Harvey Dent

Film News: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Prologue Revealed at Chicago’s Navy Pier IMAX

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:26:37 -0500

CHICAGO – For just a few minutes and to just a petite sampling of Chicago uber fans, Bane has risen. And if it were solely up to Nolan, he’d do it this way 20 more times.

“The Dark Knight Rises” mastermind would lure fanboys and girls everywhere into theatres to see another six minutes only… and another six… and another six – until he’s done it two-dozen times. Then when they’re drooling like rabid dogs, he’d present it in epic aggregate. But because it’s not just up to Nolan, only a thousand or so lucky Batman fans won free tickets to the Chicago reveal of the six-minute “The Dark Knight Rises” prologue.

Tom Hardy as the villain Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises”.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

Fans got access to threequel’s first clip by solving an enigmatic riddle at the end of a new viral marketing campaign. HollywoodChicago.com saw the full six minutes (as we wrote in Oct. 2011 would happen now) and brings you this exclusive report out of Chicago now. The prologue (which can be thought of as an extended trailer) appeared after a break following the advance Chicago screening of Tom Cruise’s new “Mission: Impossible – The Ghost Protocol”.

Two prologue showings happened in Chicago on Dec. 13, 2011 – both at Navy Pier IMAX – the first of which started at 10 p.m. and the second at 10:30 p.m. Fans felt honored to brave spiraling lines before both showings to be among the first in the U.S. to see the prologue before it’s attached publicly this Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 to IMAX cuts of “Mission: Impossible – The Ghost Protocol”.

Spoiler alert! The prologue opens with Gary Oldman’s reprise as Jim Gordon. Gordon is mourning the fact that Aaron Eckhart wasn’t invited back in Nolan’s final Batman film because his Harvey Dent turns into a dead white knight. Gordon says: “I believed in Harvey Dent.” The line hits home with fans who fondly remember the “I Believe in Harvey Dent” campaign in the film that took to Chicago’s streets and across the country in what seemed like a real political election.

The Oldman scene, which appears in wide-screen mode rather than in the IMAX format with which Nolan is so fixated, then cuts to full IMAX glory in an unknown third-world country where a CIA outfit is extricating people. All the while, new cast members are conducting a familiar exercise: trying to figure out the film’s new villain just as fans are anxious to glimpse him in action.

The conversation immediately reminds us of “The Dark Knight” opening where bank robbers discuss The Joker and then he’s unearthed in genuine terror. The same story arc happens here. Instead of a man removing a mask to reveal a lunatic with a spectacularly terrible make-up job, Tom Hardy’s distorted, Darth Vader-like voice is first heard and then his black face bag is flung off.

The first official teaser poster for “The Dark Knight Rises” appeared on July 11, 2011. See a high-resolution version.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

Bane’s garbled voice and exactly what he says is already a hot topic on the interwebs and will continue to be, but this much we heard clearly: Bane indeed says “the fire rises”. The line is again familiar for fans. It was revealed in a viral marketing campaign in May 2011 that established those words with the prize of seeing Bane’s first image. If your complaint is that Bane’s voice is hard to understand, don’t whine about that. We know by now that Nolan is a calculated man, and if it’s done that way, it’s intentional and comes with purpose.

The “facehugger” creature in “Alien” reminds us of Bane’s “The Dark Knight Rises” mask.
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

So, the film’s new antagonist is exposed. While what we’re seeing here certainly isn’t a final print and much can change before its opening on July 12, 2012, Bane’s black and copper face contraption reminds us of a “facehugger” creature in the movie “Alien”. Like the “Alien” facehugger, Bane’s mask looks like a parasitic creature attached to its host, but Bane’s is pumping him full of mysterious fluids.

The prologue scene, which takes place in an airplane, sets up Bane as Batman’s nemesis and gives you a teaser into his psychosomatic agony and physical brawn. And after Bane summons his henchmen just like The Joker would to seize control of the situation, the prologue spends a minute cutting through various trailer-like scenes.

We see Anne Hathaway as a particularly pissed-off Catwoman and then again in orange prison garb as Selina Kyle. We watch citizen panic with police in a busy street like scenes shot on Chicago’s LaSalle Street in “The Dark Knight”. We witness a fleeting flirtation with Christian Bale as Batman squaring off against Bane – not yet breaking the bat’s back – as well as the Batpod thundering away on a Gotham City street (that’s no longer shot in Chicago). Leading his minions into battle, we also see Bane sporting what looks like reinforced chainmail.

The prologue is meant to be foreplay until the film’s next buzz-building event. And tease it does. Scores of questions remain unanswered, but just remember this: “In Nolan we trust.”

“The Dark Knight Rises” stars Tom Hardy, Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Juno Temple, Matthew Modine, Daniel Sunjata, Josh Pence and Joey King from writer and director Christopher Nolan along with writer Jonathan Nolan. The film is scheduled for release on July 20, 2012.

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When you see this prologue, comment below:
What did you think? Thumbs up or down and why?

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Exclusive: Chicago Police Break Up Harvey Dent Viral Marketing Campaign For ‘The Dark Knight’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:07:13 -0400

CHICAGO – As we reported would happen on March 12, 2008, “The Dark Knight” enthusiasts indeed congregated in Chicago (as others will across the country on various other dates on this “Dentmobile” tour) to show their fictional campaign support for Harvey Dent – played by Aaron Eckhart in the July 18, 2008 superhero monolith – running for district attorney.

Those familiar with the film’s extensive viral marketing campaign enjoyed keeping “in character” and confusing uninformed Chicagoans who weren’t aware that the charade was actually in support of a storied politician within Hollywood. We feature below exclusive photos of the morning campaign from longtime HollywoodChicago.com source Vlkers54.

The morning campaign, which was supposed to run from 8 to 10 a.m., was cut short due to a Chicago police breakup after three minutes flat. Vlkers54 has provided us with the following detail about the morning.

Hey, Adam! Cops kicked us out!

I was at the 8 a.m. stop. I got there at 7:30 a.m. and I sure am glad I did. At 8:03 a.m., the cops came and kicked us out! Only me and another guy showed up, but we did end up getting a lot of free stuff [including] bumper stickers, posters, buttons and a T-shirt. You should have seen the people as they were coming out of the train station:

“Who is Harvey Dent?”
“What is this all about?”
“Is this for that movie?” (We responded: “What movie? ‘No Country For Old Men?’ That’s a movie!”)

We kept “in character” and promoted Harvey Dent for [district attorney] as if he were a real person. Confusing people was a lot of fun. Some people did catch on to what was going on. Even middle-aged men who knew who [Harvey Dent] was were excited, [asked] for buttons and filled out the petition forms.

It was a lot of fun, but let’s hope the cops don’t ruin the 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. sessions. I can’t make the 11 a.m., but I will be at the 4 p.m. trail.

~ Vlkers54

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Chicago campaign will be meeting at Jackson Street and State Street. From 4 to 6 p.m., the Chicago campaign will be meeting at the Canal and Madison commuter station. A full list of other viral marketing cities, locations, times and dates can be found here.

“The Dark Knight” viral marketing site IBelieveInHarveyDent.com is publishing photos like the above from across the U.S. here.

Click here for our full “The Dark Knight” image gallery!

10:16 p.m. update on March 13, 2008: We have learned that yet another new viral marketing site for “The Dark Knight” just went live: GothamElectionBoard.com. Why? You guessed it. There will be an actual election process for Harvey Dent with real voter registration cards sent in the mail. See this comment below for more information. A screenshot of the new site is below.

10:43 p.m. update on March 13, 2008: When it rains in “The Dark Knight” land, it usually pours. We just learned of yet another new viral site related to this campaign: GothamCityClerk.com. It announces the formulation of competition for this election campaign and implies the launch of even more viral sites. Read more about this in this comment below. A screenshot is below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Details Surface on July 1, 2007 ‘The Dark Knight’ Shoot in Daley Center Courtroom

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:46:00 -0400

CHICAGO – The same anonymous reader who shot the Navy Pier boat pictures has submitted to me thorough details about “The Dark Knight” shoot on July 1, 2007.

The filming location was the Daley Center at 50 W. Washington in Chicago. This was a scene shot in a small courtroom on the 15th floor. Warning: This can be perceived as spoiler information.

The many different scenes were shot in a courtroom on Sunday. The premise was a montage of all the scum being cleaned up from Gotham City.

In one scene, all the gangsters (the Maroni gang, the Rasta gang, the Humble gang, the scarecrow and miscellaneous gangsters) were on the right side of the courthouse with their defense attorneys seated next to them.

There were regular pedestrians on the left.

In the center aisle, Gotham City Department of Correction officers seperated the gangsters from the pedestrians. Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni was with his attorneys at the front of the room at the right side of the table.

On the left, there was Aaron Eckhart as Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent. The assistant directors (Nilo Otero and Brandon Lambdin) gave all the direction with Chris Nolan supervising from the judge’s bench.

They cramed all the gangsters into this small courtroom to give the shot. They said it was a “comical” look with so many gangsters being arraigned at one time. The gangsters would stand up staggered by a number they were assigned by Otero.

The female judge would then begin reading the outrageous charges to all the gangsters. She asked: “How do you plea?” Then the prisioners and their defense attorneys would all scream different dialogue.

There were numerous takes done with the gangsters at different angles.

10:15 p.m. update: I received this follow-up e-mail from the same scooper:

By the way, Eric Roberts was very cordial and friendly to everyone he was near on Sunday in the courtroom. He was saying “hello” and “how ya doing?” to the extras who were close to him.

He had a smile on his face the whole time. At least on this day, this was totally different than the image of a hothead that is portrayed in the media.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com