The Dark Knight Nolan: "Running time comparable to the first film's 140 minutes"

[darknight7]

Too awesome. Nolan is a master at pacing and keeping action going so I have no doubt that a 165 minute cut means a story that works with and requires 165 minutes.

This is going to be incredible.

Pacing ya. Action sure.

BUT SUSPENSE!!!! HELL YES!!!! Even if there is a break in the action, the fact that the writing will probably be great, and the characters are all at an interesting peak is a huge deal. The suspense of "what happens next" will keep you intrigued enough throughout the movie, I know it. ESPECIALLY with the Joker...

--dk7

 

[Magenta666]

But most people are more open to see a fantasy epic based on a book by J.R. Tolkien, than they are on seeing a Batman film. You don't know how many snobs are out there. There's still lots of people who think this is nothing more than a silly comic book movie.

true, but if all these rumored reviews are true, the fans will go see it (and its not like we are a small number) and then the word will spread that it is a great movie, pulling in other audiences

 

[darknight7]

you guys scare me

--dk7

That might mean the IMAX version of TDK might cut out a few minutes. I remember IMAX has a limited runtime (maximum of 2 hours 35 minutes). That's why WB was frantic about Superman Returns' IMAX release. They had to speed up the end credits I believe.

That's a really good point, actually. Hadn't thought about that.

I actually read somewhere that some older IMAX projectors couldn't play BB because of its length, so they had to get special permission to show it without the credits.

I hope Nolan will take that into account, since he did film some of the scenes with IMAX cameras, solely for the purpose of showing them in their full glory.

 

[darknight7]

Everyone is worried about the attention span and what-not...

But look at it this way.

Batman Begins was considered GREAT!!!! Audiences thought it was a great take, the general public fell for that movie big time. The critics loved it. It did AMAZING in the box office...

WELL!!! now look at this.

The Dark Knight: Only 25 minutes longer than BB (ONLY 25 minutes). And to me, the prologue was ALREADY BETTER THAN THE ENTIRE BB MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol.

This movie has The Joker, and an already developed Batman. We are caught right in the middle of **** GOING DOWN IN GOTHAM! We thought **** was bad with Ra's...nah nah, this movie is going to be all HELL breaking loose. The Mob, Corrupt cops, Dent, THE JOKER!!!

So you are telling me, after BB did SO WELL, that 25 extra minutes is going to determine the downfall of this movie?

I think not....

edit:
OH and just to add...as bad as this sounds, in no disrespect to Heath, How many people are going to check this movie out of pure curiosity? Think of non Bat fans, who are MOVIE BUFFS, or LEDGER FANS...and they want to see his LAST FULL ROLE /or/ The movie that ended the man (I don't believe that, but some people do)

--dk7

 

[Sandouras]

Everyone is worried about the attention span and what-not...

But look at it this way.

Batman Begins was considered GREAT!!!! Audiences thought it was a great take, the general public fell for that movie big time. The critics loved it. It did AMAZING in the box office...

WELL!!! now look at this.

The Dark Knight: Only 25 minutes longer than BB (ONLY 25 minutes). And to me, the prologue was ALREADY BETTER THAN THE ENTIRE BB MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol.

This movie has The Joker, and an already developed Batman. We are caught right in the middle of **** GOING DOWN IN GOTHAM! We thought **** was bad with Ra's...nah nah, this movie is going to be all HELL breaking loose. The Mob, Corrupt cops, Dent, THE JOKER!!!

So you are telling me, after BB did SO WELL, that 25 extra minutes is going to determine the downfall of this movie?

I think not....

--dk7

I take that as a joke.

 

[darknight7]

I take that as a joke.

Well than I guess you didn't see the prologue

--dk7

 

[Mr. Wiener]

Well than I guess you didn't see the prologue

--dk7

Oh my god! That prologue was awesome! Totally agree with what you Said! How can 25 more min. make the movie worse??! lol XP
Off topic, but: Can i get an avvy and signature?

 

[darknight7]

Oh my god! That prologue was awesome! Totally agree with what you Said! How can 25 more min. make the movie worse??! lol XP
Off topic, but: Can i get an avvy and signature?

You need 300 posts for an avvy...the signature, I am unsure of

--dk7

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

DK7 I usually agree with what you say but as awesome as the prologue was, of course BB was better than a six minute preview. Now the trailer on the other hand...

 

[Mr. Wiener]

You need 300 posts for an avvy...the signature, I am unsure of

--dk7

Thank you! Sorry, im still trying to work this thing out :P It's a pretty huge site!

 

[FCEEVIPER]

Well yea because most long movies that are around 3 hours long are not blockbusters but more of dramatic, artistic films, that are less "exciting" to the mass public. But this is Batman, a blockbuster. Most blockbusters that are longer then 2 and ahalf hours still do very well. Like all the LOTR, Titanic ect, those all made MASSIVE money, because they were entertaining as well as dramatic. Just like TDK. TDK is not a love fest, or a historical movie, its an action/drama so I don't think it will hurt it at all BO wise.

Every movie in the top 10 worldwide is over 2 hours long. Most of them exceed the 2 hr 30 minute mark.

Titanic, the highest-grossing film ever, is 194 minutes long.

So, no, I don't see how this can hurt the BO in the long run.

I hope so.

OH and just to add...as bad as this sounds, in no disrespect to Heath, How many people are going to check this movie out of pure curiosity? Think of non Bat fans, who are MOVIE BUFFS, or LEDGER FANS...and they want to see his LAST FULL ROLE /or/ The movie that ended the man (I don't believe that, but some people do)

I keep forgetting about that, yup this flick will be huge.

 

[Anita18]

you guys scare me

--dk7

Why? It's a viable concern, isn't it? And it's not an opinion either - if the movie is too long, the reels will be too large to fit onto the projector and they'll have to cut some stuff out.

What's the deal with digital projectors? Do they exist for IMAX yet?

 

[fabman]

No one's saying that The Dark Knight will be worse with its 165 mins. - I hope it'll be that long. Christopher Nolan sure knows how to pace a movie. When I first saw Batman Begins in theaters, it could have never ended and I wuoldn't be bored.

 

[JackBauer24]

Great tastes there.


I have no problem with a long run time, especially if it's Nolan's Batman.

But this will hurt the box office a bit. :\

You do realise the highest grossing film of all time was 195 minutes long?

Length (or lack of it) is not an indicator of box office - never has been. Studios are silly to get worried about that. All that matters is making the film the right length for its story. 100 minutes can be too long for a Disney animated film, and 160 can be too short for a fantasy epic like LOTR.

Don't worry about the Box Office - Dark Knight is going to absolutely mop up. It's the best placed blockbuster of the summer. It's practically the only tentpole release in all of July and August - the busiest movie months when all the kids are on summer holiday. Indy will have blown its load long before TDK comes along. TDK has half of July and all of August to clean up. It is going to be huge.

 

[Crook]

What's the deal with digital projectors? Do they exist for IMAX yet?

I was under the impression IMAX had used digital reels from the beginning.

 

[JackBauer24]

I was under the impression IMAX had used digital reels from the beginning.

Erm... do you have any idea how much memory you'd need to store an IMAX film digitally? I mean a 4k projector can equal the quality of 35mm just - and IMAX film is 10x the quality of 35mm.

No. IMAX is projected the old fashioned way.

 

[Crook]

Hence my confused face, Mr. Movie Tech Guy. Thanks.

 

[Anita18]

I was under the impression IMAX had used digital reels from the beginning.

IMAX films DID exist before all of that, you know. I remember going to see short science films in the Liberty Science Center where they told us exactly how huge and heavy the reels are. You could see them through the projection room windows, and they're HUGE. Like, 10 feet across huge, IIRC. (And I'm probably wrong, but yeah, they're big.) There's no way you could change a reel in the middle of a film like how they do in regular theaters. That's why IMAX films have been typically limited by length.

 

[Jokers_Wild]

Why? It's a viable concern, isn't it? And it's not an opinion either - if the movie is too long, the reels will be too large to fit onto the projector and they'll have to cut some stuff out.

What's the deal with digital projectors? Do they exist for IMAX yet?

Geez, I planned on seeing TDK in IMAX on opening night...guess I'm gonna have to make sure nothing will be cut out in order to accommodate the reel. I can't imagine them not being able to resolve this somehow, or not planning for this possiblity ahead of time...when it was Nolan's intention from the beginning to have this movie shown in IMAX.

 

[darknight7]

DK7 I usually agree with what you say but as awesome as the prologue was, of course BB was better than a six minute preview. Now the trailer on the other hand...

Are you sure???

Spoiler

just kidding

Thank you! Sorry, im still trying to work this thing out :P It's a pretty huge site!

No need for apology my friend, we have all asked these questions at some point

I keep forgetting about that, yup this flick will be huge.

indeed

Why? It's a viable concern, isn't it? And it's not an opinion either - if the movie is too long, the reels will be too large to fit onto the projector and they'll have to cut some stuff out.

What's the deal with digital projectors? Do they exist for IMAX yet?

It was a joke Anita Come on...
They don't actually SCARE ME, and I know it is a concern, hence why the idea scares me. I want to see it on IMAX opening night, and the idea of that worries me.

--dk7

 

[Anita18]

Oh, apparently IMAX signed something with AMC to start using some sort of digital technology starting this July:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX#IMAX_Digital_3D

Who knows if that'd be set in time for TDK though.

 

[Anita18]

Geez, I planned on seeing TDK in IMAX on opening night...guess I'm gonna have to make sure nothing will be cut out in order to accommodate the reel. I can't imagine them not being able to resolve this somehow, or not planning for this possiblity ahead of time...when it was Nolan's intention from the beginning to have this movie shown in IMAX.

Right, which is why I'm a bit about this. I'm sure this would have occurred to them.

Apparently the length limit for IMAX films is around 2 hours, which is why some IMAX theaters had to get special permission to show BB without credits.

When I saw BB in IMAX, nothing was cut (it was my 4th time seeing it and I'm sure I would have noticed) so it'll probably depend on the venue.

 

[Crook]

I'm sure this was all settled way beforehand. Nolan shot scenes specific for IMAX, so the issue of any limited reel time would've surely came up then.

Besides, SR was about 10 minutes shorter than the supposed runtime for TDK, so it shouldn't be a problem when it's IMAX release featured no cuts.

 

[dubdue]

You guys got me concerned so I did some digging...

I found this over at metafilter:

I'm a former IMAX projectionist and film projectionist since 1982.

It all depends on the system the theatre is running and the size of the platters allowed on the QTRU.

Any 2D presentation can be extended indefinitely provided it is running on a system built for 3D and can alternate projectors.

Most shows are 'built' to accomodate the audio and theatre cues for 1-2 hours, but if you have larger platters, or more platter space available, anything is possible. It's just a matter of being able to shuffle things around while housing up to 3 other shows or more.

http://ask.metafilter.com/61331/IMAX-movies-limited-to-2-hours

From this, I would not be too worried. Since the whole movie wasn't shot in IMAX, I think it should be fine.

 

[Spider-Man Luvr28]

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