It was an exhausting process. Daredevil, starring in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy from 2005 to 2012. "[57] In a November 2007 interview, Ledger said when committing himself to any role, he had difficulty sleeping because he could not relax his mind, and often slept only two hours a night during filming. Who played Batman in Batman (1943)? [10][66] Eckhart's performance was influenced by the Kennedy family, particularly Robert F. Kennedy, who fought organized crime with a similarly idealistic view of the law. [be] The film has been referenced in a variety of media including television shows such as Robot Chicken, South Park, and The Simpsons. WebBruce Wayne / Batman: Gary Oldman Commissioner Gordon: Tom Hardy Bane: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Blake: Anne Hathaway Selina: Marion Cotillard Miranda: Morgan The new Joker is played by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, best known for his recent portrayal of Druig in Marvels Eternals. Gotham's mafia bosses gather to discuss protecting their organizations from the Joker, the police, and Batman. [52] Josh Lucas, Ryan Phillippe, and Mark Ruffalo were considered, as well as Matt Damon, who could not commit due to scheduling conflicts. "[285], The Dark Knight is considered a blueprint for the modern superhero film that productions either attempt to closely emulate or deliberately counter. Unlike Batman, the Joker is the same with or without makeup, having no identity to conceal and nothing to lose. This Time, It's Different", "Internet Meme: "Everyone Loses Their Minds" Meme (The Joker; The Dark Knight)", "Everyone Loses Their Minds The Joker Meme", "Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time", "Readers' Poll: The 15 Greatest Superhero Movies", "The Flip Side Of Justice: The Two-faced Spirit Of The Dark Knight", "What Do You Believe In? Almost 10 years later, Hardy's However, it was forgotten, and so was the actor who played Batman. [10][52] Eckhart found portraying conflicted characters to be interesting; he said the difference between Dent and Batman is the distance they are willing to go for their causes, and that after Dent's corruption he remains a crime fighter but he takes this to an extreme because he dislikes the restrictions of the law. Some theater staff were given night-vision goggles to identify people recording The Dark Knight, and one person was caught in Kansas City. The film, however, leaves open the option to dismiss his insights because his chaos ultimately leads to death and injustice. [68][69] Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, as Holmes chose to star in the crime comedy Mad Money (2008) instead. Although Gordon saves the mayor, the Joker threatens his attacks will continue until Batman reveals his identity. [y], Following Ledger's death, the campaign continued unchanged with a focus on Dent's election, which was influenced by the ongoing 2008 United States presidential election. Caglione Jr used a theatrical makeup technique for the application; he instructed Ledger to scrunch up his face so different cracks and textures were created once the makeup was applied and Ledger relaxed. [175][176][184], The Dark Knight broke more records, including for the highest-grossing opening week ($238.6million), and for three-, four-, five-, six-, seven-, eight-, nine-, and ten-day cumulative grosses, including the highest-grossing non-holiday Monday ($24.5million) and non-opening Tuesday ($20.9million, as well as the second-highest-grossing non-opening Wednesday ($18.4million), behind Transformers ($29.1million). [310][318] Eckhart described Dent as someone who loves the law but feels constrained by it and his inability to do what he believes is right because the rules he must follow do not allow it. [97] Pfister described it as a week of patience and learning because of the four-day wait for the IMAX footage to be processed. Although the event was expected to attract a few thousand people, 650,000 arrived and participated in activities that included calling a number taken from a plane flying overhead and wearing Joker makeup to commit disruptive acts with actors. [418][419][420] The Dark Knight Rises was a financial success, surpassing the box office of The Dark Knight,[421] and was generally well received by critics but proved more divisive with audiences.[bq]. [74], In October 2006, location scouting for Gotham City took place in the UK in Liverpool, Glasgow, London, and parts of Yorkshire, and in several cities in the U.S.[75][76] Christopher chose Chicago because he liked the area and believed it offered interesting architectural features without being as recognizable as locations in better-known cities such as New York City. Is the [34][152][153], Composers James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, who had also worked on Batman Begins, scored The Dark Knight because Christopher believed it was important to bridge the musical-narrative gap between the films. [138] Chris Corbould, the film's special effects supervisor,[139] oversaw the 700 effect shots Double Negative and Framestore produced; there were relatively few effects compared to equivalent films because Christopher only used computer-generated imaging where practical effects would not suffice. [313] Author Andrew Klavan said Batman is a stand-in for then-U.S. president George W. Bush and justified the breaching of "boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that [Batman] will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past". [61][131] Christopher added a dedication to Ledger and stuntman Conway Wickliffe, who died during rehearsals for a Tumbler (Batmobile) stunt. [av] A separate, limited-edition Blu-ray disc set came with a Batpod figurine. [114][142][143] The Gotham General Hospital explosion was not in the script but added during filming because Corbould believed it could be done. He was influenced by Alex from the crime film A Clockwork Orange (1971), and British musicians Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. You'll seeI'll show you when the chips are down, these civilized people they'll eat each other. [310][318] Although the Joker wears disguising makeup, he is not hiding behind a mask and is the same person with or without makeup. It earned about $40million combined, making it second to Hancock ($44.8million), which was playing in nearly four times as many countries. [99] A Randolph Street parking garage is where Batman captures Scarecrow and Batman impersonators. I couldn't talk. He was portrayed in the Batman Nolan Film Rachel is killed in the explosion, while Dent's face is severely burned on one side. [310], The Dark Knight is considered an influential and often-imitated work that redefined the superhero/comic-book film genre, and filmmaking in general. & Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Bat-Manga! [34][151] John Caglione Jr designed Joker's "organic" makeup to look as though it had been worn for days; this idea was partly based on more of Bacon's works. [aa] It set further records for the highest-grossing single-day ($67.2million on the Friday), Sunday ($43.6million), midnight opening ($18.5million, from 3,000 midnight screenings), and IMAX opening ($6.3million from about 94 locations), as well as the second-highest-grossing Saturday ($47.7million) behind Spider-Man 3, and contributed to the highest-grossing weekend on record ($253.6million). [67] During discussions on the portrayal of Dent's transformation into Two-Face, Eckhart and Christopher agreed to ignore Tommy Lee Jones's "colorful" portrayal in Batman Forever (1995), in which the character has pink hair and wears a split designer suit, in favor of a more realistic, slightly burnt, neutral-toned suit. [bl] In 2017, The Hollywood Reporter named Ledger's Joker the second-best cinematic superhero performance ever, behind Hugh Jackman as Wolverine,[398] and Collider listed him as the greatest villain of the 21st century. Nezha got his hooks into Batman when Black Film studies professor Todd McGowan said Batman asserts authority over these copycats, telling them to stop because they do not have the same defensive equipment as himself, reaffirming his self-given authority to act as a vigilante. [157] Following Ledger's death, Zimmer considered discarding the theme for a more traditional one but he and Howard believed they should honor Ledger's performance. [m], Ledger spent about a month secluding himself in a hotel room while reading relevant comic books. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and the second installment in The Dark Knight Trilogy. Their efforts are derailed by the Joker, an anarchistic mastermind who seeks to test how far Batman will go to save the city from chaos. [59], Christopher wanted to cast an actor with an all-American "heroic presence" for Harvey Dent, something he likened to Robert Redford but with an undercurrent of anger or darkness. WebChristian Baleas Batman Michael Caineas Alfred Pennyworth Gary Oldmanas Commissioner Gordon Morgan Freemanas Lucius Fox Katie Holmes(Batman Begins) and Maggie Gyllenhaal(The Dark Knight) as Rachel Dawes Liam Neesonas Ra's al Ghul Heath Ledgeras Joker Tom Hardyas Bane Anne Hathawayas Catwoman Marion Cotillardas Talia al Ghul [312] Several publications criticized The Dark Knight for a perceived endorsement of "necessary evils" such as torture and rendition. [u] Despite extensive rehearsals of Reeves jumping from the McClurg Building in Chicago, a planned stunt to depict Batman leaping from one Hong Kong skyscraper to another was canceled because local authorities refused permission for helicopter use; Pfister described the officials as a "nightmare". is among the film's most famous and oft-quoted pieces of dialog,[bo] alongside "everyone loses their minds," and Dent's line "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain", as well as Pennyworth's line "some men just want to watch the world burn". [s][t] For The Dark Knight, Pfister chose to combine the "rust-style" visuals of Batman Begins with the "dusk"-like color scheme of The Prestige (cobalt blues, greens, blacks, and whites), in part to address over-dark scenes in Batman Begins. [bn] Similarly, the character's line "why so serious?" Jonathan Crane was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who conducted experiments on inmates under the identity of Scarecrow. [174], The Dark Knight was expected to sell well based on high audience anticipation, positive pre-release reviews, and a record $3.5million in IMAX pre-sales. [an] Other reviews said Ledger outshone Nicholson's "magnificent" performance with macabre humor and malevolence. Believing Dent is the hero the city needs and the truth of his corruption will harm Gotham, Batman takes the blame for his death and actions and persuades Gordon to conceal the truth. It is often said that history repeats itself, and so it did when Ben [34][36] Goyer and Christopher did not intentionally include real-world parallels to terrorism, the war on terror, and laws enacted to combat terrorists by the United States government because they believed making overtly political statements would detract from the story. His coin is scarred on one side, introducing the risk of chance, and he submits himself to it completely. The Nolans identified the traits common to his media incarnations and were influenced by the character's comic-book appearances as well as the villain Dr. Mabuse from the films of Fritz Lang. Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008, leading to widespread interest from the press and public regarding his performance. A sequel, The Dark Knight Rises, concluded The Dark Knight trilogy in 2012. [bm] The "pencil trick" scene, in which Joker makes a pencil disappear by slamming a mobster's head on it, is considered an iconic scene and among the film's most famous. [233], Bale's reception was mixed; his performance was considered to be alternately "captivating" or serviceable, but ultimately uninteresting and undermined by portraying an immovable and generally unchanged character who delivers Batman's dialog in a hoarse, unvarying tone. The Village Voice wrote the performance would have made Ledger a legend even if he had lived. At the San Diego Comic-Con, 42 Entertainment modified 11,000 one-dollar bills with the Joker's image and the phrase "Why So Serious?" [102] The sequence continued on LaSalle Street, which was also used for the GCPD funeral procession, for a practical truck-flip stunt and helicopter sequence. Many filmmakers sought to repeat its success by emulating its gritty, realistic tone to varying degrees of success. [ao] Zacharek, however, lamented that the performance was not in service of a better film. ", "Ledger's Oscar Bid From Beyond The Grave", "Posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger's Joker Performance? Wayne Enterprises accountant Coleman Reese deduces Batman's identity and attempts to expose it, but the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital unless Reese is killed. [at] Genre films such as those based on comic books were also generally ignored by Academy voters. [70][71] Gyllenhaal approached Rachel as a new character and did not reference Holmes's previous performance. [f], With Christopher's help, his brother Jonathan spent six months developing the story into a draft screenplay. [107] Exterior footage of the Gotham Prewitt Building, the site of Batman's and the Joker's final confrontation, was filmed at the in-construction Trump International Hotel and Tower. The joker playing card scene in Batman Begins was intended to convey the fallacy of Batman's belief his war on crime would be temporary. [35][41] Jonathan found the "poignant" ending the script's most interesting aspect; it had always depicted Batman fleeing from police but was changed from him leaping across rooftops to escaping on the Batpod, his motorcycle-like vehicle. [af][ag] Rereleases have further raised its box-office take to $1.006billion. [am] Dargis, among others, described Ledger as realizing the Joker so convincingly, intensely, and viscerally it made the audience forget about the actor behind the makeup. Kevin Conroy is an American actor and voice actor who has become synonymous with the character of Batman.