In 2005, Warner Bros. rebooted the Batman franchise with
Christopher Nolan as director. The first installment in the Nolan-Bat trilogy—Batman
Begins—opened to a mediocre $72.9 million over its 5-day opening. However,
the film went on to gross $205.3 million; it was not close to Marvel’s
Spider-Man but it still ignited the start of DC comics' superheroes again. The year after, DC and WB released Superman Returns, an alternate sequel to original Superman film series; it eventually scored a higher gross than Batman
Begins, but was still a disappointment in the eyes of Warner Bros. In 2008,
the Bat sequel finally hit theaters on July 18 and broke the record of
highest-opening weekend with $158.4 million. It astonished many people including
Warner Bros. and reinforced the fact that DC comics still had hard-core fans
and was prominent throughout North America.
On top of a staggering opening weekend, The Dark Knight went on
to become the second-highest grossing film just behind Titanic with
$533.3 million. Soon enough Marvel’s The Avengers grabbed most of its
records and became a formidable opponent for the finale of Nolan’s Batman
trilogy—one of the most anticipated films of 2012. What makes The Avengers
a worthy opponent is its ostensibly insurmountable $207.4 million debut.
However, it had the advantage of 3D premiums that boosted its
opening weekend with $35 million. Equivalently, The Dark Knight Rises
has the advantage of IMAX, but the question is: Will it be good enough?
In the last decade, many finales have been greatly successful.
The three most notable finales of the last decade are The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. A comparison of the opening
weekend for each of the respective predecessors illustrates that there was a
note-worthy increase: a 22% increase from Two Towers to The Return of
the King; a 44% improvement from Star Wars: Episode II to Episode III;
and a 35% escalation from Part 1 to Part 2 of the Harry Potter finale. However,
The Dark Knight Rises has one advantage the other two finales did not—a cryptic
ending. Unlike Lord of the Rings 3 and Harry Potter 8, Nolan’s superhero film
is not based on a book thereby making the ending a mystery. This “darkness” effectively
creates a higher level of anticipation and hype. An example of the hype is the
attack on negative reviewers on the review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes,
for the final “Batman” tentpole. Such an increased interest over the internet
would reflect the ticket sales of the film.
Although the film’s marketing campaign has not grown gradually
from film-to-film as it has for The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises’
promotion has been steadily building up for four years, starting with a viral
campaign and ending with the pre-release of the Hans Zimmer soundtrack. The
introduction of the soundtrack effectively creates more enthusiasm as it allows
the fans to envision what is to come in the film.
Both the trailers and the posters have belabored the tagline—“The
Legend Ends”—in order to highlight finality of the series thereby making the movie a must-see attraction. Along with
this tagline, the previews have focused on the action and the IMAX aspects—the film
features more than 70 minutes of IMAX footage. The two previous films mainly
attracted male adults and the promotion of the film was targeted for this demographic.
As a means to widen the audience, most of the trailers focus on Catwoman—the femininity
of the film—who is popular in the female world. The ball and dance scene with
Catwoman also presents a mysterious relationship between Batman and Catwoman—one
that will surely attract many females.
With the absence of the Joker in this film, another villain that
is probably even stronger than Wayne was needed to create fear in much of the
audience; the best choice was Bane. Even one of the posters depicts a shattered
Batman mask on the ground, which may suggest the death of Batman. The possibility
that Batman may die, not only heightens the alacrity of fans, but also invokes
a variety of emotions in the audience. The ultimate question in this marketing
move is “Will Batman die?”
Other than the 3D downside, Nolan’s finale suffers from a
near- 3 hour runtime that is challenging theater owners in meeting all the
demand. One of the solutions is to screen the film continuously for 24-72 hours
at some of the location. The chain, along with AMC Theaters, offers 3:30 a.m.- 4
a.m. show times on Friday. It is also opening in a record-breaking 332 IMAX
locations that will surely accommodate the IMAX demands. It is possible this
move will lead to the biggest-opening day; Deathly Hallows - Part 2's opening day record is at stake!
Opening in a superhero record 4,404 locations, The Dark
Knight Rises will have no trouble garnering more than $180 million over its
3-day debut. Expect a record shattering $210.5 million.
Pros:
1. IMAX surcharge
2. Wide Release—4,404 locations and 332 IMAX locations, each of which is more than that of The Avengers.
3. Release Date—Its summer time: No school, everyone is out and running.
4. The sense of closure: The Dark Knight Rises is a finale, a must-see film.
2. Wide Release—4,404 locations and 332 IMAX locations, each of which is more than that of The Avengers.
3. Release Date—Its summer time: No school, everyone is out and running.
4. The sense of closure: The Dark Knight Rises is a finale, a must-see film.
Cons:
1. Absence of 3D
2. Long Runtime (164 minutes), so less showings.
2. Long Runtime (164 minutes), so less showings.
Opening Weekend Forecast: $210.5 million
