The Dark Knight

MONDAY

The new Batman flick, The Dark Knight, opened this weekend to rave reviews, sold out crowds and a record-breaking performance at the box office—it took in $155.34 million, according to the Associated Press, surpassing the $151.1 million Spider-Man 3 made on its opening weekend a little over a year ago. When a blockbuster generates this much hype, the networks can cash in with primetime tie-ins that appeal to TV-addicts regardless of whether or not they've actually seen the movie. It starts tonight with The Dark Knight's predecessor, Batman Begins, on FX at 5 p.m. Then at 9, turn to the History Channel for Batman Tech, which answers the question posed by the Joker in the original 1989 remake of Batman: "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"  read more »

At the stroke of midnight, The Dark Knight opened across the country this morning, to rave reviews, Oscar buzz and forecasts of a record-shattering box office performance. Most observers have chalked up the unprecedented anticipation for the film to its quality script and to the amazing and final performance of the late Heath Ledger. But we know the real reason: Senator Patrick Leahy.

That's right: The 68-year-old chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as you might have heard, was given a role in the film, playing a man who is roughed up by Ledger's knife-wielding Joker.  read more »

There’s a moment in the new Batman movie The Dark Knight when the action—which relentlessly pounds, soars, twists and turns for a full two and a half hours—slows down for one brief and strangely beautiful instant. The Joker—certainly one of the more villainous, terrifying and electric characters to come our way in some time—speeds through Gotham’s sleek, gray streets, his head hanging out of a cop car window, eyes softly shut, mutilated face turned skyward, stringy and matted green hair flattened by wind. Chaos is under way, hope is dimming, the future looks grim … and the Joker is just enjoying the breeze.  read more »

Attending the premiere of Warner Brothers’ Batman: The Dark Knight at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, July 14: the film’s stars Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal (wearing charcoal Dries Van Noten splashed with flowers and accompanied by husband Peter Sarsgaard), Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart; actors Ethan Hawke, Edie Falco, Josh Hartnett, Seth Green and Emile Hirsch; plus Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively, Penn Badgley and Ed Westwick.

So whom did we nab? Screenwriter David Goyer! “This film is intense intense,” he said. “It’s about escalation, both good and bad.” What’s new about this Batman? “He’s the most realistic.  read more »

THE DARK KNIGHT
RUNNING TIME 152 minutes
WRITTEN BY Christopher and Jonathan Nolan
DIRECTED BY Christopher Nolan
STARRING Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Some folks take metaphysical pleasure from the New Batman Philosophy According to Christopher Nolan: that good and evil lurk side by side in everyone, including Batman. But in my opinion, every Batman movie is about only one thing: action hero (the caped crusader with wings) vs. bad guys (everyone else). Writer-director Nolan’s Batman Begins, with its surreal and mystical mumbo jumbo about playboy Bruce Wayne’s beginnings, remains the worst Batman movie I’ve ever seen, although the comic-book addicts disagree.  read more »

THE DARK KNIGHT
RUNNING TIME 152 minutes
WRITTEN BY Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
DIRECTED BY Christopher Nolan
STARRING Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, from a screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, based on a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, is, of course, ultimately from a series of comic books published by DC Comics, with the creation of the Batman character attributed to Bob Kane. In the world of comic-book superheroes, the Batman franchise has specialized in the most eccentrically colorful villains. I still remember Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman character looking out of the corner of his eye at Jack Nicholson’s clownish antics as the Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, the second such cinematic transfer after Laslia Martinson’s 1966 Batman, with Adam West reprising in a campy fashion his hit television role.  read more »

For its August issue, Marie Claire recruited Maggie Gyllenhaal, Batman's girlfriend in Dark Knight—and stroller-pushing Park Sloper—to talk about her ever-evolving career, her brother Jake's new relationship, and what it was like losing co-star and Brooklyn neighbor, Heath Ledger earlier this year.

You already know what's after the jump: Highlights!  read more »

Since Heath Ledger's death Tuesday afternoon, Warners' marketing executives have been scrambling to rejigger their marketing scheme for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight. Principle photography wrapped in the fall but their posters and trailers have highlighted Mr. Ledger's ghoulish Joker character.

Production on Terry Gilliam's indie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has also temporarily shut down. According to Variety, Mr. Gilliam has three options: "Replace Ledger in the role, shoot around him or shut down the production entirely. The insurance company will likely determine which option the producers take."

Mr. Ledger's death also cancels what would have been his feature directing debut, an adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel The Queen's Gambit. The leading role of a young female chess prodigy had been offered to Oscar nominee Ellen Page (Juno). Mr. Ledger, a skilled chess player, was due to play a supporting role.

MTVNews sat down with a fidgety Heath Ledger recently to discuss his roles in I'm Not There, the Bob Dylan movie, and The Dark Knight.

MTV: There's this little film called "The Dark Knight" you're doing ...

Ledger: Done.  read more »

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