Feb 12 2009 Petition to Strike Joker from Future
Some people don't want the Joker to ever be in a movie again, and are using internet power to say so. From CNN (thanks Rick and Allison):
A group of Heath Ledger fans have taken their reverence for the late "The Dark Knight" star to a whole new level.Followers of the actor, who electrified audiences with his chilling reinvention of The Joker in the second Batman blockbuster, are calling for the character to be retired from the movies permanently.
Ledger supporters at new Web site, The Ultimate Joker, launched a petition last week calling for studios to remove The Joker from any future Batman movies. The petition currently has 2431 supporters.
2,431 supporters? That's nothing. That's like a reasonably-sized high school supporting it. The Joker petition probably has the same number of votes as the student council petition for the lunchroom to serve pizza twice a week. Let's continue, though:
"We think Heath deserves this honor," the site's team leader, Fer Barbella told CNN over the phone from Buenos Aires. "He is the ultimate Joker.""We are Batman fans from the comics and from the movies," he said, "After we saw "The Dark Knight" we thought this Joker was really the best. It deserves to be withdrawn from any Batman sequels.
"When Michael Jordan retired they withdrew the number 23 jersey as an honor. It's the same thing with Heath."
No, it's not at all the same thing as Michael Jordan's jersey number. Michael Jordan's jersey number was not the central antagonist in a mythos that pre-dated Jordan wearing it by decades. Anyway, what's the plan for this petition?
Dec 17 2008 'Dark Knight' Sets Home Video Records
God, people really love that Batman character. Warner Bros. is projecting that, only a week after the home video release of the film, The Dark Knight has become the the top-selling DVD of the year and the best-selling Blu-ray thing EVER. Says Variety:
According to Warners, "The Dark Knight" sold more than 1.7 million Blu-ray discs worldwide its first week. Although comparisons are tricky given the elusiveness of worldwide sales data, "The Dark Knight" is now considered the undisputed Blu-ray champ, given the strong bow.The studio also projects that "The Dark Knight" will become the bestselling 2008 title overall this week. Consumers have bought more than 10 million copies of the pic, with the remainder of purchases by rental outlets.
And in one more home video record, my parents have told me they are "real excited" about taping this off cable, with anticipation reaching near-Shrek 2 levels.
Dec 9 2008 'Dark Knight' Score Deemed Elegible for Academy Award
Variety is reporting that the Academy has reversed it's previous decision that would have rendered James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer's Dark Knight score ineligible.
The Music Branch Executive Committee of the Academy has reversed its Nov. 10 decision declaring their score for "The Dark Knight" ineligible for the 2008 Academy Awards.The score was disqualified due to five names being listed as composers on the music cue sheet.
After reviewing information submitted by the affected parties, the committee concluded that two, Zimmer and Howard, were responsible for the score's authorship.
Now to see if Zimmer can pass the drug test. He says he's clean, but everyone's noticed he's put on way more bulk than composing alone could ever generate.
Dec 2 2008 UPDATED: That's That for Batman (in Theaters)
I hope you got your watching Batman on a giant screen out of the way this summer: Warner Bros. has dropped plans for its January rerelease of The Dark Knight in IMAX theaters. Worse yet for people who care a bizarre amount about box office profits, the film has earned $996.1 million worldwide, so it looks like, without the rerelease, its gross is going to fall just shy of a billion dollars. Unless their Dark Knight candy drive is incredibly successful.
UPDATE: Never mind. It's still happening. (Thanks, ed)
WB Drops The Dark Knight Rerelease Plans [Superhero Hype]
Nov 13 2008 'Dark Knight' Score Oscar DQ'ed
Ut oh, Dark Knight fans, it looks like the prediction that the film "will win every award ever dark knight rules" might not be entirely accurate. Variety is reporting the score has been disqualified from nomination because too many names were listed on the cue sheet:
The score for "The Dark Knight" has been disqualified by the executive committee of the Academy music branch.Their previous collaboration, on "Batman Begins," was similarly disqualified in 2005.
Sources inside the committee said that the big issue was the fact that five names were listed as composers on the music cue sheet, the official studio document that specifies every piece of music (along with its duration and copyright owner) in the film.
Zimmer said, in an interview with Variety prior to this week's Acad action, that listing multiple names on the cue sheet was a way of financially rewarding parts of the music team who helped make the overall work successful. (Performing-rights societies like ASCAP and BMI use the cue sheet to distribute royalties to composers.)
Zimmer, Howard and the other three individuals -- music editor Alex Gibson, ambient music designer Mel Wesson and composer Lorne Balfe -- reportedly signed an affidavit stating that the score was primarily the work of Zimmer and Howard.
That apparently wasn't enough for the majority of the committee, which was also supplied with documentation indicating that more than 60%, but less than 70%, of the score was credited to Zimmer and Howard.
From the facts that have come forward so far, I don't at all agree with this ruling, but I am willing to let it slide so long as it also means Tom Cruise can't be nominated for Valkyrie under the same conditions. He may be the only name given credit for his performance, but there are clearly numerous other entities--many of them alien, all beyond our realm of understanding--living inside his physical form, contributing to his eye-patch acting.
Nov 11 2008 'Dark Knight' Script Now Downloadable
As pointed out by /Film, Warner Bros. has made Jonathan and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight screenplay available as a free download. You can read The Dark Knight! Where was this a week-and-a-half ago, when I had to remember all the Joker's lines to recite verbatim at Halloween parties?
Sep 11 2008 Batman Would Like Some Oscars Too, The Soloist
Warner Bros. has announced The Dark Knight will have an IMAX rerelease in January, so that come voting time, Academy members will remember, oh yeah, there was that Batman movie. From THR:
Warner Bros. wants a statuette -- or 10 -- for "The Dark Knight." So the studio plans to rerelease its blockbuster Batman sequel in January, the height of Academy Awards voting season."It's just a matter of bringing it back as a reminder for people," a studio insider said.
The second run will be a slightly altered cut where the "magic trick pencil" scene is repeated several times and followed by a title that says, "Seriously, did you see that shit? Plus, HE'S DEAD."
Sep 8 2008 'Bangkok Dangerous' Must Be A Really Good Movie To Make So Much Money
1. Bangkok Dangerous - Only $7.8 million? There's no way this thing is even going to make back its hairpiece budget.
2. Tropic Thunder - Thunder rolls--around in piles of money! Yes, thats what I said. ($7.5 million)
3. The House Bunny - Still empowering women with the message that you can be beautiful and smart and make blowjob jokes, earning another $5.9 million. (I don't remember if that was actually the message.)
4. The Dark Knight - It's looking like there's a chance this could beat Titanic. But only in terms of domestic profits. Never in terms of two people loving each other harder than anyone else in history. ($5.7 million)
5. Traitor - Traitor!? What the hell is Traitor!? Oh, right, it's that Don Cheadle thing, like it was last week. ($4.7 million)
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Sep 4 2008 Aaron Eckhart Won't Be Returning to Batman, Because His Character is Dead
If you look at the box office numbers, it's mathematically impossible that you haven't seen The Dark Knight. And if you really haven't somehow, honestly, what are you doing? Thus, I'm unapologetic about posting this spoiler from an interview with Aaron Eckhart:
CS/SHH!: Is Harvey Dent alive? Aaron Eckhart: No. He is dead as a door nail.CS/SHH!: So he's not coming back?
Eckhart: He ain't coming back baby!CS/SHH!: I was hoping he would.
Eckhart: No. I asked Chris [Nolan] that question and he goes, "You're dead" before I could even get the question out of my mouth. "Hey Chris, am I?" "You're dead!" Alright, cool.CS/SHH!: That's not a problem in comic book movies. You could still come back.
Eckhart: I think in contract negotiations it's a problem.CS/SHH!: So you were never signed on for another film?
Eckhart: No, I'm not coming back. I think unfortunately, Heath [Ledger] was supposed to go on and that didn't work out. I'm nobody. I'm a cog. I have no say over this sort of stuff.
Yessss. This is going to make my Harvey Dent rookie card worth so much more. And, yeah, Eckhart, I guess the whole Heath Ledger thing really didn't "work out," did it.
Sep 2 2008 'Disaster Movie' Unsuccessful, 'Tropic Thunder' Still Successful
Here's your weekend box office report. Congratulations, society, for not seeing Disaster Movie that much.
1. Tropic Thunder - With Ben Stiller's comedy topping the box office for the third week in a row, I'm almost starting to think of the guy as more than just The Heartbreak Kid. Almost. ($11.5 million)
2. Babylon A.D. - $9.6 million--that's almost $2.5 million for each percentage point its earned on Rotten Tomatoes.
3. The Dark Knight - $8.6 million, bringing the domestic total to over $500 million. The Warner Brothers finally have enough money to invest in themed crime-fighting gadgets to avenge their murdered parents.
4. The House Bunny - Fine, keep seeing this movie, but please, don't buy an actual bunny for the home. They're horrible pets. ($8.3 million.)
5. Traitor - What the hell is Traitor? Oh, right, that Don Cheadle thing. That made $7.8 million.
Weekend Box Office [Box Office Mojo]
Aug 25 2008 'Tropic Thunder' is Still a Popular Film
Because you love it, the weekend box office results:
1. Tropic Thunder - Is there a Hi-C flavor based on this yet? Because Tropic Thunder Punch is at least as sound an idea as the Ghostbusters-based Ecto Cooler. ($16.1 million)
2. The House Bunny - Audiences made it clear which side they support in the battle between wretched comedy and cars with spikes and flames and shit. On the wretched comedy side. ($15.1 million)
3. Death Race - But there was a large, paying minority that said, "No, but seriously, cars with spikes and flames and shit." ($12.3 million)
4. The Dark Knight - Someone had to bring Batman down eventually, but Death Race and House Bunny? That's like letting a lame villain introduced in 1993 be the one to break Batman's back. ($10.3 million)
5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Force is strong with this one. Because people have to be forced to see it! A'BOOSH! (Still, enough people saw it for it to make $5.7 million.)
Weekend Box Office [Box Office Mojo]
Aug 19 2008 'Tropic Thunder' Proves Itself the More Popular Movie Featuring a Guy in Heavy Makeup
Weekend box office results!
1. Tropic Thunder - $25.8 million, finally answering the question of if [the actor who played] Iron Man could beat [the movie] Batman in a fight [between their movies, one of which came out a month prior].
2. The Dark Knight - Oh, how the mighty have fallen... one spot... after five weeks... and after earning over $470 million. ($16.4 million)
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - $14.6 million, because it's terrible.
4. Mirrors - $11.1 million, a number that, when held to a mirror, remains the same. Spooky, huh? Except how the decimal point is in the wrong spot, and the dollar sign is reversed and at the end, and I rounded down the last 1 even though it was technically $11.16 million, so that's also not entirely accurate. Still, spooky.
5. Pineapple Express - Dropping three spots with only $9.8 million after many people planning to see it decided instead to finish this South Park then laugh at that channel where they sell all those knives.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Aug 11 2008 'Dark Knight' Continues Argument That No Other Movies Should Exist
Guess what movies made more or less money than other movies this weekend! I'll just tell you:
1. The Dark Knight - You have to feel bad for every other movie that isn't The Dark Knight right now. You can almost see the guys down at Swing Vote HQ: "God, Batman again!? We could've been eighth!" ($26 million.)
2. Pineapple Express - It's only fair that a stoner comedy, like an actual stoner, would fail to live up to expectations. $22.4 million.
3. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - $16.1 million.
4. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - $10.8 million, setting a new benchmark for future pant-based movie sequels.
5. Step Brothers - $8.9 million, with attendance still strong among people who don't get sick of anything.
Aug 8 2008 'Dark Knight' Concept Art: It Turns Out Joker Could Have Been More Freakish
It's 2008. No one likes books (yeck!), let alone buy them (we download them if necessary, then read them on those electronic tablets that everyone uses to read books now). So how are we, as a society, supposed to see The Art of the Dark Knight book without spending money on a book? The internet, obviously. /Film has graciously posted some scans of early concept art of the Joker, which you can see here. The designs range from disturbingly graphic to "hey, is that Scott Weiland?"
Aug 4 2008 People Still Paying to See Batman Movie
Here are this weekend's box office results. Please copy all pertinent information to your journals at home.
1. The Dark Knight - A $43.8 million weekend pushed the film's total gross to just under $400 million, putting it in a likely position to push past the $461 million-grossing Star Wars as the film the most nerds have jacked off to.
2. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Desire to see Brendan Fraser and his fake hair shoot mummies is down 33% from seven years ago, with this latest chapter only bringing in $42.5 million. Either our economy is that much worse or our society is that much better.
3. Step Brothers - $16.3 million, making it the highest grossing Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly-as-retards comedy until the next one.
4. Mamma Mia! - Your mom keeps going back to see this over and over, earning it another $13.1 million.
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D - $6.9 million. Note that this is the second Brendan Fraser movie in this list. Why is this happening?
Weekend Box Office [Box Office Mojo]
Jul 21 2008 'Dark Knight' Deemed Best Movie Ever by Internet Populace, Money
Weekend box office figures, you lucky dogs!
1. The Dark Knight - Apparently some sort of Batman thing opened this weekend, and it made $155.3 million, breaking every record for everything. Also, according to the distinctive group known as "people with the internet," it's the best movie ever made.
2. Mamma Mia! - $27.6 million, because your mom saw it.
3. Hancock - Some people refuse to believe anyone but Will Smith could be mankind's hero. These people saw Hancock, earning it $14 million.
4. Journey to the Center of the Earth - $11.9 million, because your illegitimate child saw it.
5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army - $10 million. Bad month to come out, everything that isn't Batman.
Weekend Box Office [Box Office Mojo]
Jul 8 2008 'Dark Knight' Will Be Good For People Who 'Go for the Previews'
We all know that The Dark Knight comes out on the 18th (or if you don't know, you've been ignoring the constant free publicity I've been giving it), but did you know that the film will be preceded by a series of "previews" for films that have not even come out yet? It's true. These "trailers" (interesting name, because they do not trail the film; remind me to "wiki" this) work as sort of prognosticators, providing early glimpses of the movies of the future, and Dark Knight is going to have some doozies:
What you can expect are the first trailers for Warner Bros.' Terminator Salvation (May 22, 2009), which of course also stars Christian Bale, Zack Snyder's graphic novel adaptation Watchmen (Mar. 6, 2009), and the Ridley Scott-directed thriller Body of Lies (Oct. 10), with Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.
Of course, you could also wait a day and view these trailers on something called "web," but that's a chapter for another day.
The Trailers with The Dark Knight? [Coming Soon]
Jul 7 2008 More Chances to Get Completely Sick of 'The Dark Knight' Before Its Release
The Dark Knight's July 18 release is now less than two weeks away. Can you feel your life's relevance winding down? If not, try feeling for it again after watching two more previews. Under the cut, the trailer shown at Wizard World Chicago and an extended look at the Joker dinner party hold-up scene. Watching the latter will grant you the ability to use the bathroom or get a popcorn refill when that scene comes up in the theater, making those around you jealous and annoyed. (Thanks, David.)
Continue Reading " More Chances to Get Completely Sick of 'The Dark Knight' Before Its Release "
Jul 2 2008 Joker Unaware of Innumerable 'Dark Knight' Promotions, Creates Another Poster
Concept: Joker bought around a hundred boxes of old-fashioney playing cards and removed the jokers. He then arranged the jokers on a poster with a combination of tape, blood, and careful x-acto blade cutting, proceeded to airbrush the image of Batman, then defaced that image with all the cute quotes he uses in the movie. This establishes the scene in the film where the Joker is doing hours of tedious crafting to create self-referential collages.
Another Batman Poster [Why So Serious?]
Jul 1 2008 Another New 'Dark Knight' Trailer Creates Pizza-tainment
Well, it's 2008, and I worry it's beginning to look like we may never find a way to embed data in the seasonings of a pizza crust, allowing for a DVD you can watch and later enjoy as a personal snack (PVDs). But all hope is not lost! Pizza and entertainment have found different way to merge into one cheesy, obesity-inducing form: pizza franchise-exclusive trailers! You may remember Papa John's recently worked out a trailer deal with The Mummy 3, forever connecting Brendan Fraser's Boy Meets World hair and pepperoni; now Domino's has a similar promotion with The Dark Knight, and there's a new resulting trailer with some new footage. It's pretty good if you ignore that Joker's voice-over is pieced together like it's from a hastily-edited reality show.
Continue Reading " Another New 'Dark Knight' Trailer Creates Pizza-tainment "
