"Dark Knight" plans re-release for Oscar push
Thursday September 11 11:35 AM ET


Batman wants an Oscar. To be precise, Warner Bros. wants a statuette -- or 10 -- for "The Dark Knight." So the studio plans to re-release its blockbuster Batman sequel in January, the height of Academy Awards voting season.

"It's just a matter of bringing it back as a reminder for people," a studio insider explained.

Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Dan Fellman acknowledged ongoing talks with Imax execs over the prospect of restoring the Christian Bale starrer to some giant-screen venues in January. It's uncertain if "Dark Knight" also will reappear in conventional venues at that point.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film's huge commercial and critical success has spurred talk of possible Oscar nominations for its director, producers and cast -- most specifically Bale's co-star, Health Ledger, for the late actor's edgy performance as the Joker.

To date, "Dark Knight" has rung up about $512 million domestically and $440 million internationally, including more than $55 million in Imax grosses. A pre-Oscars re-release would help assure its topping $1 billion worldwide.

But with the title set to hit DVD in December, it's now apparent anyone hoping the Batman sequel would soar to "Titanic" heights will be disappointed. "Dark Knight" already ranks as the second-highest-grossing movie ever, after "Titanic's" phenomenal $1.84 billion -- a mix of $600.8 million in domestic box office and $1.24 billion in foreign coin registered in 1997 and 1998.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter


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Told you so, haters!

Cool. I hope to catch it in IMAX if they release it there too. If not, I'll pass on seeing it in theaters again. By then I'll have my Blu-Ray anyway.

So does anyone think that the rerelease will let it reach Titanic numbers?

You were right, I was wrong! (on the re-release part, but not on this being the reason they moved Harry Potter)

this re-release won't do a whole lot for the box office because 90% of people will own it by then and won't feel the need to see it on the big screen again IMO.

I support this 100%. Whether the film deserves best picture, is still up in the air being so early in the year... but TDK without a doubt deserves some recognition from the Academy.

this was to be expected.

pointless

I love the flimsy reason of bringing it back as "a reminder to everyone". I'm sure people will not forget TDK, especially after the dvd sells a gazillion copies in mid December. I doubt this re-release will be on 9,000 screens either.

The article specifically mentions IMAX screens only for the time being, which in January, could be anywhere from a handful to 100.

If Warner does go the route of a full blown theatrical re-release, I can't see it being on more than a few hundred screens.

but i thought a movie has to be released in this year to get nominated? Why not december?

You're joking, right?

It was released in July of this year.

This is a re-release.

Great, so if it does surpass Titanic it will have an asteric.

Does Star Wars have an asterisk? That had several re-releases and I believe its box office is cumulative.

The box office is cumulative, but Star Wars does have an asterick (well technically it has one of these thingies ^) on Box Office Mojo.

I don't see why it would need one. July 2008 dollars aren't going to be different than January 2009 dollars. Hell, it will probably still be playing in a few dozen theaters in December. I think technically, this will have never left release, just gotten a larger push from the studio in Jan.

This is weird... in some news I read that Warner are going to postpone the DVD & BD release of the movie. If this is true, then it's going to be suck big time

http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_The_D...ile_24119.html

That would suck, and I don't think WB would want to lose holiday sales. TDK on DVD and BD would be a HUGE seller.

It probably has to do with the SE. I think prior to that there was no issue with re-releases of the same film multiple times, but since the SE was different and marketed as such, asterik.

That's just a guess though.

I think right about the times AMPAS sends out its nomination ballots (early-mid January 2009), Warner Home Video will start sending out not the special Academy screener DVD's, but the home video version DVD's to AMPAS members (circa 6,000 copies is drop in the bucket considering the many millions of copies to be produced for home video). In short, we'll see the official home video release either on January 6 or 13, 2009.

I don't see Warner ignoring the Christmas shopping season in a bid for oscar glory with The Dark Knight. I think the originally rumored date of around December 9th, 2008 for the home video release will stand. Unless by "we" you mean AMPAS members, of which I don't know any.

Seeing as how this is planned for IMAX screens, I see this being moderately successful, every weekend show for 4 weeks was sold out at our local IMAX and that's when they pulled the movie.

It states on the site that "^ Indicates movie made its gross over multiple releases".

OH NOES, a movie stat has an asterisk next to it!

Is it really that important?

= J

No big surprise there. I still haven't seen the film in IMAX, so unless I go sometime soon I'll more than likely wait until Jan.

I know you're just trying to be a wiseass but to me yes, it is.
As someone who would have loved to see TDK overtake Titanic, it would lessen the achievement for it to do it with 2 theatrical releases IMO.

Does it count if the movie is still in theaters when its re-released? Oh and even with a re-release, it isn't going to beat Titanic. Just won't happen. But in all reality, movie is at over $500m domestic and nearly $1b worldwide, there is no disappointment to be found. I just hope the filmmakers had a kickass contract with profit points.

Yeah, I guess you're right. If the re-release is going to be limited to IMAX showings then there is no way it will make up the ~70 mill or so it would need.