Joker

Despite Heath Ledger’s Death, Warner Bros. Presses on With Joker’s Viral Marketing For ‘The Dark Knight’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:34:35 -0700

CHICAGO – Once the swarm of sorrow hit the world on Jan. 22, 2008 following news of Heath Ledger’s death, questions soon ensued about its impact on Chris Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”.

While the status of “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is entirely in limbo, “The Dark Knight” had completed filming and is in post-production. Still, followers wondered how Warner Bros. would tactfully react with its viral marketing and how it would advertise Ledger’s dark and crazed Joker character.

HollywoodChicago.com just received an answer: the show is going on. Our repeatedly reliable source (who was awarded the cell phone-embedded cake in Chicago from a WhySoSerious.com viral marketing effort) is back with new news from moments ago:

A WhySoSerious.com viral marketing movie
poster for “The Dark Knight”.
Image credit: IMDB

Good evening, Adam!

Chicago Joker phone here. I just got a text at 10:49 p.m. on the cake phone that said $30 was added to my account and the phone is now good until March 29, 2008.

After looking at the account information [from] the phone [that] was initially received in [Dec. 2007], I found the phones were set to expire tomorrow (Jan. 30, 2008). With the addition of the extra minutes, this means the viral campaign lives on despite the untimely death of Heath Ledger (may he rest in peace).

I have looked on message boards and several of the other cities have also confirmed that their phones have received extensions until the end of March.

I applaud Warner Bros. for continuing the marketing campaign and not letting the fans down. We all have the greatest respect for Mr. Ledger and I believe we all know how to separate the Joker character from Heath. I cannot wait for the next viral [campaign] to start. I will keep you updated as always. Thanks!

~ Vlkers54

3:25 p.m. update on Jan. 30, 2008: The source above just wrote back with another update. This information is from another informed Superhero! Hype message board member known as ianskyvox.

I just did a little bit of research [that] may shed some light on the scenario. Apparently whenever you add credit to pay-as-you-go phones with Verizon (such as these) the amount you add is good for two months.

Since we got the phones [on Dec. 4, 2007], they probably activated the accounts in late [Nov. 2007] so they could be shipped out and put in the cakes. Two months after that would be today (Jan. 29, 2008). Since the accounts were renewed today [on Jan. 29, 2008], they expire again on March 29, 2008 (in exactly two months).

There’s a possibility this is what was actually going to happen all along even if we hadn’t tragically lost our clown prince. This could even go on for months and months on end. [We could receive] another message on March 29, 2008 saying the accounts have been renewed again.

Our last [text] before this did say: “It’s time to be patient.”

Vlkers54 added: “It seems they might not have had a plan until after Jan. 30, 2008 to begin with. We will have to just be patient as [the Joker] has instructed us to be.”

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

‘The Dark Knight’ Viral Marketing Rings Again From Cake-Embedded Cell Phones

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:47:16 -0700

CHICAGO – Back on Dec. 4, 2007, we reported on “The Dark Knight” viral marketing activities that concluded in fans rushing around the U.S. to snag cakes in bakeries. Items were baked inside them and enthusiasts tore apart the treats to find out what they were. The Joker promised that the embedded cell phones would have a purpose later.

On Monday, the Chicago cake finder again contacted HollywoodChicago.com and said a text message was sent to the phone he received on that day. Here’s the e-mail to us containing the Joker’s new viral marketing message.

Hey, Adam! If you remember, I am the Chicago Joker cake finder.

I have the cell phone and I just got a text message from the Joker today from humanresources@whysoserious.com. Here’s what it said:

“You still out there, clown? Reply and let me know.”

I replied “yes” and I got another response:

“See you found my little message. So do you think you have what it takes to be a part of my circle of friends? Are you a backstabbing, self…”

Then the message gets cut off. Others I have talked to with the phone have said the same thing. I am sure this is an automated response.

I replied back “yes” to the last text and I am waiting to see what happens. I will keep you updated!

~ Vlkers54

Our Chicago cake photos from Dec. 4 are below.

What are your thoughts on this round of viral marketing? Take it to this thread on our boards!

1:50 p.m. update: The same person just e-mailed us again with an updated message:

Text three just came in! It said:

“It makes me smile to see you’re one of the serious ones, clown. Now … time to be patient. I’ll be in touch…”

Looks like more waiting. Maybe they are narrowing down the 22 people who got the phones. I’ll keep you posted as always!

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

Poster Mayhem: Multiple New Posters Surface For ‘The Dark Knight’; Bootlegged Trailer Leaks

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:43:28 -0700

Three new posters surfaced in the last 24 hours for “The Dark Knight” and fans didn’t even have to work hard for them through viral games. The first poster is the film’s international teaser poster.

A high-resolution version of this poster can be found here. I first learned about this from Paul at this link. The international poster has also sprung up all over the Web and is now at Superhero Hype!, Omelete, Collider and /Film.

Omelete is being credited as premiering the above international teaser poster. Next in line, Allocine premiered the following international Joker poster. The high-resolution version of the Joker poster can be found here.

In a Superhero Hype! post about this Joker poster, we also see a bootlegged domestic poster now appearing in theaters.

Finally, /Film and AICN both have posts that a bootlegged version of “The Dark Knight” trailer has already been leaked onto YouTube. It’s now, of course, gone. We cited a report on Thursday saying the real deal will surface early next week. Stay tuned.

11:57 a.m. update: The bootlegged trailer is back online. Enjoy. It’s also here. Plus, it’s now back on YouTube and I’ve embedded it below.

12:29 p.m. update: A new “The Dark Knight” viral Web site has just been found at http://www.atasteforthetheatrical.com that says the official trailer will be coming on Sunday, Dec. 16.

The text at ATasteForTheTheatrical.com reads:

Sunday. It’s what you have been waiting for! Sure, you can see it on display, but beginning this Sunday, you can take it home for your very own!

9:21 p.m. update: The YouTube video embedded above has been eaten again due to a copyright claim by Warner Bros. It’s still up at the links above, though, and JoBlo is also now hosting it directly.

I’ve also been e-mailed by Berge Garabedian at JoBlo with a head’s up that it can be embedded. I’ve done so below.

‘The Dark Knight’ Delivers Sensory Orgasm in IMAX Prologue Before ‘I Am Legend’

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:23:29 -0700

I went to screen “I Am Legend” on Wednesday to experience “The Dark Knight”.

That statement doesn’t speak grimly about my feelings for Will Smith. I was looking forward to learning his legend and I’m glad I did. The night at Chicago’s Navy Pier IMAX, though, went to its first six minutes with the Joker as the star.

A production still from “The Dark Knight” prologue.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Before I skipped the capacity crowd awaiting entrance into the theater, I stopped to listen to people’s pre-conceived motivations for spending a chilly Wednesday evening at the movies.

People weren’t there because it was free. More important, many people weren’t talking about “I Am Legend”. The buzz king went to Nolan & Co. A few people even went so far as to say they’d consume “The Dark Knight” prologue and skip out immediately thereafter.

I spoke to the publicist running the screening moments before heading in. He was in a panic.

He just got off the phone from New York because “the prologue wasn’t going to show,” he said. At the mere quiet mention of the notion, the few critics who heard it threw their hands in the air in disgust.

I’m paraphrasing, but the publicist immediately retorted: “Don’t worry. It’ll be there now. I made sure of it.” Their nerves were calmed and I now felt vindicated after having to miss last week’s sneak peak of the prologue following yet another “The Dark Knight” viral game.

We were first treated to a trailer for “The Spiderwick Chronicles”.

The next trailer – for a film documenting a rock star – was relatively unimpressive and forgettable. Then a sweeping shot of downtown Gotham ushered in “The Dark Knight” prologue and the theater erupted in applause.

You immediately felt the difference between a typical trailer preceding the big event as this prologue is a short film in its own right. Its design is to introduce the Joker as the crazed fiend he is. He’s indeed feared, he’s indeed demented and he indeed delivers on the frenetic hype.

The story leading up to his unmasking deliberately makes his revelation deliciously climatic. You love to hate Heath and feel no remorse loving him all the while.

For this Chicagoan who has been covering the ins and outs of the film as it has taken over our Windy City, the prologue feels much like home. I’d be watching and instantly recall reporting on that courthouse and stepping foot on those very floors when I was beckoned there for jury duty.

A cameo by William Fichtner (“Go,” “Armageddon,” “Contact”) as a Gotham National Bank manager proves even in just a glimpse the power of this cast from roles as big as Heath Ledger as the Joker and Christian Bale as Batman all the way down to this small bank manager who dominates a memorable scene.

William Fichtner in “The Perfect Storm”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Director Chris Nolan will be remembered as an innovator who made the premeditated choice to work with director of photography Wally Pfister and IMAX technicians to mark the first time in Hollywood history the larger and heavier IMAX cameras were used to film select sequences.

Rather than succumbing to the quality degradation inherent in converting traditional 35-millimeter film to the largesse of IMAX, Nolan filmed directly using the 60-millimeter, sensually orgasmic format. The wait was worth the remuneration and serves as yet another telltale sign that “The Dark Knight” will be the film of 2008.

‘The Dark Knight’ Reward For ‘He is Coming’ Empire Online Campaign Leaks Early

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:15:35 -0700

We mentioned on Nov. 26 there was three days remaining in Empire Online’s own “The Dark Knight” campaign, which is piggybacking on the film’s wildy successful viral marketing.

One full day early, the reward has leaked. It’s the new “The Dark Knight”-themed magazine cover for its Jan. 2008 issue. The image below is credited to Superhero! Hype.

As of the time of the leak, the card-by-card unveiling of this image still had the following left to be revealed.