TDK......Batmania 2008?

[Paul (ral)]

i was just thinking, won't most of the sumer blockbusters be out of the cinemas by july 18th?

iron man, indy, hulk? all either gone or on the way out - there is nothing to stand in TDK's way!

[Gotham Knight]

i was just thinking, won't most of the sumer blockbusters be out of the cinemas by july 18th?

iron man, indy, hulk? all either gone or on the way out - there is nothing to stand in TDK's way!

With all do respect to TDK, Indy 4 just past the 700 mill mark worldwide and while I think TDK will be a close number two, Indy 4 is gonna own 08.

[The Joker]

The hype for TDK does indeed seem to be picking up more and more steam the closer we get to the release date, but so far I'm not getting that level of hype Burton's Batman 1989 recieved back in the summer of 1989.

Personally, I think the only superhero film that is even close in terms of Hype and anticipation since, would be Spider-Man. We'll see how this plays out. I'm glad to see TDK being so anticipated by a good number of people this summer, but I cant say I'm expecting that same kinda level of hype Batman 1989 recieved.

[greggbray]

I don't think you're going to see the level of hype for B89.  There is hype, to be sure--sadly, some of it is morbid (Ledger's passing). 

But that's not to take away from the film.  I'm sure if Ledger were still with us, there would be the palpable buzz that there is now, but it would be a different kind of buzz. 

Having said that, Batman (89) was the first big-budget 'serious' attempt at a darker comic book properly, and the first Batman to truly adapt elements of the comics. 

Almost 20 years later, we have seen many films follow its formula for success.

A personal note: While I greatly anticipate TDK, it's no where near the level of excitement that I had for B89.

[Paul (ral)]

A personal note: While I greatly anticipate TDK, it's no where near the level of excitement that I had for B89.

For me....it's not far off 

The hyoe does seem to be building.  One of the papers I saw last night had a 2 page spread on a british actress who is playing Maroni's mistress (actually it didn't say much if anything at all about the movie) - with Batman in big letters across them - so the hype is building.

[greggbray]

^ Oh, don't get me wrong, the hype is there!  But at the level of B89?

I'm not sure. Perhaps had there been 'the internet' (or at least our current version of it) back then, things would be a little different.  It's tough to compare.  Without the WWW, it was plastered on every magazine, billboard, tv network, etc.

Also, much of what would be in Batman was kept a mystery.  There were dark shots of 'Joker' in the commercial, and Batman was barely seen outside of a shadow.  There was so much speculation about what everybody was going to actually look like, or how the narrative was going to unfold...plus, it was the first serious stab at the character, and redefined comic book films.

TDK, while hyped like crazy, just doesn't compare.  Maybe this is nostalgia weighing in too much, I was an eager teenager in 1989.