So, The Dark Knight Rises happened. But as much as Christopher Nolan's Batman finale tied the themes of the entire trilogy together with emotion and weight, capping what began in Batman Begins and continued in The Dark Knight with a full-circle completion of Bruce Wayne's journey as a hero and symbol of hope in Gotham City and the world, well, there were just a dozen too many plot holes and contrivances along the way to ignore. Or were there? Let's dive right into spoiler territory and navigate the WTF-iest of TDKR's more perplexing leaps of logic, shall we?
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Also in Monday morning's round-up of news briefs, Magnolia Pictures' The Queen of Versailles debuted strong in the specialty box office. Emile Hirsch in talks for Navy role and the Teamsters set contract with producers.
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Despite Warner Bros. and the rest of Hollywood officially declining to disclose box-office grosses in the wake of Friday's multiplex shooting in Colorado, reports have The Dark Knight Rises earning a record-setting $160 million and change over the weekend. That would signify the best three-day opening ever for a 2-D release, topping the $158 million earned by its franchise predecessor The Dark Knight and settling into third place on the overall openings list behind The Avengers and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2. [Variety]
"Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of The Dark Knight Rises, I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community. I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families." [via ABC]
"Good morning, shooters," came the tweet from @NRA_Rifleman. "Happy Friday! Weekend plans?"
Funny you should ask.
The tweet was soon deleted by whoever maintains the National Rifle Association-affiliated Twitter account, likely (but unofficially) the reaction to an outpouring of protest over the insensitivity of such a query mere hours after James Holmes allegedly opened fire in an Aurora, Colorado, multiplex, killing 12 and wounding 50. Moreover, it was a stupid question because we know everybody's weekend plans, curled up with the cultural imperative to "process" the event: To blame, to pray, to reflect, to understand. Was it linked to The Dark Knight Rises, whose feverish midnight showing served as the flashpoint of the massacre? Was it an outgrowth of generations of mediated violence — a gory cocktail of TV shows, video games and shoot-'em-up blockbusters? Was it just a 24-year-old nutjob wanting to hurt, maim and kill for no other reason than to simply do it?
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Also in Friday afternoon's round-up of news. Warner Bros. has not seen any indication that the tragic shooting earlier today in Colorado at a Dark Knight Rises showing has had any influence on the pic's ticket sales. In other news, Taylor Kitsch may lead a racing movie franchise and Kevin Costner to play inspiring real-life coach.
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It's hard to imagine most folks will be eager to rush into cinemas this weekend following the tragedy out of Aurora, Colorado, even those who've been anticipating the release of The Dark Knight Rises for months. While Matt Patches over at Hollywood.com thoughtfully wonders if audiences will return swiftly to theaters, The Wrap reports that Warner Bros. are themselves scrambling to figure out how to balance their multi-million dollar Dark Knight Rises roll-out campaign with common decency and empathy for the victims, their families, and a shaken nation.
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ABC's Denver affiliate has acquired and released the first image of James Holmes, the 24-year-old suspect in the shooting attack that left 12 dead and 50 injured this morning at an Aurora, Colorado, multiplex. Local police, meanwhile, have encountered a series of booby traps complicating their investigation of Holmes's apartment.
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A longtime proponent of gun control, New York City Michael Bloomberg weighed in on the tragic shooting early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, that left 12 dead and dozens more wounded at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises. Twenty-four year-old suspect James Holmes was arrested after allegedly opening fire in the crowded theater and carrying a rifle, handgun and gas mask. The tragedy prompted Bloomberg's police commissioner to announce increased security at screenings of The Dark Knight Rises in NYC to prevent any possible copycat incidents.
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This morning's horrific Colorado multiplex shooting, which left at least 12 attendees of a midnight Dark Knight Rises screening dead, has prompted an ongoing wave of reactions from Hollywood to the White House and beyond.
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Also in Friday morning's round-up of news briefs, China is readying a simultaneous roll-out of Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises; a rundown of new titles in an otherwise quiet weekend for new specialty releases. And highlights from the upcoming HollyShorts Film Festival in Hollywood.
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![12 Dead, 50 Wounded at Midnight Screening of The Dark Knight Rises [UPDATED]](http://movieline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/dark_knight_century645-120x67.jpg?w=120&h=120&crop=1)
At least one gunman opened fire at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado, injuring as many as twenty people. An early report from local radio station 850 KOA cites witness reports that a shooter, possibly wearing a mask, opened fire and set off tear gas during a shoot-out scene in the film. Various reports cite at least ten 12 people dead, although details are still emerging with at least one suspect in custody. [UPDATE: 50 others have been wounded in the attack.]
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Following Rush Limbaugh's attempt to cry conspiracy over the idea that The Dark Knight Rises villain Bane was meant as a political jab at Mitt Romney's ties to Bain Capital, comic book writer Chuck Dixon — who created the Bane character for DC's 1993 series Knightfall — chimed in to set the record straight on the character's origins. "Bane was created by me and Graham Nolan and we are lifelong conservatives and as far from left-wing mouthpieces as you are likely to find in comics,” he told ComicBook.com. "He’s far more akin to an Occupy Wall Street type if you’re looking to cast him politically. And if there ever was a Bruce Wayne running for the White House it would have to be Romney." [ComicBook.com via The Guardian]
The Batman brand is in the toilet at the outset of The Dark Knight Rises, the third and most self-consciously ornate pillar of Christopher Nolan’s caped crusader resurrection trilogy. The four years since The Dark Knight have passed as eight within the city state of Gotham — one of the neater doublings in a movie inlaid with prismatic tiling — and even the mayor condemns Batman as “a murderous thug.”
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The Dark Knight Rises finally arrives this weekend, and curiously, amid the hype attending Christopher Nolan and his top-flight cast, two other performers have been strongly covered in the media: The behemoth tank that is The Tumbler, and the exciting off-shoot vehicle known as The Batpod. Considering the latter is one of the most arresting two-wheelers ever featured on-screen, we celebrate its revival by highlighting nine other curiosities Hollywood has offered up in the motorcycle category.
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