Genius Marketing? #27: Dominoes sponsors Batman.

The new trailer actually has some cool new footage. But, wait, Dominoes? They'll go to any and every end possible to promote this thing. It better gross outrageous sums of money. I'm talking Titanic outrageous. If not, well, it'll sure be a waste of ad time -- and money. Cuz I care about this shit. Really. ...not? Really, though -- to be really real about the reality here -- I'm really sad, or maybe I'm just a little miffed, that Heath's Joker won't terrorize CB's Batman for movies to come. That would have been something to watch unfold. --RWK

Genius Marketing #26 Encounter #90 The Dark Knight prologue.

You may not want to watch this but if you're anticipating The Dark Knight as much as I am (a lot, but not over the top) then the geek inside won't be able to resist. Maybe you've already seen it. It's apparently included on the Blu-Ray Batman Begins disc so I imagine it isn't brand new news but the disc doesn't hit stands for another week so this may be news, actually. I dunno. What I do know is that this is tight. Heath Ledger is pretty awesome, as expected, and there's a William Fitchner cameo. A lot of hype-heads are already calling this the greatest movie ever -- and for a lot of people I imagine it will be -- but this video, while cool, isn't going to help that argument. Also funny: it's a segment shot in IMAX, leaked on Blu-Ray and transfered to YouTube. So it's not quite as impressive as it should be. What I'm most curious about is whether or not this is actual footage from the film or if this is simply a test run with the equipment that reveals just enough but not too much to show off before the theatrical release date. In any event, it's another brilliant installment in the marketing plan for this picture. So, without further ado, feast your geeked out eyes on this grainy "Best Quality" clip. --RWK

Genius Marketing #17: New Dark Knight poster.

This comes via Rob Humanick, and while it certainly gets my fanboy juices flowing, it's still pretty hard to top those Joker-specific posters from a while ago (look here). But Heath Ledger's unfortunate, left-field death definitely stopped that marketing plan. How fitting is it that the new tagline is "Welcome to a world without rules"? I'm glad the print team, at least, is back to making this a supreme ad campaign (let's forget this hack-job and the worries it instills) because I have faith that this will be one pretty fucking awesome blockbuster with its questions about seriousness (what is the worth of seriousness and unseriousness? isn't unseriousness still a form of seriousness?), its abandonment of rules (think about how rules work, or don't, in The Prestige) and its Joker (RIP) and its mack trucks flipping over. I hope to see it in IMAX. I hope it knocks my socks off. Then again, I don't want to get too excited. It's not like Christopher Nolan knows how to shoot actions scenes like Gore Verbinski or Steven Spielberg. (Yup, I made that link.) --RWK [Cross posted on VINYL IS HEAVY]

Genius Marketing #1: Why So Serious? (The Dark Knight)

Since I brought up the Joker and his (new?) catchphrase yesterday I thought I'd geek out a bit and throw some accolades of my own at the marketing genius (or team of marketing geniuses) behind the promotional campaign for this summer's The Dark Knight, which I somewhat hate to admit is maybe my most anticipated movie of 2008. (I don't really know what else is coming out. Snow Angels? Ellen Page and Olivia Thrilby making out? Oh, right, Cloverfield on Friday, another film aided by another genius marketing ploy.)

But back to Batman. Or, back to the Joker. How do you replace Jack Nicholson's performance? Well, you get a really handsome and talented young guy willing to act a fool and you make him ugly to go along with his own brand of crazy line readings. Heath Ledger is still sexy, sure, and more magnetic than new-to-the-franchise Maggie Gyllenhaal, but that Joker make up is quite a severe look. What's weird is that I think he's kinda right on, if nuts. "Why So Serious?" It's almost as if Heath is asking Christian Bale, not the Joker asking Batman. Cuz, talent and good looks are one thing but Christian Bale is always working. One thing I like about Heath is how much he's willing to play and have fun. (Have you seen those pictures from the set of the new Terry Gilliam movie?) Heath is a lot more like Gary Oldman than I'd thought before. When Batman Begins came out I thought it was Bale who was like Oldman, but maybe Bale is his own brand of crazy. Anyways, the point of this post was to talk about how cool the ads for Heath's turn as the Joker looks like it will be. So how about some ads?



I doubt The Dark Knight will top The Prestige but if it does it will be fucking fantastic. Also: If I could get a job doing this kind of advertising, I'd be pretty happy, and probably pretty rich. But, hey, I don't even have MS Publisher any more. Nor have I had a copy of Photoshop in half a year. --RWK