“The Dark Knight” to be Re-Released in January
It has been confirmed by Warner Bros. that they will re-release The Dark Knight in January on various IMAX movie screen across the country. The re-release will occur right around Oscar season. Warner Bros. says they are still in negotiations with movie theaters as to which IMAX screens will be chosen to screen the second-biggest grossing movie of all time, but a decision has not yet been made if it will also be shown on normal conventional screens.
I find this to be a brilliant move by Warner Bros. When the time comes to announce the Oscar nominations, as I have openly stated in class, it will be a news stort whose size and popularity will captivate the American audience in such a way that it will rival the Presidential election (I’m not saying that I agree that it should, I just agree that it will). The re-release of The Dark Knight will be an opportunity to give critics a second look at a film that goes above and beyond just being another superhero flick. This may give the film further credit to receive an Oscar nomination for something other than special effects.
Most importantly, of course, the re-release will give critics everywhere a second look at the brilliant performace of Heath Ledger as The Joker. I don’t think that a second look would even be necessary, but it should definately help. Critics get a second chance to see that Ledger’s portrayal isn’t just a random duplication of a random goofy comic book character. There hasn’t been a role such as this that has enthralled moviegoers everywhere in such a way since Jack Nicholson’s R.P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975. Ledger’s role is in a league of its own, and now gets a second chance to get recognized as such.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
J.B.- your blog looks good. You’re definitely doing a good job taking an argument that seems hard to defend with solid evidence (not saying it’s hard to defend, because I think a lot of people, including me, agree with your assertion that Ledger deserves the Oscar nod) and backing it up quite well. I also agree that re-releasing The Dark Knight on IMAX is a great move. It will re-expose Ledger’s greatness on a new stage, and hopefully any critics of Ledger will change their minds. I think it’s ridiculous that parts of Ledger’s life not relating to acting would ever affect his eligibility for an Oscar. I don’t know a great deal about the Oscars, but I just think that they should be based on raw performance instead of background information. His performance, I agree, was truly unparalleled in recent times. I’m excited to see The Dark Knight again on the IMAX. Hopefully it will be released around here.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:40 am
Now, that’s interesting. WB is certainly thinking there is Oscar material there if they want to spend the money on the re-release. I have a feeling you’ll be in the theaters again!