Go Behind the Scenes of 'The Dark Knight'

Oh man...it's only seven days away. Can you feel the tension, the antici...pation? Can you feel the love tonight? Can you? Elton John is waiting for your answer... The Dark Knight has already accomplished a great many things. It's the best marketed movie ever, hands down. Blair Witch is second, making a mountain out of a molehill, but this thing shattered the mold, and you'll see its impact when flaccid versions of Dark Knight-inspired marketing campaigns show up next summer. And because its marketing is so perfect, we've spent a lot of time discussing the trailers, posters, TV ads, pizzas, you name it. Does that stuff make a difference? Seriously, do you think if advertising didn't make a difference it would drive all commercial media in the free world? This movie has captured the American imagination so fully you couldn't have a conversation about any of this summer's hits - be it Iron Man, Indy Jones, Wall-E, you name it - without hearing, "Yeah, but when The Dark Knight gets here..." Everything is being measured by its standard, and nobody has even seen it yet. It's the main course this year, not just this summer. That's a rare thing indeed. And a hefty percentage of the attention is focused on Heath Ledger, who might be delivering one of the all-time great bad guys, and who is almost certainly delivering one of the all-time final performances. (It's hard to view his unfinished work in Terry Gilliam's Dr. Parnassus as anything but unfinished, unfortunately). If you've ever been around a tornado, this weekend feels a bit like that disquieting silence that precedes the phenomenon. It really is the calm before the storm right now. We have another video update, which has some minor spoilers. If you've been following The Dark Knight at all, I wouldn't be worried. So get ready to go behind the scenes:

Comments

[Carv]

I'd also like to point out the series of Gotham Tonight mock news shows on Comcast Channel One, the most elaborate marketing effort I've ever seen--and that includes the "hole in building" ads designed for Roland Emmerich's Godzilla.