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(For news from previous months, click on the "News archives" link on
the left)
August 27, 2005
More Batman Begins DVD cover work
source:
DVD Answers
DVD Answers has a scan of the back cover art for the Batman Begins
DVD. It can be found
Here
In other DVD news, The Fourth Volume of Batman: The Animated Series is due
for a December 12 release. Below are the specs and features for the set (source:
Toonzone)
Disc 1 - Holiday Knights; Sins of the Father; Cold Comfort; Double
Talk; You Scratch My Back; Never Fear
Disc 2 - Joker's Millions; Growing Pains; Love Is a Croc; Torch Song; The
Ultimate Thrill; Over the Edge
Disc 3 - Mean Seasons; Critters; Cult of the Cat; Animal Act; Old Wounds;
The Demon Within
Disc 4 - Legends of the Dark Knight; Girls' Nite Out; Mad Love;
Chemistry; Beware the Creeper; Judgment Day
Special Features
• Audio Commentary: Commentary on "Over the Edge", "Critters" and "Legends of
the Dark Knight" by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Glen Murakami, James Tucker, Dan Riba
and Moderator Jason Hillhouse
• Featurette: Arkham's Finest: Inside Batman's Rogue Gallery
Hit the link to Toonzone to see the cover art for this set.
Gail Simone and Birds of Prey 85
source:
Newsarama
Newsarama has an interview with writer Gail Simone and her plans for Barbara
Gordon. However be warned that the interview contains a MAJOR SPOILER about an
interesting plot point that could have ramifications on the book. The Interview
can be found at the link above (SPOILERS)
Sneak peak at Batman and the Monster Men
source:
Newsarama
Also at
Newsarama is a four page preview of Matt Wagner's mini series Batman and
the Monster Men #1. This is one of two mini series that Matt Wagner is doing
based on two classic Batman stories.
August 22, 2005
Official Press Release on Batman Begins DVD
source: Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers has issued a press release on the
upcoming Batman Begins DVD. The info in it has already been stated many times
before (scroll down to August 16 update) but anyone interested can find the
release
Here
Producer Charles Roven says villain undecided for next film
source:
Chicago Sun Times
Batman Begins co producer Charles Roven told the Chicago Sun Times that at
this time, no one is being considered for a villain role in the Batman Begins
sequel and that the villain hasn't been decided on. He also left open the
possibility of the film crew returning to Chicago.
August 18, 2005
Batman Anthology DVD news
source:
DVD Answers,
Comics Continuum
DVD Answers has the cover art for the Region 2 DVD's of this set. As well,
Comics Continuum has a picture of the case for the gift set. Go
Here for the Region 2 artwork and
Here for the Case picture
Alternate Cover to Infinite Crisis #1
source: Newsarama
Head down to
Newsarama to get a look at George Perez's alternate cover to Infinite Crisis
#1. Perez was the artist of 'The Crisis on Infinite Earths'.
Tara Strong joins 'The Batman'
source: Comics
Continuum
Voice actress Tara Strong will be doing the voice of Vicky Vale in the direct
to Video film Batman vs. Dracula. Strong's other credits include The
Powerpuff Girls (Bubbles) and Teen Titans (Raven)
August 16, 2005
Batman Begins cover art and DVD details
source: The Digital Bits
Warner Brothers has released the cover art for the Widescreen and the Deluxe
Edition of Batman Begins. The Deluxe Edition will be a two disc set with
documentaries and other features (Scroll down to the August 9 update for a list
of the features) In addition a 72 page comic collecting the stories of
Detective Comics 27, The Man Who Falls and The Long Halloween
will come with this disc. The other disc (widescreen) will only have the film.
Go Here to
see the cover art of both DVD's
Batman Begins sets IMAX records
source: IMAX corporation
In addition to finally passing the 200 million dollar milestone, IMAX
corporation announced that Batman Begins is IMAX's highest grossing 2-D
remastered film ever. Here is the press release
IMAX Corporation and
Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience is
now IMAX's highest grossing digitally re-mastered 2D release, reaching the
milestone in less than nine weeks. With total grosses of $14.5 million on 72
worldwide IMAX screens, it eclipses the record set by The Matrix Reloaded: The
IMAX Experience, which grossed just over $14 million in twenty-two weeks. For
the three day period from Friday, August 12 to Sunday, August 14 - its eighth
weekend of release - Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience grossed an estimated
$203,000 in 51 North American IMAX® theatres, an increase of eight per cent over
the prior weekend. The film has now achieved a cumulative domestic per screen
average of nearly $215,000 and continues to show extraordinary staying power.
"The fact that Batman Begins set this box office record so quickly and continues
to post great results underscores how perfectly suited the picture is for The
IMAX Experience®," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and
Bradley J. Wechsler. "This film's strong performance is a key reason why IMAX's
grosses are up considerably this summer and we're delighted so many moviegoers
are exploring the origins of the Batman legend in IMAX theatres. IMAX continues
to further solidify its position as the place to see the biggest Hollywood event
films in both our unparalleled 2D and IMAX® 3D formats."
All Star Batman and Robin
tops July Sales
source:
Newsarama
All Star Batman and Robin
was the top selling comic in the month of June according to
Diamond Distributors. Here is how other Batman titles fared.
#6: Superman/Batman 21
#27: Batman 642
#51: Nightwing 110
#52: Detective Comics 808
#66: Gotham Knights 67
#67: Batman: Dark Detective 5
#68: Birds of Prey 84 (Technically no longer a Bat book but posted for old times
sake)
#70: Batman: Dark Detective 6
#73: Robin 140
#79: Batgirl 66
#85: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 193
#91: Year One Batman/Ras Al Ghul 2
#94: Batman Jekyll and Hide 4
#99: Catwoman 45
August 11, 2005
Batman Anthology Cover art released
source:
The Digital BitsHead down to The Digital Bits to get a look at the
cover arts for the special editions of the previous Batman films. The cover art
for the 1943 serials is also there.
Matt Wagner's Batman: Dark Moon Rising details
source:
Newsarama
This November Writer/Artist Matt Wagner will do two six part miniseries
featuring Batman titled Batman: The Monster Men and Batman: The Mad Monk. Both
are retellings of two early Batman stories with some slight tweaking and
updating. The series was originally planned as one 12 part miniseries before it
was broken into two. Click the link above to Newsarama to read more details.
Batman Begins reaches 200 million mark
source: Box Office Mojo
Well call it the little Bat film that could. As of August 11, Batman Begins
has made a total of 200,099,489 dollars domestically. Add to that the world
figure of $160,167,000 and the total this film has made
is $360,266,489
August 9, 2005
Batman Begins sequel news
source:
Sci Fi WireIn an interview with Sci Fi Wire, Producer Chuck Roven said
that Batman Begins cast members Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Michael
Caine and Gary Oldman have signed on for the sequel. He also stated that new
cast members are under consideration and director Christopher Nolan is not
signed yet.
In other sequel news, Cillian Murphy told
Comingsoon.net that he would love to do another Batman film and the studio
has an option on him to do future films
Batman DVD news
source:
The
Digital Bits
The Digital Bits has
obtained some information on what features will appear on the Batman Begins
disc. They are as follows
-2-disc DVD set
-10 behind-the-scenes featurettes (including The Journey Begins,
Genesis of the Bat,
Path to Discovery, Shaping Mind and Body, Gotham City Rises,
Cape and Cowl, The Tumbler, Saving Gotham City,
Reflections on Writing and Digital Batman),
-Teaser and theatrical trailers
-Easter eggs.
The site is speculating that the disc will have anamorphic widescreen, Dolby 5.1
surround sound and a commentary track by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer
In other DVD news, Sony Pictures
Home Entertainment is releasing the
The Batman: The 1943 Serial Collection
on October 18.
Wizard World Chicago highlights
source: Newsarama
Though there weren't too many Batman related surprises (unless you count Jeph
Loeb becoming exclusive to Marvel) DC did answer some questions in regards to
their All Star Batman and Robin title and provide more info on their
upcoming Infinite Crisis storyline. Go
Here to see what Frank Miller and Jim Lee say about All Star Batman and
Robin and
Here for news on Infinite Crisis
August 5, 2005
Michael Uslan talks Batman
source: Superhero Hype
Superhero Hype has an extensive interview with executive producer Michael
Uslan who has been involved with all the Batman films. He talks about his career
and the long road that he took to bringing the Dark Knight to the big screen
along with the obstacles he faced along the way.
The Interview can be found
Here
Frank Miller praises Batman Begins
source:
Suicide Girls
Frank Miller has joined artist (and current collaborator) Jim Lee in praising
the latest Batman film. Here are his thoughts
FM: I saw Batman Begins. I thought it was pretty
damn good.
DRE: When an element from your screenplay or from Batman: Year One showed up,
such as when he signaled the bats with the boot button, did you like that?
FM: Oh wasn’t that fun? I just loved that. The thing is, when you work on a
collection of works like Batman, you expect that people are going to naturally
harvest your ideas. I don’t think it’s anything to be petulant about. Frankly I
thought they did a pretty damn good job of it and mainly I just wanted it to be
a good movie. That’s all I really cared about. I didn’t make up Batman so I’m
making no claims.
{...}
FM: You know, that’s what’s happening now, man. I noticed that Christian Bale’s
Batman was very informed by the comics. There was nothing sarcastic about it and
there wasn’t some otherworldly take on the character. His very first moment,
when he says, “No, you’re practice.” That’s the Batman I know. I really liked
that about it.
DRE: It was really cool that the thugs never saw Batman. Batman is the best hand
to hand fighter/ninja in the world and you never see him hit you. All of a
sudden you wake up in the hospital.
FM: Yeah, right. “Hey what happened to my arm?” I think that they did a real
nice job that way. We’ve got a new generation of actors coming up who really
want to play the comic book characters instead of saying “This is my
interpretation of these pissant comic books.”
Hit the link above to read Miller's thoughts on other
projects. (Thanks to good friend 'Super85' for sharing this info)
August 2, 2005
Batman Anthology DVD specs released
source: Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers has released the specs for their upcoming Batman Anthology.
It appears that Batman Forever will be the Theatrical version and not the long
rumoured director's cut
The following materials will appear on the two-disc
Batman
Special Edition:
- Commentary by Tim Burton
- On the Set With Bob Kane
- Legends of the Dark Knight: The History of Batman, which
follows the comic book series through seven decades of changes and
re-inventions
- Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight,
which includes parts 1-3: "The Road to Gotham City," "The Gathering
Storm," and "The Legend Reborn"
- Beyond Batman documentary gallery, which features
"Visualizing Gotham: The Production Design of Batman," "Building the
Batmobile," "Those Wonderful Toys: The Props and Gadgets of Batman,"
"Designing the Batsuit," "From Jack to Joker," and "Nocturnal
Overtures: The Music of Batman"
- Music videos by Prince, including "Batdance," "Partyman" and
"Scandalous"
- The Heroes and The Villains profile galleries
- Batman: The Complete Robin Storyboard Sequence
- New digital transfer with both Dolby 5.1 and DTS surround
- Theatrical trailer
The Batman Returns disc features the following extras:
- Commentary by Burton
- The Bat, The Cat and The Penguin, in which cast and crew
recall the making of the sequel
- Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight
part 4, entitled "The Dark Side of the Dark Knight"
- Beyond Batman documentary gallery, which features "Gotham
City Revisited: The Production Design of Batman Returns," "Sleek,
Sexy and Sinister: The Costumes of Batman Returns," "Making Up the
Penguin," "Assembling the Arctic Army," and "Bats, Mattes and Dark
Nights: The Visual Effects of Batman"
- "Face to Face" music video by Siouxsie and the Banshees
- The Heroes and The Villains profile galleries
- New digital transfer with both Dolby 5.1 and DTS surround
- Theatrical trailer
Included on the Batman Forever Special Edition:
- Commentary by Joel Schumacher
- Additional scenes
- Riddle Me This: Why is Batman Forever, which examines how
a new director and cast created a new version of Gotham's classic
heroes and villains
- Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight,
part 5: "Reinventing a Hero"
- Beyond Batman documentary gallery, which features "Out of
the Shadows: The Production Design of Batman Forever," "The Many
Faces of Gotham City," "Knight Moves: The Stunts of Batman Forever,"
"Imaging Forever: The Visual Effects of Batman Forever," "Scoring
Forever: The Music of Batman Forever"
- "Kiss From a Rose" music video by Seal
- The Heroes and The Villains profile galleries
- New digital transfer with both Dolby 5.1 and DTS surround
- Theatrical trailer
And Batman & Robin features these bonus materials:
- Commentary by Schumacher
- Additional scene "Alfred's Lost Love"
- Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight,
part 6: "Batman Unbound"
- Beyond Batman documentary gallery, which features
"Bigger, Bolder, Brighter: The Production Design of Batman & Robin,"
"Maximum Overdrive: The Vehicles of Batman & Robin," "Dressed to
Thrill: The Costumes of Batman & Robin," Frozen Freaks and Femme
Fatales: The Makeup of Batman & Robin," and "Freeze Frame: The
Visual Effects of Batman & Robin"
- Four music videos, including "The End is the Beginning is the
End" by Smashing Pumpkins, "Foolish Games" by Jewel, "Gotham City"
by R. Kelly, and "Look Into My Eyes" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
- The Heroes and The Villains profile galleries
- New digital transfer with both Dolby 5.1 and DTS surround
- Theatrical trailer