The Joker Back In Next Batman Film???

The folks over at Total Film give us this:

The Dark Knight producer Chuck Roven has claimed that people need to “separate the actors from the role,” in response to a question regarding The Joker and Heath Ledger. When asked by MTV whether the filmmakers would have done anything different had they known Ledger wouldn’t be reprising the role, Roven claimed that the character wasn’t tied to the actor.

“On a personal level, Heath was a friend of mine,” he said at the People’s Choice Awards. “We had worked together before The Dark Knight, but I still think that The Dark Knight is its own thing, and we have to separate them.”

I celebrate this news IF it indeed turns out to be true.

The Dark Knight defeats The Dragon Emperor

It was touch and go for a day or so, but according to estimates, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) has won the weekend, narrowly defeating the third installment of the "Mummy" franchise, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal) starring Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello.

Racking up its third weekend at #1, The Dark Knight added an estimated $43.8 million to its staggering $395 million take after just seventeen days, putting it in line to cross the $400 million mark tomorrow, the first movie to ever make that amount in just 18 days. (Shrek 2 was previously the fastest movie to hit $400 million, which it grossed in 43 days, so "Dark Knight" did the same two and a half times faster.) Currently, The Dark Knight is the eighth-highest grossing movie of all-time and Warner Bros.' top grossing movie, but by this time next weekend, it's likely to be the fifth or sixth highest grossing movie domestically as it starts targeting Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. From there, it's only $70 million away from becoming only the second movie in over 80 years of filmmaking to gross $500 million domestically, not accounting for inflation.

Internationally, The Dark Knight added $37 million for a total of $202.5 million overseas and a worldwide total of $597.5 million.

Directed by new helmer Rob Cohen, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor brought in an estimated $42.5 million in its opening weekend in 3,759 theaters, an average of $11,300 per site. To put those numbers in perspective, the third "Mummy" movie grossed less its opening weekend than the original movie in 1999, while The Dark Knight made more in its THIRD weekend than Tim Burton's Batman made its opening weekend 19 years ago.

"Dragon Emperor" opened in first place internationally with $59.5 million at 3,559 theaters.

Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films.

The Dark Knight > $314.2M in 10 Days!

Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark Knight earned an estimated $75.6 million from 4,366 theaters in its second weekend, surpassing Shrek 2's $72.2 million for biggest second weekend ever. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins follow-up has reached $314.2 million in just 10 days, another record. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest held the previous record in the amount of days it took to cross the $300 million mark - it needed 16 days to do so. On Monday, The Dark Knight will surpass Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to become the biggest movie of 2008 domestically. It is already up to #23 on the all-time domestic blockbuster list and has a good shot at surpassing Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope's $460.998 million (not counting inflation) to become the second-biggest domestic earner of all-time, trailing only Titanic's $600.788 million. The Dark Knight, budgeted at $185 million, stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

Source: ComingSoon.net

The First Dark Knight TV Spot!

The first TV spot for Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark Knight aired during the season finale of "Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites" Sunday night and you can watch a low-quality version below. Opening in conventional theaters and IMAX on July 18, the Christopher Nolan-directed film stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.



Source:ComingSoon