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Topic: The Dark Knight

Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-29-2008 06:02 PM

We played Titanic in April, four months after it opened, but it still did blockbuster business here because at that time we never played anything on the break.

Our numbers here tend to pretty much follow the pattern of the nation on mainstream films. Using that yardstick, TDK will do about 2/3 the business of Titanic (in ticket numbers, not dollars).

I attribute that to Titanic appealing to virtually everyone, where TDK has a smaller slice of the demographic pie.

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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 07-30-2008 04:30 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
The 1998 Batman and Robin movie with George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger is so bad it's embarrassing to watch. Easily the worst out of the Tim Burton directed/produced series of Batman movies.

1997 to be anal and yes, it was awful, but you can't blame Burton. He had nothing to do with it. His producer credits ended with Batman Forever and those were more for courtesy than anything. He did almost nothing with the film.

The first time I saw Dark Knight, I was just in awe of what I was seeing. The second time, I really noticed the amount of serious ethical and moral issues that were addressed:

*SPOILERS* (but if you haven't seen it yet then why are you reading this)

- The conflict Lucius had with spying on people and the machine ultimately being destroyed after they did what needed to be done
- The plea by Alfred to "stay the course" when things were so bad
- Not giving in to terrorists or bullies regardless of what the public thinks of you
- Giving the credit to Dent and taking the blame because that was what was best for the people

*END SPOILERS*

There were some major themes Nolan put in this, not by accident I'm sure. It's pretty deep for a comic book action flick.

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Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 07-30-2008 07:22 PM

Judging by the tremendous amount of praise BATMAN-THE DARK KNIGHT has received from critics and audiences all over the world, I cannot wait to see it for the first time this Sunday afternoon at Honolulu's finest theatre, Consolidated's Ward Centre 16 on a big 60 foot screen.

-Claude

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Mark Lensenmayer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1605
From: Upper Arlington, OH
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 07-30-2008 10:44 PM

I saw the film today and liked it very much. Ledger's performance was very very strong.

I saw this in an Imax (Jr.) MPX theatre. Really, there was very little difference between the Imax filmed scenes and the 35mm. The screen in this room is about 50' wide, and the Imax shots added about 18" to the top of the screen and about 2' to the bottom.

Sure would have liked to see this in a REAL Imax theatre.

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Greg Anderson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 766
From: Ogden Valley, Utah
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 07-31-2008 12:22 PM

I listened to an interview of screenwriter Johnathan Nolan at

http://creativescreenwritingmagazine.blogspot.com/

...and he denies that current political events were the inspiration for thematic elements in the movie. He says that these themes have been explored in the Batman comic books for 70 years and that he doesn't care for movies that tell fictional stories but are really about current political or social issues.

As for me, seeing The Dark Knight movie for the first time after it had already been out for 10 days... it was a disappointment. Not nearly as good as the hype made it out to be. This movie appears to benefit from the fact that so many other movies lately have been disappointing. After I read so many reviews about how it's gritty and realistic, I found it to be ridiculous. And excuse me for wanting a little bit of something called "fun" in a comic book movie, but I missed that.

(Just trying to bring your expecations to more realisitc levels, Claude... or anyone else who hasn't gone yet.)

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Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 07-31-2008 08:45 PM

I know the 35mm print of BATMAN-THE BLACK KNIGHT has an scope aspect ratio about 2.35.1 with all of the footage shot in 35mm but what is the ratio of all of the stuff shot in IMAX?

-Claude

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David Stambaugh
Film God

Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 07-31-2008 09:19 PM

The 35mm prints are regular scope all the way through, including the Imax stuff.

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 07-31-2008 10:43 PM

The IMAX prints are regular IMAX ratio for the parts filmed in IMAX (I think 1.44:1) and something that looks about 2:1 for the parts filmed in scope.

It should be noted (and we should applaud Mr. Nolan for it) that the 35mm sourced part was shot in anamorphic and NOT super 35.

Claude, if there is an IMAX in Hawaii, it's definitely worth seeing in that format. The IMAX sourced scenes are incredible looking.

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John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-01-2008 03:25 AM

quote: Claude S. Ayakawa
I know the 35mm print of BATMAN-THE BLACK KNIGHT has an scope aspect ratio about 2.35.1 with all of the footage shot in 35mm but what is the ratio of all of the stuff shot in IMAX?

It's Pillarboxed. [Wink]

(And it's The Dark Knight).

To put some perspective into just how big this film is...it's been in release just 13 days and is already the 13th highest grossing film of all-time.

That is just amazing.

It's going to top Jurassic Park this weekend and more than likely also The Passion Of The Christ.

Lucky it wasn't pirated earlier or it would be only just topping Revenge Of The Nerds...II.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-01-2008 08:31 AM

quote: John Wilson
To put some perspective into just how big this film is...it's been in release just 13 days and is already the 13th highest grossing film of all-time.

Ticket price inflation puts those box office dollar gross numbers in perspective.

According to the list at Box Office Mojo (linked by Lyle), The Dark Knight has sold about 48 million tickets. Jurassic Park is estimated to have sold 86 million tickets over its run. Titanic sold 128 million tickets. Gone With the Wind remains as the box office champ with an estimated 202 million tickets sold.

While The Dark Knight may be fixing to crack the top 10 in terms of sheer dollar earnings, it is just now entering the top 100 in terms of actual attendance numbers.

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Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 08-01-2008 06:35 PM

Lyle,

Honolulu used to have an awesome IMAX theatre, the Waikiki IMAX and it was a part of Consolidated Theatre's Waikiki movie complex which also included the Waikiki Twins and Waikiki #3. It was very sad when Los Angeles based Pacific Theatres who had owned the theatres at that time decided to shut them all down.

The Waikiki IMAX used to be known as the Hawaii IMAX and was built and operated by Destination Cinema. The theatre opened with a film that was produced for the theatre, BEHOLD HAWAII. When Destination Cinema operated the theatre, it was not a 3-D house but it became one when Pacific bought and refurbished it. If the theatre was still in operation, BATMAN-THE BLACK KNIGHT would be playing there rigHt now. I recall seeing several Hollywood films in IMAX there including Disney's BEAUTY & THE BEAST, FANTASIA 2000 as well as STAR WARS #2" and a few others.

Hawaii's other IMAX theatre at the Polynesian Cultural Centre at Laie on Oahu's north shore is still in operation but their film fare is not very exciting. Because the theatre and the park is controlled by the Mormon church, they have only been showing very old IMAX travelogues.

-Claude

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Anslem Rayburn
Master Film Handler

Posts: 476
From: Yuma, AZ, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 08-01-2008 10:19 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
According to the list at Box Office Mojo (linked by Lyle), The Dark Knight has sold about 48 million tickets. Jurassic Park is estimated to have sold 86 million tickets over its run. Titanic sold 128 million tickets. Gone With the Wind remains as the box office champ with an estimated 202 million tickets sold.

While The Dark Knight may be fixing to crack the top 10 in terms of sheer dollar earnings, it is just now entering the top 100 in terms of actual attendance numbers.

Isn't that just as skewed as dollars, though? There are, after all, a whole lot more things competing for entertainment dollars than there were even 10 years ago.

I think that's a big reason that the top 50 films in terms of tickets sold are primarily at least a decade old. There are only 5 films in that range from the last 10 years.

Even among movies themselves there is more competition today.

Comparing attendance figures from today to those from 70 years ago is interesting, but I don't think it paints a very realistic picture of success, either.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 08-01-2008 11:32 PM

Not only that, but are they counting the tickets sold at subsequent releases, or only the original release? Gone With Da Wind shouldn't have its dollar amount made from the 199x release counted and then adjusted for inflation as if they were 1930 dollars or whenever the hell that piece of crap was released.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-02-2008 12:52 AM

The vast amount of attendance for Gone With the Wind took place before any of our parents were born. Numerous re-releases were put together. But let's see some blockbuster attendance numbers from any of them.

Let's get real for once. Some fake-ass wire-rig bullshit action movie made 3 months ago does not at all equate to being the greatest movie ever made. But that's the thing with people these days. They have NO clue whatsoever on movie history. They think only in terms of movies released in recent years or just recent months.

Yeah, there's more media competition happening today. At the same time our movies are 1000 times less original today then they were decades ago. Let's have a 9th sequel of a film that sucked pond scum! That's our movie industry today. To hell with any original ideas. To hell with taking a chance on a new story. Lets only make movies based on sequels of other movies that were pieces of dog poo. This makes up much of our movie industry today.

To be the "all time box office champ" I think a new movie has to beat Gone With the Wind by a very long way. Current movies are absolutely obligated to do a whole lot better to gain the true box office champ title. IMHO, sheer attendance alone shouldn't even be enough. The damned movie ought to be a completely new "franchise." No previous installments allowed. No sequels allowed. An "all time box office champ" should NEVER have a number follow the title. But that isn't likely to happen with the screwed up condition of America's movie industry today.

I swear American movie studios are just begging to get upended by studios from Europe, India, China and other nations. Absolutely begging for it. Those Hollywood executives can scoff at any such charges as they may. But pride goes before a fall.

BTW, I don't really like Gone With the Wind all that much. It's an overly long, boring movie. Nevertheless, it did far better in drawing audiences to movie theaters than any movie released since then. And that is an undeniable fact. Argue any way you like Gone With the Wind is still the true box office champ of all time. That simply is not going to change until some movie can convince American movie-goers to see a specific show worth over 204 million tickets sold.

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Ray Faultless
Film Handler

Posts: 96
From: Amington, Tamworth, England
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 08-02-2008 04:33 PM

A noon time show of The Dark Knight. I saw something which to me was better than the movie. Just before the start of 30 mins of ads and trailers I was four rows from the back below the projector and had stopped counting heads at fifty, in came a girl about 14 with a boy about 11 I guessed brother and sister they looked around and came and sat right in frond of me. As they got to their seats they both looked at me as if to ask if they are doing the right thing. Its was obviously their first time at the cinema. Anyway when the last trailer ended the lights went down they both moved to the edge of the seat and when the masking opened the boy went WOW, when the picture hit the screen the girl went Oh WOW. The sat back and enjoyed the movie. At the end when the lights came up they wern't sure if they should leave or wait till titles were done but the boy looked up at the booth and the look of wonder in his face when he saw the projector was fantastic. I think a new cinema fanatic was born right there.

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