*SPOILERS* The Dark Knight *SPOILERS*

[Benji]

You realise that people aren't all that unsocial, just because I can play games online doesn't mean I don't play games round other peoples/invite them around, people who want to watch TV/DVD's on their own and be online can do it right now, as I mentioned. Methinks you're devaluing the price of human interraction a little too much if you really think people will just stop going outside into the wide world >_<

[JairusCain]

Sorry, it was an exaggeration. It won't exactly be some huge widespread epidemic I'm sure... But I guarantee it will have an effect on whether or not people consider leaving their houses to watch movies with friends as opposed to staying at home and doing such.

[Benji]

To be fair though, those people will be like that anyway, if anything this kind of stuff encourages interraction that might lead to leaving the house to meet the people behind the screen name.

[JairusCain]

touche.

[Lj.]

I keep hearing rumors about Depp playing The Riddler, I'd rather see him play The Joker actually. Anyone else?

[alldaws1]

That's what they are doing... BUT, it will eventually eliminate the purpose of going out to hang out with friends to watch a movie. I mean, why waste the gas when you can watch the movie in your own home and just socialize with your friends via the damn DVD player?

Because otherwise it means waiting a few months for the film to be released on DVD?

[livid]

What? No, they're talking about it being released on Blu-Ray anyways, not when it's still in theaters. He does have a point to an extent though but it's also the flipside in that you can show a friend a movie that you think is awesome without going out and renting it, etc. and just letting him see it via the copy you already have.

[thatblindgeye]

I'd think its more fun being around actual people than typing stuff through them or however that BD live thing would work, so people not wanting to go to their friends wouldnt really be out of the question. The whole BD Live thing may be for people who are states apart or something like that.

[JairusCain]

What? No, they're talking about it being released on Blu-Ray anyways, not when it's still in theaters. He does have a point to an extent though but it's also the flipside in that you can show a friend a movie that you think is awesome without going out and renting it, etc. and just letting him see it via the copy you already have.

Which you could do... in person... with the real thing... unless of course you're talking about what Vitamin E mentioned... friends from out of state or something that you can't just get in the car and go see on a whim.

And yeah, AD... you'd have to wait for the DVD release anyway because BD Live requires you to have the actual Blu Ray disc of the movie from what I understand.

Edited August 9, 2008 by JairusCain

[Benji]

US, August 7, 2008 - Even though there is no Batman 3 currently in development, that hasn't stopped speculation and rumors from running rampant about which characters might terrorize Gotham City in a potential third installment.

David Goyer, who co-wrote the script for Batman Begins and developed the story for The Dark Knight with director Christopher Nolan, suggested to SCI FI Wire that the villains in the next film might not be household names. "There's no reason why we necessarily have to use the same three or four that are still around," Goyer said. "I mean, Batman's got a wide variety, [a] rogues' gallery. Certainly we used two in the first movie that hadn't been in the films before."

MTV asked a number of prominent comic book writers and execs who they think should be the villain in Batman 3. For example, DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio suggested Professor Hugo Strange. He added, "Characters like Catwoman, Riddler, and Hugo Strange make sense, because they're counterpoints to Batman's psychosis and fears. The Joker creates chaos. Two-Face shows the duality of the Batman-Bruce Wayne relationship, and how Batman's found peace with that duality. Batman searches for answers, and the Riddler has questions. Batman is driven, and Catwoman is sexual. They play well against each other and challenge aspects of what makes a hero."

30 Days of Night creator Steve Niles said, "I'd like to see Catwoman over the Penguin. Not as a prostitute, and not as the Tim Burton version — what, cats sniffed her back to life? — but perhaps the Adam Hughes design, with the goggles. That's very realistic. I can imagine her in street clothes that are designed just right. I also like the idea of them creating villains just for the movies."

The concept of creating new villains for the movie is intruiging to me, because I suppose it makes sense because not a lot of Batman villains would work as fantastically for film without tweaking in some way shape or form, I'm still not convinced that they should ignore Robin altogether, or at least one of the men behind the mask, I'd love to see some Red Hood Jason Todd action or Dick Grayson as at least some kind of accomplice, or Tim Drake as... uhm... Robin who made the costume less gay?

[zero]

I read something interesting today that suggests the third film will/could be an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, which I think would be brilliant. It would work on so many levels and I think that book is more relevant now than it has been since its release, plus you could solve the problem of Heath Ledger just aging The Joker. I think with the political climate of today and just the way DKR plays out, it would be a perfect way to end this trilogy. Obviously a lot of the stuff wouldn't need to be in the book - Selina Kyle, Superman, etc. but instead focusing on Batman coming out of retirement, Gordon being forced into retirement and The Joker being released from Arkham could be brilliant.

[D-Day]

Just saw it for the first time today, and I loved it. Absolutely completely loved it. The action scenes were cool if not that realistic, the characters were awesome, and it's underlying theme was compelling. Heath Ledger did the Joker justice, and that's saying something. Batman was also great, and I was even enthralled by Two-Face. Major mark-out for the giant black prisoner throwing the trigger out the window immediately, while the non-criminal businessman struggled with the decision before slowly showing himself to be nearly as virtuous as those he deemed 'scum.'

[Skummy]

Sounds a bit daft, but did anyone hear the odd bit of Tom Waits in the Joker's voice? Waits' spoken voice that is, not singing voice, and a lot less gravelly...but that kind of drawn-out mumbling soft-spoken slightly Californian drawl...I don't know, I was just looking closely for possible influences after a friend of mine said she couldn't see where Ledger got inspiration for the character for, which is a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, film's brilliant, etc etc.

Oh, and Mrs. Skummy and I were discussing what could be done for a sequel - probably just the "Two-Face ain't dead!" reveal, as they did basically abandon his body when the police gave chase after Batman, but they'd probably need to introduce a new villain alongside him - although the prospect of a Scarecrow return is always there, even though I'd rather not see him again. It's tricky to think who else they'd go with, though, I don't imagine they'd choose another "merry prankster" type character (Riddler, Mad Hatter, Harley Quinn) so soon after The Joker, doubt they'd go with someone as gimmicky as Mr. Freeze or Poison Ivy, anyone with superpowers is pretty much out of the question, and they don't seem to want to use Penguin (although the proposal of Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Penguin would be wonderful), and I don't imagine they'll recast Joker just yet - maybe leave it at least one more film to let the whole "OMGz, Heath Ledger" wave blow over a little bit - but the idea of a big screen Dark Knight Returns would be sublime, although risky unless it were to be used as an ending to the series, as you're missing a good ten years at least of Batman stories right there, and plenty would need to be retconned - why did Bruce Wayne retire the Batman persona if not for the death of Robin? I suppose grief over Rachel and a general feeling of hopelessness, and his lapse into alcoholism, would probably be enough to explain it, but coupled with his doubts in this film that would make Batman out to be incredibly flaky as a supposed law enforcer.

Edited August 11, 2008 by Skummy

[Hewey]

I finally watched it, and yeah, it deserves all the praise. Ledger was amazing. I thought people would overrate his performance due to his death and everything, but he deserves every bit of the praise he's getting. He was just awesome. But another guy who was amazing was Eckhart. After Rachel dies, and his character really picked up, I thought he stole the movie. I hope Two Face isn't dead, and that we'll get him in the third film. I just don't want the character to die right now, as there's still a whole lot they could do with him.

As for the next one, if Two Face isn't it, they need one of the bigger villains, someone like Penguin or The Riddler. I'm sure they could realistically do something with either character.

[TGC]

How repetitive: the number one movie for last weekend once again features a man dressed up as a flying rodent. "Pineapple Express?" Pshaw. "Traveling Pants" sequel? Nuh uh. Another $26 million happens to have found its way into the coffers of Warner Brothers, making a grand total of $441,541,000 domestically and $704,641,000 worldwide.

More perspective? The former number one comic book adaptation and Superhero themed movie was "Spider-Man" with $403,706,375 domestically. Go on and look at the number for "The Dark Knight" again. Yeah. More than $35 million more. In four weeks. The web slinger was in theatres from May 3rd, 2002 to August 18th. Admittedly, ticket prices are way higher than they were at the time, but still ...

The biggest news of all is that Christopher Nolan is, for the first time in decades, breathing down George Lucas' neck. The all time domestic gross rankings show the 1977 classic "Star Wars" at just shy of $461 million ... which is about twenty million higher than the current "Dark Knight" tally. That could happen within a week or so. Sure, the $600 million from "Titanic" seems safe ... but who knows? Who knows, indeed?

Sweet Jesus it just won't stop.

[livid]

It's going to be close to Titanic, that's for sure. I think that's evident by this past weekend's results and the fact that it's still yet to be dethroned as the top movie.

And comparatively, The Dark Knight is only about $ 2.7 million shy of where Titanic was in it's 4th weekend at the box office.

[Gabriel]

If it makes it within $50 million of Titanic, it will be such a massive success.

Titanic had such a large group of potential viewers... everyone was going to see it because of how badass Billy Zane is. With Batman, the audience isn't nearly as large, so to get that kind of viewership is an astounding feat in itself.

...okay, so maybe nobody likes Billy Zane but me... but I saw it three times for Zane, and that's gotta count for something. Probably like $15.

[Thatz]

It's going to be close to Titanic, that's for sure. I think that's evident by this past weekend's results and the fact that it's still yet to be dethroned as the top movie.

And comparatively, The Dark Knight is only about $ 2.7 million shy of where Titanic was in it's 4th weekend at the box office.

Titanic was still leading the box office after months, though. The Dark Knight probably won't even be on top after this weekend. It'll break $500, but Titanic is still a long way off, and I don't think that it'll have anywhere near the longevity that Titanic had. Titanic was on top for 15 weeks.

[livid]

Oh I'm not saying that it'll match it for sure but I was quite surprised to look at the top 10 this week and not see Pineapple Express above The Dark Knight.

And I don't think The Dark Knight will be number one after this week either, but hey, I expected it to end last week and it didn't so who knows?

All I'm saying is that it's a lot closer to it than I would've thought it to be.

[Thatz]

Pineapple Express was close to Dark Knight, and it probably would have won had it not been released on a Wednesday like it was. By the time the weekend rolled around a decent portion of the audience had already watched it.