After Batman Begins, people started to ponder about Nolan’s next edition of the Batman franchise. Several proposals about the movie’s connections were already raised even before the release of Batman Begins! There was great doubt among the studio bosses as well as the general public and critics, concerning whether a next Batman could topple the success seen with Batman Begins, a movie that had managed to overcome the odds and be a massive grosser bringing in about $205 million at the US box office alone. The next Batman would be called “The Dark Knight” and was scheduled to hit the theaters by mid-2008.
With “The Dark Knight”, Nolan wanted to deal with issues regarding model politicians and how much of a boon they are to the public in setting examples so the rest could be inspired. To go about his idea, he roped in the late Heath Ledger, whose death due to excessive drug usage in practicing for his role in the movie as “The Joker” led to the movie hitting headlines every other day. Batman/Bruce Wayne, Christian Bale was retained and so were several others including Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). The film cost approximately $185 million to make and when it opened on July 18th 2008, it shattered box office records previously held by “Pirates of the Caribbean” and made $158 million on its opening weekend in the US. The movie is still running strong and has amounted $518 million to date, with chances of beating “Titanic” however slimming down, studio bosses estimate saturation at $530-550 million at the US box office giving it an all time no.2 status there.
The movie has received exceptional reviews for its strong performances and also post-humus Oscar nominations for Heath ledger don’t seem to be farfetched. With The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan and Warner brothers have exceeded what was possible and have made the franchise a remarkable success.