Tagged: Dark Knight

Random Video: “Batman Begins” Keyski Fighting Demo

  • News
  • August 17, 2008

While this video was posted a year ago, I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one who didn’t pick up on it until now. It’s a short promotional clip featuring the Keysi Fighting Method used in the current Batman film franchise by ol’ Dark Knight himself.

From what I gather around the ‘Tubes, KFM is a fairly controversial fighting style, with many arguing that it doesn’t hold up off the movie set. All I know for sure is that it looks pretty dangerous in this clip, and I’m not sure I want to test its "usefulness" in any way, shape or form.

In fact, I’m content just checking out this video:

 


 

Hey! Where is our ‘Dark Knight’ Video Game?

  • News
  • August 10, 2008

Since the birth of Tim Burton’s movie Batman in 1989, there has been a video game tie-in with every incarnation of the Batman film franchise. So why is it that we haven’t seen one for one of the most popular (and profitable) films for the character, if not for comic book films in general? It’s not as if there wasn’t a plan for a digitized Batman during the film’s production. Game publisher Electronic Arts had the rights to make a game for the Dark Knight film, according to an unnamed developer for the EA-owned Pandemic Studios. Speculation says that the lack of a game caused up to $100 million in missing sales, and would be the first time that the caped crusader didn’t have a game.

 
Speculation ranges from missing deadlines to Heath Ledger’s death, and even to the fear of success due to the poor quality of the last tie-in game with Batman Begins. Sales of movie-based games often parallel their box-office brethren. Last year’s Transformers games sold 2.6 million copies while the Spider-Man III games sold 2.1 million, according to sales data from NPD Group market research analyst Anita Frazier. Even the Iron Man games have sold 697,000 units following their release at the same time as the film in May.
 
If a Dark Knight game is still in the works, Batman could take a cue from Superman. Because of delays, the EA console games based on 2006’s Superman Returns didn’t take flight until the DVD release — and only then sold 705,000 copies. However, a Dark Knight game isn’t on EA’s release slate through March 2009, according an EA press release.
 
This is all not to say that there will be a shortage of Batman and his foes in the world of video games. You can catch them all on your console in September for Warner’s Lego Batman: The Video Game, then in November for Midway’s Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, and finally later this year for Sony’s DC Universe Online.

Comic Book Movies Hit $1 Billion

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  • August 3, 2008

hellboy2poster5-2863943Comic book movies have finally been unseated from the top of the box office mountain, as the latest Mummy movie displaced The Dark Knight.

But there’s still no debating this being the summer of the superhero, as comic book movies hit one HUH-YUGE milestone: $1 billion in ticket sales, according to boxofficemojo.com.

That includes Chris Nolan’s Batman sequel (which is up to $363 million), Hellboy 2, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Am I forgetting any?

Dark Knight was also the fastest movie to hit $350 million in sales, doing so in a scant 14 days. That’s nine days faster than the previous best, set by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

UPDATE — More official numbers now indicate Dark Knight is No. 1 again at the Box Office, pulling in $43.8 million to $42.5 for the Mummy. It’s also poised to hit $400 million by early this week, now only $5.1 million short of that marker.

ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending July 20, 2008

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  • July 20, 2008

With Dark Knight blowing all other movie premieres out of the water, comics continue to be front and center in the public consciousness. What better way to celebrate that than being a part of the hottest ticket around? ComicMix contributors will be at San Diego (headquartered at Insight Studios’ booth #3208) along with many of you; stop by and say hi to many of the luminaries listed below! Here’s what we’ve had for you this past week:

Have a great time out west, everyone who’s going!

Video: Batman Needs to Calm Down With the ‘Dark Knight’ Stuff

  • News
  • July 20, 2008

Leave it to the folks at Cracked.com to create a Dark Knight-inspired video that includes Jim Gordon telling Batman, "You’ve apprehended 13 people over the past week for loitering and 12 of them were hauled into the station with poop in their pants. Actual poop!"

And it just gets getter (or worse, depending on your perspective) from there:

 

‘Dark Knight’ Sets Midnight Record

  • News
  • July 19, 2008

dark_knight_joker-8165829Extimators are already guessing at Dark Knight‘s opening take, figuring on an opening north of Iron Man‘s $100 million-plus first weekend in May. Variety reports:

Based on the enormity of tracking and advance ticket sales, “Dark Knight” has a shot at opening as high as “Dead Man’s Chest,” although anything over $100 million would be a big win. “Dead Man’s Chest” presently sports the second-best opening on record after that of “Spider-Man 3,” which nabbed $151.1 million over the May 4-6 weekend last year.

It’s off to an excellent start after the Thursday midnight opening. According to the main story on CNN.com, the film set a record for midnight openings.

The film already has the biggest midnight debut ever, with tracking firm Media By Numbers reporting “Dark Knight” made $18.5 million at its midnight showings alone. That breaks the record of $16.9 million held by “Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.”

During a survey of people who buy tickets through Fandango.com, 38 percent of those who are working said they would be taking either some time or the day off to see the movie.

The movie was expected to be shown on 9,400 screens in a record-breaking 4,366 theaters for its opening, according to its studio, Warner Bros.

 

Review: The Dark Knight

the-dark-knight-joker-poster-500w1-3595774Considering the amount of massive blockbusters that have disappointed the fans this year, it is safe to say that all of your expectations will be met going into this movie. [[[The Dark Knight]]] delivers on so many levels that it becomes hard to critique it, and all that’s left is pure childlike enjoyment for approximately two hours.

Those of you who are unaware of the plot for the sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, this film takes place shortly where we left off: Batman is patrolling the streets, crime is on the rise, and more and more “masked vigilantes” are stepping up to try and take out the [[[Batman]]]. Wayne Manor is still destroyed, so all of the caped crusader’s hijinks are based out of a new penthouse apartment, which is a nice change. Batman’s gal Rachel Dawes (originally played by Katie Holmes) returns, this time played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. This time, instead of Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy filling the evil quota as Ra’s Al Ghul and Scarecrow, respectively, we get the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart as The Joker and Harvey Dent, which of course means we get to see a little Two-Face!

[SPOILER WARNING: READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK]

(more…)

Random Video: ‘Dark Knight’ Deleted Scene

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  • July 18, 2008

Funny or Die is joining in on the Dark Knight madness, posting the below "deleted scene" from the film. It’s pretty funny stuff, and discerning viewers will catch that the two stars both appeared in the first season of Flight of the Conchords.

 

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Heath Ledger, The Joker and the ‘Dark Knight’ Audio

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

Back in January, after the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger, we posted audio from an interview we had conducted with Ledger as part of a special edition of ComicMix Radio. In the interview, Ledger discussed his reasons for taking the role of The Joker in the Batman Begins sequel, as well as his thoughts on how best to prepare for the role. With the release ofThe Dark Knight fast approaching and Ledger’s passing certainly looming large over the project, we thought the interview might be worth another listen for ComicMix fans.

With that in mind, we present (or re-present, in this case) the ComicMix Radio interview with Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight.

joker1-00-7352421

For more on The Dark Knight, make sure you don’t miss our special Dark Knight-themed edition of ComicMix Six, featuring The Joker’s Greatest Victories,  as well as our recent list of Must-Read Batman Stories to get you caught up with the Dark Knight.

Comic Shop Therapy and ‘The Dark Knight’

I’ve been telling friends of mine for years that the answers to all of life’s dilemmas can be found in the pages of comic books — you just need to know which books to look inside.

Well, it looks like I’m not alone. In fact, anyone looking for answers might want to cruise over to the online home of Kyle Piccolo, Comic Shop Therapist, for a helpful diagnosis.

Problems with women?

Frustrated at work?

Suspect you have a mutant power?

Just head down to your local comic book shop and have a chat with the man behind the counter — Kyle Piccolo, the always sardonic, sometimes empathetic, and not quite all-knowing Comic Shop Therapist. Kyle possesses the uncanny ability to find the answer to your problem in the pages of a comic book and you can bet he’ll do it in a smart, entertaining and, more often than not, hilarious way.

While much of the website looks to be a massive billboard for The Dark Knight, the videos of Piccolo dispensing comic shop wisdom to the masses are actually pretty well put-together and likely to bring a laugh or two. If the whole thing is just more Dark Knight viral marketing, consider me successfully marketed to… or whatever the applicable term might be. The Heath Ledger-centric Dark Knight trailer on the site is pretty impressive.

Oh, and kudos to the crew at Manhattan’s Midtown Comics for providing a set for the videos.

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