It's been over a decade since Batman Begins in 2005, a reboot that took the Caped Crusader in a grounded and unique direction. And then after taking a break to release The Prestige the following year, Nolan returned with what's considered the greatest superhero movie ever made: The Dark Knight.
Starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, and 2019 seeing the most superhero movie releases ever - so its success was somewhat of a wake-up call for the industry. The thing is, people may be forgetting just how big it really was.
The Dark Knight Made More Money Than Infinity War
Last year saw the release of Anthony and Joe Russo's Avengers: Infinity War earned $2.048 billion at the worldwide box office, of which a third - $678.8 million - came from the United States. That itself is a lot of money, but here's the thing: that's actually less than what The Dark Knight earned at the domestic box office when adjusting for ticket price inflation.
The Dark Knight made $535.2 million domestically in 2008. When ing for inflation, it earned $680.98 million using 2018 ticket prices; that's a bit more than $2 million extra. (Side note: The Dark Knight was the first superhero movie ever to cross $1 billion at the box office, and it did so without ever releasing in China.) Plus, according to Box Office Mojo, The Dark Knight also pulled in about 2 million more tickets than Infinity War. That's not to say Infinity War wasn't big, because it certainly was, but there's an entire generation out there that may not realize just how big The Dark Knight was when it hit theaters in 2008, and its success ultimately changed the entire movie industry.
How The Dark Knight Changed The Movie Industry
In addition to popularizing the superhero movie genre even more than it already was, use of IMAX cameras in feature films. While movies have been releasing in IMAX theaters for many, many years, The Dark Knight was the first movie to actually use IMAX cameras during filming; of course, it was only for a handful of scenes, but the opening shot was convincing enough to make the use of IMAX cameras a standard for blockbuster movies going forward.
Secondly, while Marvel's Best Picture nomination at the Oscars (though it wouldn't be the first comic book movie to earn an Oscar nomination in and of itself), the only reason it would have that particular distinction is because the Academy didn't nominate The Dark Knight in 2009. Sure, Heath Ledger set the record for posthumously winning Best ing Actor, but The Dark Knight was snubbed at the Oscars for Best Picture. And that's why the following year, the Academy Awards increased the number of potential nominees from five to 10... all because of The Dark Knight.
-
It's been almost 11 years since The Dark Knight released in theaters, but its impact on pop culture and the filmmaking industry hasn't waned. However, sometimes it doesn't hurt to remind people just why certain things are the way they are... because of The Dark Knight.
