The Dark Knight (film)

The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. The film is the sequel to the 2005 release, Batman Begins, which rebooted the Batman franchise after an eight-year hiatus. Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins, continues as the director of the sequel, which stars Christian Bale again as Batman and Heath Ledger opposite Bale as the Joker. The Dark Knight has a tentative release date of July 18, 2008 in the United States and July 25 in the United Kingdom.

Premise
Batman, with the help of Lieutenant James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, is dismantling the remaining criminal organizations that plague Gotham City. He and his allies soon find themselves the target of the machinations of a mysterious criminal mastermind, known only as The Joker.

Cast and characters

 * Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A billionaire who has dedicated himself to being the vigilante protector of Gotham City in the form of Batman, the Dark Knight.
 * Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne's trusted butler who tends to Wayne Manor.
 * Heath Ledger as The Joker: A criminal who has a "taste for theatrics," and after committing a robbery and a double homicide at the end of the first movie, leaves a Joker playing card at the scene of the crime.
 * Gary Oldman as Lieutenant James Gordon: A member of the Gotham City Police Department who is one of the few uncorrupted officers in Gotham City.
 * Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent: The district attorney of Gotham City and the replacement of Carl Finch.
 * Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox: The recently-promoted CEO of Wayne Enterprises who had supplied Bruce Wayne with the gear necessary to carry out Batman's mission.
 * Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes: A childhood friend of Bruce and one of the few to know he is Batman. She serves as assistant district attorney under Dent.
 * Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni: A Mafia kingpin.
 * Nestor Carbonell as the Mayor of Gotham City.
 * Gamble: A villain. David Banner auditioned for the role, but has not yet been accepted.
 * Anthony Michael Hall in an unnamed role.

In July 2006, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that Christian Bale would reprise his role as Batman with Heath Ledger opposite Bale as the Joker. Before Ledger was confirmed as the Joker, actors Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody, and Robin Williams had publicly expressed interest in the role. Actors Liev Schreiber, Josh Lucas, and Ryan Phillippe had expressed interest in portraying Harvey Dent, before Aaron Eckhart was cast in February 2007.

In August 2005, producer Charles Roven said that Katie Holmes, who portrayed Rachel Dawes in the film, was signed on for the sequel. In an October 2006 interview, Nolan said that he hoped that Holmes would come back, and the director indicated that he would contact other Batman Begins characters to return for The Dark Knight after he finished the script. In January 2007, Holmes had turned down an offer to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes due to scheduling conflicts. In March 2007, Maggie Gyllenhaal was cast for the role of Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight.

Production
Before the release of Batman Begins, screenwriter David S. Goyer had written a treatment for two sequels, introducing the Joker and Harvey Dent. On July 31, 2006, Warner Bros. Pictures officially announced the initiation of production for the sequel, titled The Dark Knight. The title makes The Dark Knight the first live-action Batman film without the word Batman in its title. Christian Bale noted, "This take on Batman of mine and Chris' is very different from any of the others and everything else always had Batman in the title." Christopher Nolan described the sequel's theme as escalation, continuing how Batman Begins ended, with "things having to get worse before they get better." Nolan indicated that The Dark Knight would also continue the themes that Batman Begins had, such as justice vs. revenge and Bruce Wayne's father issues, while Jonathan Nolan has indicated that the film will show more of Batman as a detective.

The story was co-written by Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer, while the Nolan brothers took turns each month to revise the screenplay. The Dark Knight's interpretation of the Joker is based primarily on the character's first two appearances in the Batman comics, as well as Alan Moore's one-shot comic book Batman: The Killing Joke, which was given to Heath Ledger in order to prepare for his role. Jerry Robinson, one of the co-creators of the basic concept for the Joker in the comics, is involved as a consultant on the portrayal of the character. The Nolan brothers were highly secretive, with Christopher Nolan refusing to let Ledger leave his house with a copy of the script.

In October 2006, film location manager Robin Higgs visited Liverpool to scout locations, mainly along the city's waterfront, for filming The Dark Knight. Other scouted locations included Yorkshire, Glasgow, and parts of London. Producer Charles Roven originally stated in August 2006 that principal photography would begin in March 2007, but filming was pushed back to start in April. For its IMAX release, Nolan had four major action sequences, including the Joker's introduction, shot in the format. Nolan admitted he wished he could have shot the entire film in IMAX, and felt, "I figured if you could take an IMAX camera to Mount Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie."

Warner Bros. chose Chicago as a filming location with a plan to film there for 13 weeks, due to Nolan having had a "truly remarkable experience" filming there for part of Batman Begins. The crew shot there from April 18-24 2007 for the film's prologue involving the Joker. The crew returned to shoot there from June 9 2007 to early September. Production of The Dark Knight in Chicago will generate $45 million in the city's economy and create thousands of jobs. According to actor Michael Caine, the film will also be shot in London, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Hong Kong. Hong Kong's walled city of Kowloon had been an influence on the Narrows in Batman Begins.

In an October 2006 interview, composer Hans Zimmer confirmed he and James Newton Howard would be returning to score The Dark Knight, teaming up as they did on Batman Begins. Zimmer said that the main Batman theme was purposely introduced at the end of Batman Begins and be fleshed out in the sequel as the character develops.

Promotion
In May 2007, the studio launched a teaser page for The Dark Knight. Later in the month, a second teaser page was launched, featuring an image from the fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent, portrayed in the film by Aaron Eckhart, that was captioned, "I Believe in Harvey Dent".