The Dark Knight Rises is an upcoming superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film will be the third installment in Nolan's Batman film series, and is a sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). The Dark Knight Rises is intended to be the conclusion of the series. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman will all reprise their roles from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The film will take place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight and will introduce the characters of Selina Kyle and Bane—portrayed by Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy, respectively—two villains from the Batman mythology.[1]
Nolan was initially hesitant about returning to the series for a second time, but agreed to come back after developing a story with his brother Jonathan and David S. Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. The film has inspirations in the Batman comic book series Knightfall (1993), which debuted the villain Bane; The Dark Knight Returns (1986), in which Batman returns to Gotham City after a ten-year absence; and No Man's Land (1999), which depicts Gotham being overrun by gangs.
Filming took place in various locations, including locations in India, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh. Nolan utilized IMAX cameras for much of the filming to optimize the quality of the picture. As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production to help promote the upcoming film. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign; developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film and theatrical trailers, and sending random pieces of information regarding the film's plot to various companies. The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled for release in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada on July 20, 2012.
Premise
Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect Dent's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Batman returns to Gotham, where he encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle while stopping the villain Bane's plans to destroy the city.[4][5]
Cast
Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman:[6]
A billionaire socialite dedicated to protecting Gotham City from the criminal underworld. Nolan has stated that, due to the eight-year gap between the events of The Dark Knight and those of The Dark Knight Rises, "he's an older Bruce Wayne; he's not in a great state."[4] Bale has stated that The Dark Knight Rises will be the final film in which he plays Batman.[7] Bale commented on how the film will explore Bruce Wayne's motivations and conclude his journey: "How long will you let the pain and loss define your life? Walking around chasing bad guys is very heroic and attracts attention, but at the end it all accounts for, as a means to deal with the pain of a huge loss. We agreed that Bruce Wayne is absolutely sincere as Bruce Wayne, and as Batman utterly sincere but Bruce Wayne, the playboy, is a pure facade, it's a lie he has, somehow, to control one side of your soul that's not really under control. In fact, only Alfred knows who he is. It's time for Bruce Wayne to face the pain, that has always stirred his life." Bale also acknowledged that Batman is not a flawless individual, stating that "he's not a healthy individual, this is somebody that is doing good, but he's right on the verge of doing bad. He's got that killer within him that he's desperately not trying to let off his leash. And that's what I always return to."[8] When asked about how Bale felt when leaving the franchise, Bale stated, "It's like saying goodbye to an old friend. When you have the opportunity to be a character so many times, you develop another relationship with him, a more profound one."[9]
Tom Hardy as Bane:[10]
Hardy stated that he intended to portray the character as "more menacing" than Robert Swenson's version of the character in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin and gained 30 pounds (14 kg) of muscle for the role,[11][12] increasing his weight to 198 pounds (90 kg).[11] According to costume designer Lindy Hemming, the character wears a mask that supplies him with an analgesic gas to relieve pain he suffers from an injury sustained "early in his story", while Nolan explained that the character was chosen because of the desire to "[test] Batman both physically as well as mentally".[4] Hardy describes Bane's fighting style as "[...] brutal. Brutal. He's a big dude who's incredibly clinical, in the fact that he has a result-based and oriented fighting style. It's not about fighting. It's about carnage. The style is heavy-handed, heavy-footed, it's nasty. Anything from small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages, stamping on shins and knees and necks and collarbones and snapping heads off and tearing his fists through chests, ripping out spinal columns. He is a terrorist in mentality as well as brutal action."[4] Originally, Nolan was unfamiliar with the character's back-story,[13] but did acknowledge his physicality: "With Bane, the physicality is the thing," Nolan said. "With a good villain you need an archetype, you know, you need the extreme of some type of villainy. The Joker is obviously a particular archetype of diabolical, chaotic anarchy and has a devilish sense of humor. Bane, to me, is something we haven't dealt with in the films. We wanted to do something very different in this film. He's a primarily physical villain, he's a classic movie monster in a way — but with a terrific brain."[14] Nolan also commented on Hardy's performance: "Tom is somebody who really knows how to put character into every gesture, every aspect of his physicality in the way that great actors can. He's a very, very physical actor. He transforms himself and it's there in every movement. He's not afraid to look at a character from the outside as well as the inside so there's a deep psychological branch to the character but also a very, very specific awareness of how he's going to use his body and his appearance to express that character too."[13]
Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle:[10][15]
Selina Kyle is "an associate" of Bane.[16] Hathaway has called the role her most physically demanding yet, especially fitting into the character's signature leather costume.[17] Hathaway worked out five days a week for the role, including rigorous exercise and stunt training followed by an hour and a half of dance. She explained, "I've always thought that skinny was the goal, but with this job I also have to be strong."[18] Aside from her physical demands, Hathaway comments on her suit being used for her character: "[The leaked photos are] disappointing. I think everyone feels a slight frustration with it because those stills so undercut the work that’s being done," she said. Hathaway also commented on her distinctive choreographing style: "They've given me a martial arts exercise that I have to do all the time to teach me grace and proper stance and fluid movement. It looks so gentle, but when you're actually doing fight choreography it's 'Oh my gosh, that's actually a block. Oh, I'm hitting somebody's throat right now'."[19] Hathaway studied the work of Hedy Lamarr, who was the inspiration for the Catwoman character, with focus being placed on Lamarr's "long, deep, languid breaths".[16]
Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth:[20]
Bruce's trusted butler and confidant. Alfred has acted as a father figure to Bruce, and continues to aid Bruce on his missions as well as supplying him with useful advice.
Gary Oldman as James Gordon:[20]
Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. One of the city's few honest police officers. Oldman described his character: "He's a little reminiscent of the Gordon you see in Batman Begins. They've tidied up the city, but there's still work to be done. He's very world-weary."[21]
Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox:[20]
Fox runs Wayne Enterprises on behalf of Bruce Wayne and serves as his armorer, providing him with high-tech equipment.
Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate:
A "Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father's philanthropic endeavors for Gotham."[22] Cotillard has denied speculation that she is playing a dual role as Talia al Ghul, stating that her character is a completely original creation.[23]
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake:
Blake is a "Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon."[22]
Josh Pence and Liam Neeson both appear as Ra's al Ghul, leader of the League of Shadows; Pence plays a younger version of the character in scenes set thirty years before the events of Batman Begins,[24] while Neeson reprises his Batman Begins role in a cameo appearance.[25][26] Cillian Murphy, who portrayed the villain Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in the preceding films, was reportedly sighted on set during filming.[27] Other cast members include Nestor Carbonell reprising his role as Mayor Anthony Garcia;[28] Alon Abutbul as Dr. Leonid Pavel, described as "a mad scientist";[29][30] Juno Temple as a "street-smart Gotham girl";[31] Matthew Modine as Nixon;[32] Brett Cullen as a judge;[33] Chris Ellis as a priest;[33] Aiden Gillen as a CIA agent;[34][35] and Rob Brown,[36] Tom Conti, Joey King,[32] and Christopher Judge in unspecified roles.[12] Aaron Eckhart expressed enthusiasm in returning for a sequel if asked, although he later stated Nolan verified that his character, Harvey Dent, is dead.[37]
Several members of the Pittsburgh Steelers will make cameo appearances as members of the fictional Gotham Rogues football team in the film, including Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Wallace, Heath Miller, Aaron Smith, Ryan Clark, James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley, and Casey Hampton,[38][39] and former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher as the head coach of the Rogues.[40] Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl appears as a kicker for the Rogues' opponents, the Rapid City Monuments.[41] In 2008, the Rooney family sold a minority stake in the team to Thomas Tull, the CEO and president of Legendary Pictures, which is producing The Dark Knight Rises.[42]
Design
Costume designer Lindy Hemming explains that Bane uses a mask to inhale an analgesic gas, stating that he was "injured early in his story. He's suffering from pain and needs gas to survive. He can't survive the pain without the mask. The pipes from the mask go back along his jawline and feed into the thing at his back, where there are two cannisters."[87] Hemming clarifies on Bane's design inspiration: "Bane was meant to look like a cross between a dictator and a revolutionary." Hemming designed Bane's coat herself, taking approximately two years to finish, explaining that she "took inspiration from a Swedish army jacket and a French Revolution frock coat and amalgamated the two. It was a pain to have made, because in LA shearling is not their sort of thing: there weren't the tailors who could work with the fabric."[88] Hemming, who was also the costume designer for Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight designed Batman's suit in the film, as well as Catwoman's. Anne Hathaway, who portrays Selina Kyle in the film, comments on the leaked photos of her Catwoman suit: "It’s disappointing. I think everyone feels a slight frustration with it because those stills so undercut the work that’s being done. No, no one’s nervous about it. I mean, honestly, like, wait till you see this movie. Chris is doing insane things in it. And it’s gonna be marvelous and it’s gonna be way beyond what anyone imagines that it could be."[89]
Concept artist Tully Summers commented on Nolan's style of cinematography when asked about the difference between his designs for this film and fantasy-based designs for Men in Black 3: "The difference for me was Christopher Nolan's visual style. One of the things that makes his Batman movies so compelling is their tone of plausibility. He will often prefer a raw, grittier design over one that is very sleek and product design pretty. It's sort of a practical military aesthetic. This stuff is made to work, not impress shoppers. The Dark Knight Rises is a war film."[90]
The film introduces a vehicle which has been compared to the Batplane. Dubbed "The Bat", it is an aerial vehicle that is designed for combat, and is upgraded from earlier designs such as the Tumbler. Production designer Nathan Crowley, who designed the Tumbler and the Batpod, designed the vehicle. The vehicle is similar in architecture to the Tumbler; it consists of a steering system that uses a modified engine for gyrating. The Bat consists of two rocket boosters on the sides and an interior pilot seat at the vehicle's core. Nolan used helicopters, and ground vehicles to remotely "drive" The Bat on set and placed a Batman dummy in the cockpit.[91]
Music
In an interview in October 2010, composer Hans Zimmer confirmed that he will be returning to score The Dark Knight Rises. James Newton Howard was offered to return and write the score with Zimmer as he did for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but he chose not to because he noted that the chemistry established between Zimmer and Nolan during the making of Inception would make him seem like a "third wheel".[92] In November 2011, Zimmer crowdsourced online audio recordings of a chant to be used in the film's score.[93][94] When asked about the chant for clarification, Zimmer said, "The chant became a very complicated thing because I wanted hundreds of thousands of voices, and it's not so easy to get hundreds of thousands of voices. So, we Twittered and we posted on the internet, for people who wanted to be part of it. It seemed like an interesting thing. We've created this world, over these last two movies, and somehow I think the audience and the fans have been part of this world. We do keep them in mind."[95] In another interview, Zimmer elaborated: "Chris [Nolan] and I came up with the idea of the chant a long time ago. I had this great idea, or maybe Chris and I did, of hundreds of thousands of people chanting. Well, as soon as you say the words hundreds of thousands of people, there goes the privacy, because you have to let people know what you’re doing."[96]