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In September 2007, a member of the crew from New Zealand, Conway Wickliffe, was killed in England during a test run for a stunt when the four-wheel-drive vehicle in which he was riding hit a tree.
Nolan and crew also took risks with their chosen format: The $185 million production budget included funds to shoot some of the big action sequences with Imax cameras, much heavier than the usual 35mm cameras. The decision proved lucrative, as the movie has become Imax's biggest hit, raking in $50 million so far with a remarkable $400,000 per-screen average in U.S. theaters.
The studio also gambled a bit with its licensing and merchandising plans. "Batman Begins" had played down its tie-ins, but for "Knight," Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Comics ramped up their efforts mais than a ano in advance of the picture's release, selling the master license to toymaker Mattel, with additional toys from Lego and Halsall and everything from Batman-branded underwear to a deal for Kmart to serve as the "Official batman Headquarters."
Ledger's Joker played a key role in that campaign, which kicked off in summer 2007 with a well-received teaser trailer featuring the batman symbol cracking open and a card with a joker on it, as Ledger laughs maniacally.
It was Nolan who came up with the idea of using the film's nearly six-minute opening sequence, a bank robbery, as a segundo teaser attached to the Imax release of "I Am Legend" in December.
"He wanted to make the movie into even mais of an event," Roven explains.
And then Ledger died, casting the whole campaign in doubt. Word had already spread that Ledger's role would be a pivotal element of the marketing push. What would the studio do now?
Kroll says Ledger's death came during a natural break in the campaign.
"We didn't have to change anything," she says. "It became very clear when the family and others started to see some of Heath's bravado performance, and what a centerpiece it was to the movie, that there was no thought of marketing the film without him, as some suggested in the press around that time."
por June, buzz on the film was strong, ticket presales were setting records, and marketing analysts were debating whether Ledger's death might have actually served to stoke interest, rather than detract from the film. The movie looked set to hit the stratosphere. And then another obstacle arose.
Just before the film's Londres premiere, Bale was arrested in a case involving an alleged assault on his mother and sister. How Warners chose to handle it was instructive.
"We just ignored it because it was his personal business," Horn says. "If he had asked us to involve ourselves, we would have been willing to discuss that, but he didn't mention it, and we didn't mention it."
Bale attended the premiere in Londres and another the seguinte dia in Spain, keeping up his entire PR schedule.
Authorities chose not to press charges. Meanwhile, the movie was on its path to dominate the summer boxoffice.
Now it is moving on to a new challenge, as Ledger is being pushed por the studio for year-end awards. He is almost certain to win a Golden Globe nomination -- and might well be up for an Oscar.
A DVD release of the film is said to be planned for the holidays (the studio won't confirm a date). And Warners and Legendary are both interested in doing a third in the series, but all involved say it will be up to Nolan to come to them with a story and a plan.
"There are a lot of us who emotionally would amor to do it," Roven says. "But it's really Chris' call. Chris is the kind of filmmaker who just doesn't think about the seguinte movie before he has completely finished the movie he is working on."
For now, Nolan is taking a well-earned vacation.
Says Roven, "When he comes back, we will see how he feels."
In September 2007, a member of the crew from New Zealand, Conway Wickliffe, was killed in England during a test run for a stunt when the four-wheel-drive vehicle in which he was riding hit a tree.
Nolan and crew also took risks with their chosen format: The $185 million production budget included funds to shoot some of the big action sequences with Imax cameras, much heavier than the usual 35mm cameras. The decision proved lucrative, as the movie has become Imax's biggest hit, raking in $50 million so far with a remarkable $400,000 per-screen average in U.S. theaters.
The studio also gambled a bit with its licensing and merchandising plans. "Batman Begins" had played down its tie-ins, but for "Knight," Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Comics ramped up their efforts mais than a ano in advance of the picture's release, selling the master license to toymaker Mattel, with additional toys from Lego and Halsall and everything from Batman-branded underwear to a deal for Kmart to serve as the "Official batman Headquarters."
Ledger's Joker played a key role in that campaign, which kicked off in summer 2007 with a well-received teaser trailer featuring the batman symbol cracking open and a card with a joker on it, as Ledger laughs maniacally.
It was Nolan who came up with the idea of using the film's nearly six-minute opening sequence, a bank robbery, as a segundo teaser attached to the Imax release of "I Am Legend" in December.
"He wanted to make the movie into even mais of an event," Roven explains.
And then Ledger died, casting the whole campaign in doubt. Word had already spread that Ledger's role would be a pivotal element of the marketing push. What would the studio do now?
Kroll says Ledger's death came during a natural break in the campaign.
"We didn't have to change anything," she says. "It became very clear when the family and others started to see some of Heath's bravado performance, and what a centerpiece it was to the movie, that there was no thought of marketing the film without him, as some suggested in the press around that time."
por June, buzz on the film was strong, ticket presales were setting records, and marketing analysts were debating whether Ledger's death might have actually served to stoke interest, rather than detract from the film. The movie looked set to hit the stratosphere. And then another obstacle arose.
Just before the film's Londres premiere, Bale was arrested in a case involving an alleged assault on his mother and sister. How Warners chose to handle it was instructive.
"We just ignored it because it was his personal business," Horn says. "If he had asked us to involve ourselves, we would have been willing to discuss that, but he didn't mention it, and we didn't mention it."
Bale attended the premiere in Londres and another the seguinte dia in Spain, keeping up his entire PR schedule.
Authorities chose not to press charges. Meanwhile, the movie was on its path to dominate the summer boxoffice.
Now it is moving on to a new challenge, as Ledger is being pushed por the studio for year-end awards. He is almost certain to win a Golden Globe nomination -- and might well be up for an Oscar.
A DVD release of the film is said to be planned for the holidays (the studio won't confirm a date). And Warners and Legendary are both interested in doing a third in the series, but all involved say it will be up to Nolan to come to them with a story and a plan.
"There are a lot of us who emotionally would amor to do it," Roven says. "But it's really Chris' call. Chris is the kind of filmmaker who just doesn't think about the seguinte movie before he has completely finished the movie he is working on."
For now, Nolan is taking a well-earned vacation.
Says Roven, "When he comes back, we will see how he feels."
