The Dark Knight Wind The Clocks Back A Year: IF The Film Leaked

[JaD]

Like many of you know and have seen for yourselves, a workprint of Wolverine was leaked onto the net.

What if this happened with TDK? Would it have made a billion dollars, would you have still seen it "this many times in theaters"? How would the film have looked, sounded, flowed together? Something that had me thinking I suppose. I don't think it would have reached a billion for one, and seeing Aaron Eckhart with unfinished CGI during his Two-Face scenes would have been interesting, and I wonder what music the Joker scenes would have been done in if temp music was being used.

 

[ChrisB]

I know for a fact I wouldnt have watched until AFTER I saw it in theaters. Then I might watch it to compare the differences.

 

[Crook]

It would have still done monster numbers. And yes, reached a billion. The whole piracy affecting sales theory is a joke. Especially when 2008 saw a 5% increase in revenue, despite the declining global economy, and a growing pirating community every day:

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE52U7MK20090331?sp=true

 

[Anita18]

Probably still done monster numbers, especially if WOM was good from the bootlegs. What will hurt Wolverine isn't the existence of the bootleg, but bad WOM from people seeing it early.

They figured out Joker's theme pretty early on though, because of the earlier prologue release. Plus Nolan still cuts films the old fashioned way - he figures out the edits on the Avid, then physically cuts the film. There isn't hard drive floating around with a HQ version of the entire movie on it, so there wouldn't have been a DVD-quality rough cut to begin with.

But that's neither here nor there.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Still would of made the same money.

And no I would not watch if it leaked

 

[Canis Sapiens]

The same thing happened with a movie here in Brazil,"Tropa de Elite", or "Elite Squad" in english (great film,BTW). Everyone I knew had a bootleg DVD of the movie two months before its release. These copies were selling like hot cakes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0861739/

It turned out a GREAT, if unexpected, marketing tool - to the point some were questioning if the leak wasn't on purpose. The great word of mouth and all the boys and girls quoting the movie's key scenes got everyone and their mother interested, and, at the end of the day, legions went to the theaters when the movie was officially released.

So, I guess an Internet leak wouldn't hurt TDK. On the contrary, it could even boost the general audience interest.

Of course, if the movie were bad, things would be different. But that surely wouldn't be a problem for TDK.

 

[BatmanEVH]

This is how I like to think about it. Titanic made over a billion dollars when it was released. Even though the internet wasn't used for bootlegging movies back in 1997

BUT

What if there weren't torrents/bootlegs of The Dark Knight online? Then Dark Knight would've blown Titanic out of the water (more like into the water) in ticket sales.

I still know some people who haven't seen it yet...drives me crazy.

 

[JaD]

I still know some people who haven't seen it yet...drives me crazy.

Me too, that is so incredible Hopefully it'll be on FX in no time

The same thing happened with a movie here in Brazil,"Tropa de Elite", or "Elite Squad" in english. Everyone I knew had a bootleg DVD of the movie two months before its release. These copies were selling like hot cakes.

It turned out a GREAT, if unexpected, marketing tool. The great word of mouth and all the boys and girls quoting the movie's key scenes got everyone and their mother interested, and, at the end of the day, legions went to the theaters when the movie was officially released.


So, I guess an Internet leak wouldn't hurt TDK. On the contrary, it could even boost the general audience interest.

Of course, the movie should be good for that to happen. But that surely wouldn't be a problem for TDK.

Wow, well I think I'm totally looking at it in a different way. As in what if some fans who obtained a copy, watched it, loved it. Saw it in theaters but didn't keep going back because they had a copy at their home. I think I'm taking into account if a handful of fans would have grown tired of the movie by then (movie's release) Just interesting to think how the marketing of the movie and publicity went nuts over Ledger's death, now how would it have happened if a leaked copy came into play too?

 

[nathaniel]

I dont know if im wrong but isnt Titanic still the biggest grossing movie ever?

 

[raynorWilm]

Yea i still think it would have made those numbers. TDK had a very broad audience, people who probably wouldnt even be aware if there was a leak of the film.

 

[Nirvana]

I haven't even seen the Wolverine bootleg.

 

[TNC9852002]

I haven't even seen the Wolverine bootleg.

 

[KoopaKid94]

ok i think a leak of TDK would have hurt it. but not as bad as wolverine because now that leak is known. there were leaks of TDK online (i admit it i looked) but they werent known. thats why this movie hit 1 billion.

 

[Majik1387]

Wolverine is nothing like TDK.

 

[KoopaKid94]

Wolverine is nothing like TDK.

well of course but we are just talking about the leak and if it had leaked. its all hypothetical dude.

 

[Majik1387]

If it had been leaked, I would have watched it the same way I watched the Wolverine leak; as if it were a rehearsal for the actual movie. With that said, you can get the basic feel of the final product during the rehearsal process, and with the feel Wolverine has given, it would not surprise me at all if the leak damaged the opening day revenue. TDK had a decent if not great script/storyline and was with a good production studio, all they had to do was polish it a bit and then it would be shown as a great movie. The same can't be said for Wolverine.

Personally, I'd be in support if it damaged the profit. If you guys really want better films of the characters you love, don't go see the crap movies they spout out, and over time they'll stop.

 

[laudanum09]

Since Wolverine used far more CGI than TDK, the viewing experience would have only been undermined slightly, whereas with Wolverine a good deal of the action sequences were 'unwatchable' or at least a bit incomprehensible. TDK would have just had some holes here and there, minus Two-Face, which would have stil lbeen interesting because he only had a few dots on the face, and we'd have been able to see his face fully emoting in those two-face scenes.

 

[Ryan]

One hundred percent I would not have watched the leaked copy before seeing it in theatres. In fact, I even hated myself for watching so many of those official trailers and preview samples. If I could go back a year, I WISH I hadn't watched that commercial with the Joker in the interrogation room talking about the "good cop bad cop routine" and then Batman appears behind him and smashes his head. As absolutely cool and mark out moment I had watching that, I wish I would have seen that surprise in the theatre. I think even if a workprint had been released, I would have still gone back to the theaters for repeat viewings, but thats just me.

 

[BestGirl]

One hundred percent I would not have watched the leaked copy before seeing it in theatres. In fact, I even hated myself for watching so many of those official trailers and preview samples. If I could go back a year, I WISH I hadn't watched that commercial with the Joker in the interrogation room talking about the "good cop bad cop routine" and then Batman appears behind him and smashes his head. As absolutely cool and mark out moment I had watching that, I wish I would have seen that surprise in the theatre. I think even if a workprint had been released, I would have still gone back to the theaters for repeat viewings, but thats just me.

I feel the same way. I would never have watched the leak - though I would've been sorely tempted - and I really wish I hadn't spoiled myself for TDK to the extent I did. I saw enough commercials, footage, and read enough about the plot to diminish my enjoyment in the theaters. I'm weak so I'm sure I'll just spoil BB3 for myself too.

 

[DDS]

It wouldn't have affected anything because the only real reason, imo, why Fox is so scared of the leak is because people didn't like what they saw. And everyone loved TDK so...

 

[mjbull23]

I don't feel that anything including a leaked version would have derailed TDK from making the monster BO numbers it did. The movie was made to be seen in theatres, moreso in IMAX.

BTW, piracy sucks, but it's not going away anytime soon. The good news is that it's not making even a marginal dent in B.O. numbers, so it seems to be a non factor.

 

[Batman137]

wouldn't watch if it were leaked. I think WB would be on that in a matter of seconds also. They have better security with movies.

 

[Clark Kent]

I never watched leaked movies. I just stay patient and wait.

 

[SpiderRock88]

i think it still would have made about the same amount of money!

 

[david icke]

I have no interest in watching bootleg/leaked movies, has to be a theatre experience for me 1st time always. Freinds have persuaded me otherwise on occasion though.
Not sure about Wolverine, but I don't think TDK being leaked would've affected it that much.
Reading this thread, esp the part about spoiling yourself for movies before you get to the theatre, reminded me that there was bootleg/leaked versions of the 1st Spider-man movie on the net weeks before it's release.
I didn't have a net connection then, but was visiting an old friend, who used to be into comics and knew how much I was into them, and he had downloaded Spider-man. He tried to persuade me to watch it with him, but i was adamant I didn't want to see any of it. He whittled me down to watching a couple of scenes with him, I really didn't want to but he was an old and close friend I hadn't seen in a while so didn't want to disapoint him. So we watched the wrestling sequence and the fight with Flash Thompson, they really blew me away, could not believe how much they felt like true Spider-man, but, I wish I'd waited until getting to the theatre before seeing them, they were highlights of the origin for me, esp seeing PP handing Flash his comeuppance, something I always wanted to see in the early books, beat 'the living brain' boxing match.