"Dark Knight" Director: I'm "Suprised" At Movie's Success

TOKYO (Reuters) - Christopher Nolan, director of the new Batman sequel "The Dark Knight", said on Tuesday even he was surprised at the film's box office success which has shattered records in North American theatres.

Batman buried his rivals at the North American box office for a second weekend on Sunday, racing past $300 million in a record 10 days, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said.

"When you do a film of this scale, you are certainly hoping to reach a large number of people. But I think we all have been completely taken by surprise by the scale of the film's success in America particularly," Nolan told reporters in Tokyo.

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Comments

[mamacat]

May I kindly say that I am not as impressed with the movie as apparently some are. It was pretty good for what it was, another Batman movie, but it started to get boring after awhile. Of course the part of the Joker was acted splendidly, and Gary Oldman does a wonderful job in this role.

I think it shows how shallow we are when this movie gets the attention that it has.

[ChrisR]

I totally agree - just saw the movie this afternoon, and tho I hate to use the word "stupid", even about a comic book film, it was actually frustrating to watch. Mr. Ledger was fascinating, but any talk about an oscar is too much.
What a film, when the homicidal psycho maniac is more appealing than the supposed hero.
I blame the director - it was like a 5 hour movie crammed into 2 1/2 hours. He SHOULD be surprised at the film's success, probably because he knows deep-down how much better it could have been.
Another note: folks brought their little kids to see this. I foresee a LOT of therapy in the future for 'em! Way too dark a film for kids: grisly images and wicked loud. I laughed quite a few times, but it was mainly during the "dramatic" scenes. Glad I caught the matinee price!
Digital effects and massive explosions are wearing out their welcome with me. I wish they'd tone 'em down to keep them special. It's like chocolate sauce on ice cream: just a little bit please.

[flyers]

Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, man this guy is on a roll! What I love about Nolan is that all his films bring something more then your typical movie these days. He tries to give the audience a good story, good characters, and doesn't try to dazzle you with special effects. All I want to do when I go to the movies is not know exactly what is going to happen the minute I step into the theater, I with the movie to have characters with some depth, and a point to the movie that makes you think about when you walk out. Lately, summer movies are all about CGI and constant action to appeal to teenagers, but Nolan proved that you can make a grown up movie and grown up will show up and break box office records. Take not Hollywood, not everyone needs to wowed by CGI when they goto the movies.

[FlippyO]

"Suprised" looks so horribly misspelled in such a large font, doesn't it?

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

That's embarrassing. If I was Nolan, I'd be calling for someone's head right now.

[DennyCrane]

One of my favorite directors even prior to The Dark Knight. He's yet to make a bad movie. I just hope WB hands out bonuses to everyone involved with this movie. The cast wasn't full of big movie stars, but actual actors who care about their work and aren't just trying to be famous or make big money i.e. Tom Cruise.

[aOsO]

he just became the hottest director in Hollywood.

[sonicfilter]

P2P downloads haven't hurt this one at all. As usual.

The MPAA is living in a dream world. You can't lose money you never would have made in the first place. Now if all the movies that are made would be worth paying to go see then it would be a different story, but most of them aren't even worth downloading on a P2P. If a movie is good enough P2P will never hurt it.