated". Nolan explained that "The Long Halloween has a great, triangular relationship between Harvey Dent and Gordon and Batman, and that's something we very much drew from." Oldman added that "Gordon has a great deal of admiration for him at the end, but [Batman] is more than ever now the dark knight, the outsider. I'm intrigued now to see: If there is a third one, what he's going to do?" On the possibility of another sequel, he said that "returning to [the role] is not dependent on whether the role was bigger than the one before".

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes, the Gotham assistant district attorney and childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. Before the events of the film, she told Bruce that if he ever decided to stop being Batman, they would be together. She is one of the few people to know the identity of Batman. Gyllenhaal took over the role from Katie Holmes, who played it in Batman Begins. In August 2005, Holmes was reportedly planning to reprise the role, but she eventually turned it down to do Mad Money with Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah. By March 2007, Gyllenhaal was in "final talks" for the part. Gyllenhaal has acknowledged her character is a damsel in distress to an extent, but says Nolan sought ways to empower her character, so "Rachel's really clear about what's important to her and unwilling to compromise her morals, which made a nice change" from the many conflicted characters whom she has previously portrayed.

Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's trusted butler and adviser. His supply of useful advice to Bruce and his likeness to a fatherly figure to him has led to him being labeled as "Batman's batman".

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, the recently-promoted chief executive officer of Wayne Enterprises who, now fully aware of his employer's double life as Batman, serves more directly as Bruce's armorer in addition to his corporate managerial duties.

Ng Chin Han as Lau, the accountant who handles the money for the mobs.

Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni, a gangster who has taken over Carmine Falcone's mob. Bob Hoskins and James Gandolfini auditioned for the role.

Colin McFarlane as Gillian B. Loeb, the Police Commissioner of Gotham until his murder at the hands of the Joker.

The film's Gotham officials and authorities include Nestor Carbonell as Mayor Anthony Garcia, Keith Szarabajka as Detective Gerard Stephens, Monique Curnen as Anna Ramirez, and Ron Dean as Detective Michael Wuertz. While Stephens is an honest and good cop, the latter two are two corrupt officers who betray Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes to the Joker. The film also cast Anthony Michael Hall as Gotham Cable News reporter Mike Engel, Nydia Rodriguez Terracina as Judge Janet Surrillo, Joshua Harto as Coleman Reese, Melinda McGraw and Nathan Gamble as Gordon's wife and son, and Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr. as a prison inmate on one of the bomb-rigged ferries. The film's criminals include Michael Jai White as gang leader Gambol, Ritchie Coster as the Chechen, and William Fichtner as the Gotham National Bank manager. David Banner originally auditioned for the role of Gambol. Cillian Murphy returns in a cameo as Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, who is captured early on in the film by Batman.

Musician Dwight Yoakam was approached for the roles of either the manager or a corrupt cop, but he chose to focus on his album Dwight Sings Buck. Another cameo was made by United States Senator Patrick Leahy, a Batman fan who was previously an extra in the 1997 Batman & Robin and also was a guest voice actor on Batman: The Animated Series. Leahy cameos as a guest who defies the Joker at a fundraiser thrown by Bruce Wayne.

Production

Development

Before the release of Batman Begins, screenwriter David S. Goyer wrote a treatment for two sequels which introduced the Joker and Harvey Dent. His original intent was for the Joker to scar Dent during the Joker's trial in the third film, turning Dent into Two-Face. Goyer, who penned the first draft of the film, cited the DC Comics 13-issue comic book limited series Batman: The Long Halloween as the major influence on his storyline. While initially uncertain of whether or not he would return to direct the sequel, Nolan did want to reinterpret the Joker on screen. On July 31, 2006, Warner Bros. officially announced initiation of production for the sequel to Batman Begins titled The Dark Knight; it is the first live-action Batman film without the word "Batman" in its title, which Bale noted as signaling that "this take on Batman of mine and Chris' is very different from any of the others."

After much research, Nolan's brother and co-writer, Jonathan, suggested the Joker's first two appearances, published in the first issue of Batman (1940), as the crucial influences. Jerry Robinson, one of the Joker's co-creators, was consulted on the character's portrayal. Nolan decided to avoid divulging an in-depth origin story for the Joker, and instead portray his rise to power so as to not diminish the threat he poses, explaining to MTV News, "the Joker we meet in The Dark Knight is fully formed...To me, the Joker is an absolute. There are no shades of gray to him—maybe shades of purple. He's unbelievably dark. He bursts in just as he did in the comics." reiterated to IGN, "We never wanted to do an origin story for the Joker in this film", because "the arc of the story is much more Harvey Dent's; the Joker is presented as an absolute. It's a very thrilling element in the film, and a very important element, but we wanted to deal with the rise of the Joker, not the origin of the Joker." Nolan suggested Batman: The Killing Joke influenced a section of the Joker's dialogue in the film, in which he says that anyone can become like him given the right circumstances.

Nolan also cited Heat as "sort of an inspiration" for his aim "to tell a very large, city story or the story of a city": "If you want to take on Gotham, you want to give Gotham a kind of weight and breadth and depth in there. So you wind up dealing with the political figures, the media figures. That's part of the whole fabric of how a city is bound together."

According to Nolan, an important theme of the sequel is "escalation", extending the ending of Batman Begins, noting "things having to get worse before they get better". While indicating The Dark Knight would continue the themes of Batman Begins, including justice vs. revenge and Bruce Wayne's issues with his father, Nolan emphasized the sequel would also portray Wayne more as a detective, an aspect of his character not fully developed in Batman Begins. Nolan described the friendly rivalry between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent as the "backbone" of the film. He also chose to compress the overall storyline, allowing Dent to become Two-Face in The Dark Knight, thus giving the film an emotional arc the unsympathetic Joker could not offer acknowledged the title was not only a reference to Batman, but also the fallen "white knight" Harvey Dent

Filming

While scouting for shooting locations in October 2006, location manager Robin Higgs visited Liverpool, concentrating mainly along the city's waterfront. Other candidates included Yorkshire, Glasgow, and parts of London.In August 2006, one of the film's producers, Charles Roven, stated that its principal photography would begin in March 2007, but filming was pushed back to April.For its release in IMAX theaters, Nolan shot four major sequences in that format, including the Joker's introduction, and said that he wished that it were possible to shoot the entire film in IMAX: "if you could take an IMAX camera to Mount Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie." For fifteen years Nolan had wanted to shoot in the IMAX format, and he also used it for "quiet scenes which pictorially we thought would be interesting."

Director Christopher Nolan (far left) and actor Heath Ledger (in make-up) filming a scene in The Dark Knight with an IMAX camera

Warner Bros. chose to film in Chicago for thirteen weeks, because Nolan had a "truly remarkable experience" filming part of Batman Begins there. Instead of using the Chicago Board of Trade Building as the location for the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises, as Batman Begins did, The Dark Knight used the Richard J. Daley Center. While filming in Chicago, the film was given the false title Rory's First Kiss to lower the visibility of production, but the local media eventually uncovered the ruse.Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times commented on the absurdity of the technique, "Is there a Bat-fan in the world that doesn't know Rory's First Kiss is actually The Dark Knight, which has been filming in Chicago for weeks?" Production of The Dark Knight in Chicago generated $45 million in the city's economy and created thousands of jobs. For the film's prologue involving the Joker, the crew shot in Chicago from April 18, 2007 to April 24, 2007. They returned to shoot from June 9, 2007 to early September. Shooting locations included Navy Pier, 330 North Wabash, James R. Thompson Center, LaSalle Street, The Berghoff, Millennium Station, Hotel 71, the old Brach's factory, the old Van Buren Street Post Office, and Wacker Drive. Pinewood Studios, near London, was the primary studio space used for the production. Marina City was in the background throughout the movie.

While planning a stunt with the Batmobile in a special effects facility near Chertsey, England in September 2007, technician Conway Wickliffe was killed when his car crashed. The film is dedicated to both Ledger and Wickliffe. following month in London at the defunct Battersea Power Station, a rigged 200-foot fireball was filmed, reportedly for an opening sequence, prompting calls from local residents who feared a terrorist attack on the station A similar incident occurred during the filming in Chicago, when an abandoned Brach's candy factory (which was Gotham Hospital in the film) was demolished.

Design

Heath Ledger as the Joker

Costume designer Lindy Hemming described the Joker's look as reflecting his personality—that "he doesn't care about himself at all"; she avoided designing him as a vagrant but still made him appear to be "scruffier, grungier", so that "when you see him move, he's slightly twitchier or edgy." Nolan noted, "We gave a Francis Bacon spin to [his face]. This corruption, this decay in the texture of the look itself. It's grubby. You can almost imagine what he smells like." In creating the "anarchical" look of the Joker, Hemming drew inspiration from such countercultural pop culture artists as Pete Doherty, Iggy Pop, and Johnny Rotten. Ledger described his "clown" mask, made up of three pieces of stamped silicone, as a "new technology", taking much less time for the make-up artists to apply than more-conventional prosthetics usually requires—the process took them only an hour—and said that he felt he was barely wearing any make-up.

Designers improved on the design of the Batsuit from Batman Begins, adding wide elastic banding to help bind the costume to Bale, and suggest more sophisticated technology. It was constructed from 200 individual pieces of rubber, fiberglass, metallic mesh, and nylon. The new cowl was modeled after a motorcycle helmet and separated from the neck piece, allowing Bale to turn his head left and right and nod up and down.^[89] The cowl is equipped to show white lenses over the eyes when the character turns on his sonar detection, which gives Batman the white eyed look from the comics and animation.gauntlets have retractable razors which can be fired. Though the new costume is eight pounds heavier, Bale found it more comfortable and less hot to wear. The original suit was also worn during part of the film, where Batman employs hydraulic assistance on the gauntlets to bend a gun barrel and cut through steel.

The depiction of Gotham City is less gritty than in Batman Begins. "I've tried to unclutter the Gotham we created on the last film," said Crowley. "Gotham is in chaos. We keep blowing up stuff, so we can keep our images clean."

Effects

A view of the "Batpod" on display in Los Angeles

The film introduces the Batpod, which is a recreation of the Batcycle. Production designer Nathan Crowley, who designed the Tumbler for Batman Begins, designed six models (built by special effects supervisor Chris Corbould) for use in the film's production, because of necessary crash scenes and possible accidents. Crowley built a prototype in Nolan's garage, before six months of safety tests were conducted. The Batpod is steered by shoulder instead of hand, and the rider's arms are protected by sleeve-like shields. The bike has 508-millimeter (20-inch) front and rear tires, and is made to appear as if it is armed with grappling hooks, cannons, and machine guns. The engines are located in the hubs of the wheels, which are set 3 1/2 feet (1067 mm) apart on either side of the tank. The rider lies belly down on the tank, which can move up and down to dodge any incoming gunfire that Batman may encounter. Stuntman Jean-Pierre Goy doubled for Christian Bale during the riding sequences in The Dark Knight.

Aaron Eckhart with make-up and motion capture markers on set. Below is the finished Two-Face effect.

Nolan designed Two-Face's appearance in the film as one of the least disturbing, explaining, "When we looked at less extreme versions of it, they were too real and more horrifying. When you look at a film like Pirates of the Caribbean – something like that, there's something about a very fanciful, very detailed visual effect, that I think is more powerful and less repulsive." Framestore created 120 computer-generated shots of Two-Face's scarred visage. Nolan felt using make-up would look unrealistic, as it adds to the face, unlike real burn victims. Framestore acknowledged they rearranged the positions of bones, muscles and joints to make the character look more dramatic. For each shot, three 720-pixel HD cameras were set up at different angles on set to fully capture Aaron Eckhart's performance. Eckhart wore markers on his face and a prosthetic skullcap, which was acted as a lighting reference. A few shots of the skullcap were kept in the film. Framestore also integrated shots of Bale and Eckhart into that of the exploding building where Dent is burned. It was difficult simulating fire on Eckhart because only having half of something being burned is inherently unrealistic.

Music

See also: The Dark Knight (soundtrack)

Batman Begins composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard returned to score the sequel. Composition began before shooting, and during filming Nolan received an iPod with ten hours of recordings. Their nine-minute suite for the Joker, "Why So Serious?", is based around two notes. Zimmer compared its style to that of Kraftwerk, a band from his native Germany, as well as bands like The Damned When Ledger died, Zimmer felt like scrapping and composing a new theme, but decided that he could not be sentimental and compromise the "evil [performance] projects". Howard composed Dent's "elegant and beautiful" themes which are brass-focused.

Release

Marketing

In May 2007, 42 Entertainment began a viral marketing campaign utilizing the film's "Why So Serious?" tagline with the launch of a website featuring the fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent, with the caption, "I Believe in Harvey Dent." The site aimed to interest fans by having them try to earn what they wanted to see and, on behalf of Warner Bros., 42 Entertainment also established a "vandalized" version of I Believe in Harvey Dent, called "I believe in Harvey Dent too," where e-mails sent by fans slowly removed pixels, revealing the first official image of the Joker; it was ultimately replaced with many "Haha"s and a hidden message that said "see you in December.

WhySoSerious.com directed fans to find letters composing the Joker's message "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules," to send in photographs of these letters, and then featured their photos in a collage.

During the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con International, 42 Entertainment launched WhySoSerious.com, sending fans on a scavenger hunt to unlock a teaser trailer and a new photo of the Joker. On October 31, 2007, the film's website morphed into another scavenger hunt with hidden messages, instructing fans to uncover clues at certain locations in major cities throughout the United States, and to take photographs of their discoveries. The clues combined to reveal a new photograph of the Joker and an audio clip of him from the film saying "And tonight, you're gonna break your one rule." Completing the scavenger hunt also led to another website called Rory's Death Kiss (referencing the false working title of Rory's First Kiss), where fans could submit photographs of themselves costumed as the Joker. Those who sent photos were mailed a copy of a fictional newspaper called The Gotham Times, whose electronic version led to the discovery of numerous other websites.

The Dark Knight's opening sequence, (showing a bank raid by the Joker) and closing montage of other scenes from the film, was screened with selected IMAX screenings of I Am Legend, which was released on December 14, 2007. A theatrical teaser was also released with non-IMAX showings of I Am Legend, and also on the official website. The sequence was released on the Blu-ray Disc edition of Batman Begins on July 8, 2008. Also on July 8, 2008, the studio released Batman: Gotham Knight, a direct-to-DVD animated film, set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and featuring six original stories, directed by Bruce Timm, co-creator and producer of Batman: The Animated Series, and starring veteran Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy. Each of these segments, written by Josh Olson, David S. Goyer, Brian Azzarello, Greg Rucka, Jordan Goldberg, and Alan Burnett, presents its own distinctive artistic style, paralleling numerous artists collaborating in the same DC Universe

After the death of Heath Ledger, on January 22, 2008, Warner Bros. adjusted its promotional focus on the Joker, revising some of its websites dedicated to promoting the film and posting a memorial tribute to Ledger on the film's official website and overlaying a black memorial ribbon on the photo collage in WhySoSerious.com. On February 29, 2008, I Believe in Harvey Dent was updated to enable fans to send their e-mail addresses and phone numbers.In March 2008, Harvey Dent's fictional campaign informed fans that actual campaign buses nicknamed "Dentmobiles" would tour various cities to promote Dent's candidacy for district attorney.

Toyota Formula One racing car featuring the Batman insignia, at the 2008 British Grand Prix

On May 15, 2008, Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Great Adventure theme parks opened The Dark Knight roller coaster, which cost $7.5 million to develop and which simulates being stalked by the Joker. Mattel produced toys and games for The Dark Knight, action figures, role play costumes, board games, puzzles, and a special-edition UNO card game, which began commercial distribution in June 2008.

Warner Bros. devoted six months to an anti-piracy strategy that involved tracking the people who had a pre-release copy of the film at any one time. Shipping and delivery schedules were also staggered and spot checks were carried out both domestically and overseas to ensure illegal copying of the film was not taking place in cinemas. A pirated copy was released on the Web approximately 38 hours after the film's release. BitTorrent search engine The Pirate Bay taunted the movie industry over its ability to provide the movie free, replacing its logo with a taunting message.

Theatrical run

Warner Bros. held the world premiere for The Dark Knight in New York City on July 14, 2008, screening in an IMAX theater with the film's composers James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer playing a part of the film score live. Leading up to The Dark Knight's commercial release, the film had drawn "overwhelmingly positive early reviews and buzz on Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker". The Dark Knight was commercially released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, grossing almost $2.3 million in its first day.

In the United States and Canada, The Dark Knight was distributed to 4,366 theaters, breaking the previous record for the highest number of theaters held by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in 2007. The number of theaters also included 94 IMAX theaters, with the film estimated to be played on 9,200 screens in the United States and Canada. Online, ticketing services sold enormous numbers of tickets for approximately 3,000 midnight showtimes as well as unusually early showtimes for the film's opening day. All IMAX theaters showing The Dark Knight were sold out for the opening weekend.

The Dark Knight set a new midnight record on the opening day of July 18, 2008 with $18.5 million, beating the $16.9 million record set by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in 2005. $640,000 of the record gross came from IMAX screenings. However, this record was broken a year later by the film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which grossed over $22 million.

The Dark Knight ultimately grossed $67,165,092 on its opening day in the domestic office, beating the previous record of $59.8 million held by Spider-Man 3 in 2007. However, the record was broken by New Moon which grossed close to $73 million.

For its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, The Dark Knight accumulated a total of $158,411,483 from 9,200 screens at a record 4,366 theaters, for an average of $36,283 per theater, or $17,219 per screen, beating out the original weekend estimate by more than $3 million, and topping the previous record of $151,116,516 held by Spider-Man 3, while playing in 114 more theaters but on 800 fewer screens. The following Monday, it grossed another $24,493,313, and the following Tuesday it grossed $20,868,722. The Dark Knight also set a new record for opening weekend gross in IMAX theaters, accumulating $6.2 million to beat Spider-Man 3's previous record of $4.7 million.

A sign of the films pre-release at the cinema Colisevm in Barcelona, Spain

Besides the United States and Canada, The Dark Knight premiered in 20 other territories on 4,520 screens, grossing $41.3 million in its first weekend. The film came in second to Hancock, which was in its third weekend, screening in 71 territories. The Dark Knight's biggest territory for the weekend was Australia, grossing $13.7 million over the weekend, the third largest Warner Bros. opening and the largest superhero film opening to date. The film also grossed $7 million from 1,433 screens in Mexico, $4.45 million from 548 screens in Brazil, and $2.12 million from 37 screens in Hong Kong. Citing cultural sensitivities to some elements in the film, and a reluctance to adhere to pre-release conditions, Warner Bros. declined to release the film in mainland China.

The Dark Knight sold an estimated 22.37 million tickets with today's average admission of $7.08, meaning the film sold more tickets than Spider-Man 3, which sold 21.96 million with the average price of $6.88 in 2007 It also broke the record for the biggest opening weekend ever. As of December 23, 2008, The Dark Knight has grossed $530,833,780 in the North American box office, breaking the previous record of the fastest film to hit $500 million and $465,993,073 in other countries. As of March 5, 2009, its total worldwide gross stands at $1,001,758,644, and is the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. The Dark Knight is the highest-grossing film of 2008 in North American box office and worldwide. Unadjusted for inflation, it is the second highest grossing film in North America of all time with a total of $533,090,262, behind only Titanic with $600,788,188. It was the second film in history to pass the $500 million barrier, also in the fastest time, in 43 days (compared to Titanic's 98 days). The Dark Knight's theatrical run was very different from that of Titanic. While The Dark Knight broke records in its opening weekend, Titanic started out slowly (making $28.6 million in its opening weekend) and then increased ticket sales in the following weekends.The Dark Knight instead slowed down after the first few weekends; 50 other movies had better tenth weekends and 91 had better eleventh weekends. In its fifteenth weekend, The Dark Knight was at #26 at the box office

Warner Bros. rereleased the film in traditional theaters and IMAX theaters in the United States on January 23, 2009, at the height of the voting for the Academy Awards, to further the chances of the film winning Oscars, as well as attempt to cross $1 billion in worldwide gross, which it accomplished in February 2009.

Home video release

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America on December 9, 2008. Releases include a one-disc edition DVD; a two-disc Special Edition DVD; a two-disc edition Blu-ray; and a Special Edition Blu-ray package featuring a statuette of the Bat-pod. The Blu-ray version presents the film in a variable aspect ratio, with the IMAX sequences framed in 1.78:1, while scenes filmed in 35 mm are framed in 2.40:1. The DVD versions feature the entire film framed in a uniform 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Disc 2 of the two-disc Special Edition DVD features the IMAX sequences in the original 1.44:1 aspect ratio. In addition to the standard DVD releases, some stores released their own exclusive editions of the film.

In the United Kingdom, the film had combined sales of 513,000 units on its first day of release, of which 107,730 (21%) were Blu-ray discs, the highest number of first-day Blu-ray discs sold. In the United States, The Dark Knight set a sales record for most DVDs sold in one day, selling 3 million units on its first day of release - 600,000 of which were Blu-ray discs.

The DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions were released in Australia on December 10, 2008. Releases were in the form of a one-disc edition on DVD; a two-disc edition on DVD; a two-disc edition including a Batmask on DVD; a two-disc Blu-ray edition; and a four-disc Batman Begins/The Dark Knight pack on DVD and Blu-ray disc. As of December 19, 2008, the DVD release is the top selling film in the Australian DVD Charts and is expected to break the Australian sales record set by Finding Nemo.