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The Dark Knight Trilogy

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The Dark Knight trilogy is a film series directed by Christopher Nolan, featuring the DC comics character Batman. Following the critical failure and box office disappointment of Batman & Robin (1997), Warner Bros. decided to reboot the film franchise in 2005 with Batman Begins, directed by Nolan and starring Christian Bale. Nolan returned to direct two further installments in the trilogy, The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 with Bale reprising his role in both films. The two sequels both earned over $1 billion worldwide, making the Batman series the second (and one of only two, the other being the Pirates of the Caribbean series) to have two of its films earn more than $1 billion worldwide.[1] The Dark Knight trilogy has received near universal acclaim and is considered to one of the film trilogies of all time.

Batman Begins

Main article: Batman Begins

Following a rejected Batman origin story reboot Joss Whedon pitched in December 2002,[2][3] Warner Bros. hired Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer to script Batman Begins.[4] The duo aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film.[5] The film was primarily shot in the United Kingdom and Chicago,[6][7] and relied on traditional stunts and scale models with minimal use of computer-generated imagery. Christian Bale starred as Batman, Liam Neeson starred as Ra's al Ghul, and Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow. Katie Holmes also starred in the movie as Bruce's love interest, Rachel Dawes, a role created for the film. A new Batmobile (called the Tumbler) and a more mobile Batsuit were both created specifically for the film.[8][9]

Batman Begins opened on June 15, 2005, in the United States and Canada in 3,858 theaters. The film was a box office success, grossing $48 million in its opening weekend, and eventually grossing over $372 million worldwide. The film as well received critical acclaim, with critics noting that fear was a common motif throughout the film, and remarking that it had a darker tone compared with previous Batman films. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and for three BAFTA awards.[10] It was also listed at No. 81 on Empire's "500 Greatest Movies of All Time".[11]

The Dark Knight

Main article: The Dark Knight (film)

Christopher Nolan reprised his duties as director, and brought his brother, Jonathan, to co-write the script for the second installment. The Dark Knight featured Christian Bale reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Heath Ledger as The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent / Two-Face. Principal photography began in April 2007 in Chicago and concluded in November. Other locations included Pinewood Studios, Ministry of Sound in London and Hong Kong. On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died from a bad combination of prescription medication. Warner Bros. had 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.[12][13]

The film received near-universal acclaim,[14][15][16] and set numerous records during its theatrical run.[17] With over $1 billion in revenue worldwide, it is the sixteenth-highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation.[18] The film received eight Academy Award nominations; it won the award for Best Sound Editing and Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor.

The Dark Knight Rises

Main article: The Dark Knight Rises

Nolan wanted the story for the third and final installment to keep him emotionally invested. "On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question," he reasoned, "how many good third movies in a franchise can people name?"[19] He returned out of finding a necessary way to continue the story, but feared midway through filming he would find a sequel redundant.[20] The Dark Knight Rises is intended to complete Nolan's Batman trilogy.[21] By December 2008, Nolan completed a rough story outline, before he committed himself to Inception.[22] In February 2010, work on the screenplay was commencing with David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan.[23] When Goyer left to work on the Superman reboot, Jonathan was writing the script based on the story by his brother and Goyer.[24] Tom Hardy was cast as Bane and Anne Hathaway plays Selina Kyle.[25] Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast as John Blake,[26][27] and Marion Cotillard was cast as Miranda Tate. Filming began in May 2011 and concluded in November.[28] Nolan chose not to film in 3-D but, by focusing on improving image quality and scale using the IMAX format, hoped to push technological boundaries while nevertheless making the style of the film consistent with the previous two.[29] Nolan had several meetings with IMAX Vice-President David Keighley to work on the logistics of projecting films in digital IMAX venues.[30] The Dark Knight Rises featured more scenes shot in IMAX than The Dark Knight.[30] Cinematographer Wally Pfister expressed interest in shooting the film entirely in IMAX.[31][32]

Upon release, The Dark Knight Rises received widespread critical acclaim and was a huge success at the box office, going on to outgross its predecessor and become the eleventh-highest-grossing film of all time grossing over $1.08 billion. However, unlike its predecessors, the film was not nominated for any Oscars during its year of eligibility at the 85th Academy Awards, much to the surprise of film industry insiders.[33]

References

  1. ^ Subers, Ray (September 4, 2012). "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Dark Knight Rises' Joins Billionaire Club". Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  2. ^ Alex Pappademas (May 2012). "The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth". GQ. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  3. ^ Casey Seijas (2008-08-11). "Joss Whedon Talks About His 'Batman' Movie That Never Was". MTV Splash Page. Retrieved 2014-09-17.
  4. ^ Michael Flemming (January 27, 2003). "Batman captures director Nolan". Variety. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  5. ^ Marc Graser; Cathy Dunkley (February 8, 2004). "The bat and the beautiful". Variety. Retrieved November 2, 2006.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Batman Begins goes to the source". The Kansas City Star. June 25, 2004.
  7. ^ "35 East Wacker Drive". Emporis. 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  8. ^ Brain, Marshall. "How the Batmobile Works". HowStuffWorks.
  9. ^ "Batman Begins Production Notes – The Batsuit & Gadgetry". Warner Bros.
  10. ^ "Batman Begins (2005) – Awards". IMDb. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  11. ^ "Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  12. ^ Marshall Crook; Peter Sanders (January 24, 2008). "Advertising: Will Marketing Change After Star's Death?". The Wall Street Journal. pp. B1. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Ledger's Death Puts Last Films in a Bind". CNN. January 24, 2008. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "The 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000–2009)". Paste Magazine. November 3, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  15. ^ "Film Critics Pick the Best Movies of the Decade". Metacritic. January 3, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  16. ^ "Review of the Decade – Year-By-Year: Empire's Films Of The Decade". Empire Magazine. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  17. ^ "Movie Records". the-numbers.com. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  18. ^ "All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 30, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Boucher, Geoff (October 27, 2008). "Christopher Nolan on 'Dark Knight' and its box-office billion: 'It's mystifying to me'". Los Angeles Times.. WebCitation archive.
  20. ^ "Merrick" (pseudonym) (December 5, 2008). "Nolan Talks DARK KNIGHT Blu-Ray, a 100,000 Person Screening of the Film (Featuring Live Q & A w/ Nolan), TDK Sequel, and More!!". Ain't It Cool News.. WebCitation archive.
  21. ^ Jeff Jensen (November 30, 2010). "Christopher Nolan on his 'last' Batman movie, an 'Inception' videogame, and that spinning top". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 2, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ Bowles, Scott (December 7, 2008). "For now, Nolan and Batman will rest in 'Dark' glory". USA Today.. WebCitation archive.
  23. ^ Finke, Nikki, and Mike Fleming (February 9, 2010). "It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's Chris Nolan! He'll Mentor Superman 3.0 And Prep 3rd Batman". Deadline.com. Retrieved December 3, 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link). WebCitation archive.
  24. ^ Boucher, Geoff (March 10, 2010). "Christopher Nolan takes flight with Superman: 'We have a fantastic story' [UPDATED]". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Jensen, Jeff (January 19, 2011). "'The Dark Knight Rises' scoop: Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy join cast". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  26. ^ Sneider, Jeff (March 18, 2011). "Gordon-Levitt's 'Dark Knight' role revealed". Variety. Retrieved March 18, 2011.. WebCitation.org
  27. ^ Jeff Labrecque (March 21, 2011). "Joseph Gordon Levitt joins 'Dark Knight Rises'... but not as Falcone". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  28. ^ de Semlyen, Phil (November 19, 2010). "Exclusive: The Dark Knight Rises In May". Empire. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  29. ^ Boucher, Geoff (October 27, 2010). "Nolan: 'Dark Knight Rises' finds the future in IMAX, not 3-D". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ a b Weintraub, Steve (December 22, 2010). "Exclusive: Exclusive: David Keighley (Head of Re-Mastering IMAX) Talks 'The Dark Knight', 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'Tron: Legacy', New Cameras, More". Collider. Retrieved November 1, 2011.. WebCitation archive.
  31. ^ Todd Gilchrist (April 20, 2010). "Cinematographer Wally Pfister Talks About Shooting 'Batman 3' in 3-D". Moviefone. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  32. ^ "Batman teaser poster: Gotham city topples as 'The Dark Knight Rises'". Daily Bhaskar. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  33. ^ Feinberg, Scott (January 10, 2013). "Nolan: The Oscar Nomination Snubs That Have Fans and Industry Insiders Baffled (Analysis)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
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