Opinions
Will The Dark Knight be the Most Spied Production Ever?
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 30, 2007
It has already begun. On April 13, SuperHeroHype began reporting on the fact that Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film The Dark Knight, the follow-up to 2005’s Batman Begins, was to begin filming in Chicago. Since then the internet has been a buzz with TDK here, TDK there and rumors flying everywhere.
Notorious rumor-house Ain’t it Cool News got itself knee deep in bat droppings on April 22, when after Harry Knowles refused to post a pic that was rumored to be Heath Ledger as the Joker, they still posted it anyway the next day. It turns out that the picture wasn’t really of the Joker. Talk about disappointment. Then on April 23 they finally posted a picture of the Joker from a make-up test. It turns out that this one is a bit more real and now we all at least have an idea of what Heath Ledger will look like as the Joker.
All of this has seemed like fun, even when it comes down to looking at some very anti-climactic shots of the Gotham City Post Office or watching a video of a helicopter flying back and forth, but at some point shouldn’t we stop for a moment and ask ourselves, “Aren’t we watching a bit too closely?” The production itself is not even 30 days into shooting and we’ve already got scoop-happy fanboys scaling buildings, sneaking into sets and probably preparing to donate their kidneys just to get a shot at the TDK crew having a lunch break. And while all that James Bond spy junk sounds fun, we must question how this will effect our enjoyment of the film when it releases more than a year from now.
I am one who has notoriously criticized the way Spider-Man 3 has been marketed. On “Fat Guys at the Movies,” I expressed my anger over the fact that the folks at Sony decided to show Venom in some of the latter trailers. To me, this could have spoiled much of the mystic around a character like that and in some ways, tainted my experience once I finally viewed the film. Having seen the flick, I was absolutely right. Seeing Venom in a trailer more than a month ago really detracted from the enjoyment that I could have had if I had been introduced to him in the film only. This is a perfect example of why we should sometimes just be patient.
Needless to say, after a year of being bombarded by Spider-Man gossip and about 20 different trailers, the film itself was less exciting. I don’t want the same for The Dark Knight. There comes a time where we should raise the question of whether or not we are watching too closely? Everyone enjoys a spoiler here and there (hell, some web sites live and die by spoilers), but when have we really gone too far. With TDK, I don’t really want to see Heath Ledger as the Joker, but I have. I would have loved to be able to wait and be surprised, but that just isn’t going to happen - curiosity and availability got the best of me there.
So now the question remains, how much further will we take this voyeuristic obsession with films? Will people continue to sneak on set and capture every moment of a films development? Won’t this eventually ruin the mystique of making movies? As much fun as this may be, shouldn’t we show some restraint at some point? I for one believe that we are very close to going too far, to the point where our enjoyment of a film will be hampered by the fact that we already know what is going to happen.
I leave the rest of the discussion to the comment area below…
Tags: heath ledger, joker, dark knight, batman, rumors
Read more articles by Neil Miller
10 Comments
April 30th, 2007 at 11:54 am
In their zealous efforts to compete with the internet’s lightning-like vomiting of information and clips sneaked onto YouTube, trailers now show the best of the movie to entice audiences. In so doing, however, the audience is bound to be disappointed when it realizes after paying big bucks that the movie itself is anticlimactic.
I never trusted critics like the old Siskel & Ebert; after all, if the film were any good, they would’ve put four thumbs up, not two. :-)
Sites like FilmSchoolRejects, and word of mouth, are the best way to promote a movie.
As you point out, we have to develop patience, difficult as the prospect may be.
April 30th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
hey guys, remember we are talking about Sam Raimi…….. He hates Venom, that’s why Venom has only 15-20 minutes in the screen.
April 30th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I for one, love it. But I’m one of the rare breed who doesn’t mind spoilers, for whom they actually whet the appetite and increase my desire to see the film. It doesn’t stop my enjoyment of the film at all. Instead, it’s like year long foreplay. LOL
This is actually great free publicity. WB has not had to do one single thing but sit back and let the internet do it for them. Even you’re talking about it. *wink*
April 30th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
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Award Code
Thank you,
April 30th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I have to agree on all the pictures etc. that are comming out for this movie. The only thing about Heath that I believe is on heathledgercentral.com because it is not a regular fan site but one that is run by someone who actually knows him and has been a family friend for several years. It is a very good site and anyone that is a fan of Heath’s should check it out but there are strict rules for posting. It is amazing all the pictures and info you can find and it is only legit.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:40 am
Hey Linda! *waves* You’re right. T runs a tip-top ship on HLC. :)
Sometimes it’s hard to decide what to post on your fansite and what to leave alone. You have to decide what your own standards are going to be in order to be both informative and respectful.
I did post the fake makeup test on Heath Heathens , but only AFTER doing research and finding out it was fake. At first, I didn’t want to post it (I ignored the one made from the Candy photo), but even after the make-up test had been proven fake, so many blogs and news services were still putting it out there as legit. I was afraid that Heath fans might see one of them and believe it. It was better to give them the accurate info than to let them be fooled.
Like I said, I love seeing all the photos and video. But I know some people don’t, so I’ve marked them all with spoiler warnings.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:42 am
Dangit, my link didn’t work. :( http://www.heathheathens.net
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