Tag: The Dark Knight

Reelgood Seeks to Simplify Oft-Changing Content Streaming Access

Content rights on over-the-top video platforms are constantly in flux. TV shows and movies bounce around from different streaming platforms due to the nature of evolving distribution agreements.

Reelgood, the platform that scans myriad streaming services its 2 million users are using, released a historical catalog chart data showing highlighting the long and winding online road for Warner Bros. Pictures’ Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The chart was made to visualize how often and how quickly content tends to jump from one streaming service to another.

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‘Dark Knight,’ ‘Grease,’ ‘Shrek’ Join National Film Registry

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden Dec. 14 announced the annual selection of American films to join the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, this year putting a spotlight on diverse filmmakers.

“The National Film Registry is an important record of American history, culture and creativity, captured through one of the great American artforms, our cinematic experience,” Hayden said. “With the inclusion of diverse filmmakers, we are not trying to set records but rather to set the record straight by spotlighting the astonishing contributions women and people of color have made to American cinema, despite facing often-overwhelming hurdles.”

Under the National Film Preservation Act, each year the National Film Registry chooses 25 films for preservation due to their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage. This year’s selections include a record number of films directed by women and filmmakers of color, including 10 directed by women and seven by people of color.

Among the class of 2020 are the innovative silent film Suspense, which was co-directed by a woman in 1913; Sidney Poitier’s Oscar-winning performance in 1963’s Lilies of the Field; the 1978 mega-hit musical Grease; 1980’s musical comedy The Blues Brothers; the animated blockbuster Shrek, co-directed by Vicky Jenson in 2001; and one of the biggest public vote getters, director Christopher Nolan’s 2008 Batman film The Dark Knight.

“This is not only a great honor for all of us who worked on The Dark Knight, this is also a tribute to all of the amazing artists and writers who have worked on the great mythology of Batman over the decades,” Nolan said.

Other selections include 1993’s The Joy Luck Club from director Wayne Wang; the atypical war film The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow; Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange; and the 2010 PBS documentary Freedom Riders, which becomes the most-recent film in the registry.

The registry now includes 800 films, a fraction of the 1.3 million films in the Library’s collections. More information about the National Film Registry can be found at loc.gov/film.

 

The Librarian of Congress makes the annual registry selections after conferring with the distinguished members of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) and a cadre of Library specialists. Also considered were more than 5,500 titles nominated by the public. Films must be at least 10 years old. Nominations for next year will be accepted through the fall at loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/nominate/.

In addition to advising the Librarian of Congress on the annual selection of titles to the National Film Registry, the NFPB also provides counsel on national preservation planning policy. Many titles named to the registry have already been preserved by the copyright holders, filmmakers or other archives. In cases where a selected title has not already been preserved, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film will be preserved by some entity and available for future generations, either through the Library’s motion picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion picture studios and independent filmmakers.

The Packard Campus is a state-of-the-art facility where the nation’s library acquires, preserves and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings (loc.gov/avconservation/). It is home to more than 8.8 million collection items.

In 2013, the Library of Congress released a report that conclusively determined that 70 percent of the nation’s silent feature films have been lost forever and only 14 percent exist in their original 35 mm format.

 

Films Selected for the 2020 National Film Registry (in chronological order):

  • Suspense (1913)
  • Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)
  • Bread (1918)
  • The Battle of the Century (1927)
  • With Car and Camera Around the World (1929)
  • Cabin in the Sky (1943)
  • Outrage (1950)
  • The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
  • Lilies of the Field (1963)
  • A Clockwork Orange (1971)
  • Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)
  • Wattstax (1973)
  • Grease (1978)
  • The Blues Brothers (1980)
  • Losing Ground (1982)
  • Illusions (1982)
  • The Joy Luck Club (1993)
  • The Devil Never Sleeps (1994)
  • Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
  • The Ground (1993-2001)
  • Shrek (2001)
  • Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege (2006)
  • The Dark Knight (2008)
  • The Hurt Locker (2009)
  • Freedom Riders (2010)

 

HBO Max Tweaks ‘Currently Available’ Content List

In the rush to launch HBO Max, WarnerMedia announced a “currently available” list of movies accessible on day 1 (May 27) of SVOD platform’s existence. Turns out the list was a bit wishful thinking.

Max bowed claiming more than 10,000 hours of original and largely catalog content. Some of that included movies such as The Dark Knight, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 13 Going on 30 and The Matrix. While many are Warner Bros. titles, they are not yet available due to existing third-party rights issues. Other titles not available include Man of Steel, “Gossip Girl,” The Iron Giant and “The West Wing.”

First reported by The Verge, the mix-up underscores ongoing growing pains for the upstart high-profile service hoping to attract maximum early attention in a competitive over-the-top video market. About 90,000 people downloaded the Max app on the first day — an unremarkable tally considering Disney+ generated 4 million app downloads on its first day.

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Regardless, Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy has been key to Max pre-launch marketing materials — despite the fact none of the director’s movies are actually available to stream on the service. The animated Harley Quinn” TV series was expected to be on Max. Instead it’s on DC Universe, a separate $8 monthly streaming service owned by WarnerMedia.

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Separately, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is now available on Max, will reportedly be leaving the platform for an undisclosed period of time. The pending director’s cut is making a high-profile debut on Max in 2021.

“[We are] updating this [‘currently available’] section and will post again once it’s complete,” a Max spokesperson said in a statement.

AT&T Eyes Retail Stores for Movie, TV Show Marketing

With more 2,200 standalone retail stores nationwide, AT&T has significant access points to consumers at the street level.

With the acquisition of Time Warner and creation of WarnerMedia, AT&T wants to use its retail presence as a marketing tool for Warner Bros. movies, HBO and Turner programming, John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications, told an investor group.

Speaking June 5 at the at the Credit Suisse Communications Broker Conference Call in New York, Donovan said the average AT&T customer visits branded stores three times a year, spending upwards of 30 minutes per visit typically focused on wireless issues.

“That retail presence … becomes a great [marketing] outlet for us to do things,” Donovan said.

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Specifically, AT&T stores gave away movie tickets to Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, sequel to 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and episodic insights to the final season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

Donovan said he was impressed employees at AT&T stores were familiar enough with “Thrones” to share viewing information about the series.

“That drives traffic for us, provides more exposure to the media business, and you start to see these symbiotic relationships,” he said. “They’re getting very familiar with our whole portfolio, and then it just gets to be easier. It doesn’t look like you’re trying to sell or force-fit something.”

While CEO Randall Stephenson’s suggestion that AT&T stores market Warner DVDs might be wishful thinking, Donovan wants to up in-store marketing promotions to increase foot traffic and expand brand awareness.

“Content is a natural draw into the stores,” he said.

Indeed, with much of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight filmed in Chicago, the AT&T Michigan Ave. store has long featured props to Warner superheroes.

Last year, the store featured the Batmobile, which Donovan said contributed to 70,000 “door swings,” up from 40,000 average door swings.

“Do you know what that’s worth to us?” he asked rhetorically. “We’re learning as a company what are these new currencies that you have and how to manage them and execute them. We’re very enthused about what WarnerMedia is going to do for the wireless business, for the TV business and so on.”

 

 

Warner Bros. Re-Releasing Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ Movies on Imax Screens

In honor of the 80th anniversary of the first published appearance of the Batman comic in May 1939, Warner Bros. March 13 began selling tickets to special Imax screenings for all three movies from director Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy featuring Christian Bale as the masked crusader.

Moviegoers who acquire tickets for all three films receive a lanyard and special “Dark Knight” Trilogy collectible.

Christopher Nolan directs Christian Bale and Tom Hardy in ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’

On March 30, the films — 2005’s Batman Begins, 2008’s The Dark Knight and 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises— will screen back-to-back at the Universal Cinema AMC in Los Angeles. During an interlude between the second and third films, Nolan will join the audience for a moderated Q&A discussion on the movies.

On April 13, the three films will screen at AMC Lincoln Square in New York and AMC Metreon in San Francisco, followed by Cinesphere Ontario Place, Toronto, and Imax Theatre at the Indiana State Museum, Ind., on April 20, each accompanied by the footage of Nolan’s Los Angeles appearance.

In all five cities, all three movies will be seen in the director’s preferred 70mm format, providing an all-encompassing moviegoing experience.

Nolan with The Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger as The Joker) was the first director to shoot action sequences of a major feature film with Imax cameras, revolutionizing the integration of Imax and standard formats. He utilized Imax cameras more extensively in The Dark Knight Rises.

Heath Ledger as The Joker in ‘The Dark Knight.’

“Christopher Nolan broke new ground with the ‘Dark Knight’ Trilogy, and this is a rare chance for today’s audiences to experience these extraordinary films as they were meant to be seen,” Jeff Goldstein, president, domestic distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, said in a statement. “To have the added privilege of hearing Chris’s insights firsthand makes this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”