The Dark Knight
News (Page 9)

If reports are true, a pair of blockbuster movies will collide - in a great way - this winter.

Supposedly, there will be be a six-to-seven minute preview of The Dark Knight shown before IMAX screenings of I Am Legend, which opens December 14.

As previously reported, the next film in the Batman franchise was actually shot partially in IMAX format, especially the introduction of The Joker (played by Heath Ledger).

Director Christopher Nolan recently told The Hollywood Reporter:"In continuing the story of such a great icon, I'm thrilled to be able to expand the scope of the film, not just in terms of its story, but in giving Batman and the Joker the largest possible canvas on which to face off.

No existing technology compares with the IMAX format in terms of its ability to throw the audience into the action, and we're very proud and excited to use this technology in a way that no one has before."

All directors promise that their sequels will be bigger and flashier than the predecessors'. But Christopher Nolan doesn't mess around.

The director's sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, will become the first feature film to be partly shot in the IMAX format, an expensive and cumbersome process that typically is the province of documentaries and short films.

Nolan will shoot four action sequences â€" including the introduction of the Joker, played by Heath Ledger â€" on IMAX.

The move is one of Hollywood's most pronounced steps yet in its embrace of IMAX theaters, which are increasingly showing commercial fare on their giant screens.

"There's simply nothing like seeing a movie that way," Nolan says. "It's more immersive for the audience. I wish I could shoot the entire thing this way."

Typically, the feature films that play in IMAX theaters are simply stretched out to fill the enormous screens. That can dilute the picture quality and give the movie a wide, squat look.

Shooting on IMAX, Nolan says, will have a twofold effect. The four scenes will fill the IMAX screens, some of which are eight stories high. And in traditional theaters, the scenes will appear more vivid (think high-definition television over standard).

Don't expect many movies to follow suit. Only 280 IMAX theaters are in operation worldwide, and fewer than 100 show feature films.

And shooting in the format is difficult. IMAX film, which is 10 times the size of standard film stock, is costly and must be shot using bulky cameras.

And "they're loud," Nolan says. "We had to figure a way to eliminate the sound so we could shoot dialogue."

In a rarity for Hollywood, the payoff isn't primarily financial, so far. "It doesn't have a huge effect yet on the money you bring in," says Chris Aronson, a distribution chief with 20th Century Fox, which carried Night at the Museum on IMAX. "But it does help make your movie more of an event."

For Nolan, IMAX makes the moviegoing experience unique again.

"You can't do this on any home theater," Nolan says. "Batman has some of the most extraordinary characters in pop culture. We wanted the Joker to have the grandest entrance possible.

"I figured if you could take an IMAX camera to Mount Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie."

SOURCE: USA Today

First he battled Ra's Al Ghul and The Scarecrow - and then we saw him heading off to take down The Joker. Now, what kind of Gamble is coming the way of Batman?

MTV News has learned that rapper/actor David Banner auditioned this week for a role in The Dark Knight, the super-secretive sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. According to the beefy Black Snake Moan supporting actor, he would play a villain named "Gamble," another criminal to help fill out the rogue ranks alongside Heath Ledger's Joker.

Banner, a long-time comic book fan who named himself after the main character in the TV version of "The Incredible Hulk," could barely contain his excitement when MTV caught up with him in South Central Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The star was in town to film a cameo for the music video to "International Players Anthem," a track by UGK featuring OutKast.

After several years of making his Hollywood aspirations known, the role of Gamble could mark a big step in Banner's career in front of the camera. The Southern-born "Play" star told us that he was so excited to read for the filmmakers, in fact, that he even shaved off his trademark beard to look more appropriate for the part.

The movie doesn't hit theaters until July 2008. But it's never too early to get excited about The Dark Knight.

Christian Bale, we're glad to report, is back as Bruce Wayne/Batman. And this next installment of the Batman franchise will focus on two key villains in the story:

1. The Joker (played by Heath Ledger)
2. Two-Face (played by Aaron Eckhart)

We can't wait. Here's a promotional image from the upcoming blockbuster: