The Dark Knight (film)

Before the release of Batman Begins, screenwriter David S. Goyer wrote a treatment for two sequels which introduced the Joker and Harvey Dent.[58] His original intent was for the Joker to scar Dent during the Joker's trial in the third film, turning Dent into the supervillain Two-Face.[59] Goyer, who penned the first draft of the film, cited the DC Comics 13-issue comic book limited series Batman: The Long Halloween as the major influence on his storyline.[39] According to veteran Batman artist Neal Adams, he met with David Goyer in Los Angeles, and the story would eventually look to Adams and writer Denny O'Neil's 1971 story "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" that appeared in Batman #251, in which O'Neil and Adams re-introduced the Joker.[60] While initially uncertain of whether or not he would return to direct the sequel, Nolan did want to reinterpret the Joker on screen.[16] On July 31, 2006, Warner Bros. officially announced initiation of production for the sequel to Batman Begins titled The Dark Knight;[61] it is the first live-action Batman film without the word "Batman" in its title, which Bale noted as signaling that "this take on Batman of mine and Chris' is very different from any of the others".[62]

After much research, Nolan's brother and co-writer, Jonathan Nolan, suggested the Joker's first two appearances, published in the first issue of Batman (1940), as the crucial influences.[24] Christopher had Jonathan watch Fritz Lang's 1933 crime film The Testament of Dr. Mabuse prior to writing the Joker,[63][64] with the Joker resembling Mabuse's characteristics.[65] Christopher Nolan referred to Lang's film as "essential research for anyone attempting to write a supervillain".[66] Jerry Robinson, one of the Joker's co-creators, was consulted on the character's portrayal.[67] Nolan decided to avoid divulging an in-depth origin story for the Joker, and instead portray his rise to power so as to not diminish the threat he poses, explaining to MTV News, "the Joker we meet in The Dark Knight is fully formed ... To me, the Joker is an absolute. There are no shades of gray to him—maybe shades of purple. He's unbelievably dark. He bursts in just as he did in the comics."[68] Nolan reiterated to IGN, "We never wanted to do an origin story for the Joker in this film", because "the arc of the story is much more Harvey Dent's; the Joker is presented as an absolute. It's a very thrilling element in the film, and a very important element, but we wanted to deal with the rise of the Joker, not the origin of the Joker."[24] Nolan suggested Batman: The Killing Joke influenced a section of the Joker's dialogue in the film, in which he says that anyone can become like him given the right circumstances.[69] Nolan also cited Heat as "sort of an inspiration" for his aim "to tell a very large, city story or the story of a city": "If you want to take on Gotham, you want to give Gotham a kind of weight and breadth and depth in there. So you wind up dealing with the political figures, the media figures. That's part of the whole fabric of how a city is bound together."[24]

According to Nolan, an important theme of the sequel is "escalation", extending the ending of Batman Begins, noting "things having to get worse before they get better".[70] While indicating The Dark Knight would continue the themes of Batman Begins, including justice vs. revenge and Bruce Wayne's issues with his father,[71] Nolan emphasized the sequel would also portray Wayne more as a detective, an aspect of his character not fully developed in Batman Begins.[13] Nolan described the friendly rivalry between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent as the "backbone" of the film.[68] He also chose to compress the overall storyline, allowing him to develop Dent into a criminal in The Dark Knight, thus giving the film an emotional arc the unsympathetic Joker could not offer.[69] Nolan acknowledged the title was not only a reference to Batman, but also the fallen "white knight" Harvey Dent.[72]

During rehearsals, Nolan and cast members were mesmerised by Heath Ledger's interpretation of the Joker. Aaron Eckhart recalled, "Chris looked at me and he said, 'Heath is doing something special.' And we all felt that way... When you have Gary Oldman, who's one of our greatest actors, and he's in awe of what Heath was doing, it showed what a performance Heath was giving."[73]

While scouting for shooting locations in October 2006, location manager Robin Higgs visited Liverpool, concentrating mainly along the city's waterfront. Other candidates included Yorkshire, Glasgow, and parts of London.[74] In August 2006, one of the film's producers, Charles Roven, stated that its principal photography would begin in March 2007,[75] but filming was pushed back to April.[76] For its release in IMAX theaters, Nolan shot four major sequences in that format, including the Joker's opening bank robbery and the car chase midway through the film, which marked the first time that a feature film had been even partially shot in the format.[77] Additionally, it was also the first Batman film to use 70 mm film stock.[78][79] The cameras used for non-IMAX 35 mm scenes were Panavision's Panaflex Millennium XL and Platinum.[80]

For fifteen years Nolan had wanted to shoot in the IMAX format, and he also used it for "quiet scenes which pictorially we thought would be interesting".[68] The use of IMAX cameras provided many new challenges for the filmmakers: the cameras were much larger and heavier than standard cameras, and produced noise which made recording dialogue difficult.[81] In addition, the cameras had short film loads ranging from 30 seconds to two minutes[81] and the cost of the film stock was much greater than standard 35 mm film.[82] Nevertheless, Nolan said that he wished that it were possible to shoot the entire film in IMAX: "if you could take an IMAX camera to Mount Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie."[83] In addition, Nolan chose to edit some of the IMAX sequences using the original camera negative, which by eliminating generation loss, raised the film resolution of those sequences up to 18,000 lines.[84]

Director Christopher Nolan (far left) and actor Heath Ledger (in make-up) filming a scene in The Dark Knight with an IMAX camera

Warner Bros. chose to film in Chicago for 13 weeks, because Nolan had a "truly remarkable experience" filming part of Batman Begins there.[85][86] Instead of using the Chicago Board of Trade Building as the location for the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises, as Batman Begins did,[87] The Dark Knight shows Wayne Enterprises as being headquartered in the Richard J. Daley Center.[88] While filming in Chicago, the film was given the false title Rory's First Kiss to lower the visibility of production, but the local media eventually uncovered the ruse.[89] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times commented on the absurdity of the technique, "Is there a Bat-fan in the world that doesn't know Rory's First Kiss is actually The Dark Knight, which has been filming in Chicago for weeks?"[90] Production of The Dark Knight in Chicago generated $45 million in the city's economy and created thousands of jobs.[91] For the film's prologue involving the Joker, the crew shot in Chicago from April 18, 2007 to April 24, 2007.[92][93] They returned to shoot from June 9, 2007, to early September.[91] Noticeably, unlike Batman Begins, less CGI was used to disguise Chicago. Many recognizable locations were used in the film, like the Sears Tower, Navy Pier, 330 North Wabash, the James R. Thompson Center, Trump International Hotel and Tower (which was still incomplete at the time of the film's release[94]), LaSalle Street, The Berghoff, Randolph Street Station, and Hotel 71. An old Brach's factory was used as Gotham Hospital. The defunct Van Buren Street post office doubles as Gotham National Bank for the opening bank robbery. Several sequences, including one car chase, were shot on the lower level of Wacker Drive.[88][95] The Marina City towers also appear in the background throughout the movie.[88]

Pinewood Studios, near London, was the primary studio space used for the production.[96] While planning a stunt with the Batmobile in a special effects facility near Chertsey, England in September 2007, technician Conway Wickliffe was killed when his car crashed.[97] The film is dedicated to both Ledger and Wickliffe.[32] The restaurant scene was filmed at the Criterion Restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, London.[98]

The following month in London at the defunct Battersea Power Station, a rigged 200-foot fireball was filmed, reportedly for an opening sequence, prompting calls from local residents who feared a terrorist attack on the station.[99] A similar incident occurred during the filming in Chicago, when an abandoned Brach's candy factory (which was Gotham Hospital in the film) was demolished.[100]

Filming took place in Hong Kong from November 6 to 11, 2007, at various locations in Central, including Hong Kong's tallest building at the time, the International Finance Centre, for the scene where Batman captures Lau.[101][102][103] Filming also took place on the Central to Mid-Levels covered escalator.[104] The shoot hired helicopters and C-130 aircraft.[101] Officials expressed concern over possible noise pollution and traffic.[102] In response, letters sent to the city's residents promised that the sound level would approximate noise decibels made by buses.[101] Environmentalists also criticized the filmmakers' request to tenants of the waterfront skyscrapers to keep their lights on all night to enhance the cinematography, describing it as a waste of energy.[102] Cinematographer Wally Pfister found the Chinese government officials —who wanted to limit helicopter activity over the city— a "nightmare", and ultimately Nolan had to create Batman's jump from a skyscraper digitally.[31]

Costume designer Lindy Hemming described the Joker's look as reflecting his personality, in that "he doesn't care about himself at all"; she avoided designing him as a vagrant, but still made him appear to be "scruffier, grungier", so that "when you see him move, he's slightly twitchier or edgy".[16][27] Nolan noted, "We gave a Francis Bacon spin to [his face]. This corruption, this decay in the texture of the look itself. It's grubby. You can almost imagine what he smells like."[105] In creating the "anarchical" look of the Joker, Hemming drew inspiration from such countercultural pop culture artists as Pete Doherty, Iggy Pop, and Johnny Rotten.[106] Ledger described his "clown" mask, made up of three pieces of stamped silicone, as a "new technology", taking less than an hour for the make-up artists to apply, much faster than more-conventional prosthetics usually requires. Ledger also said that he felt he was barely wearing any make-up.[16][107]

Hemming and Ledger's Joker design has had an impact in popular and political culture in the form of the Barack Obama "Joker" poster, and has since become a meme in its own right.[108]

Designers improved on the design of the Batsuit from Batman Begins, adding wide elastic banding to help bind the costume to Bale, and suggest more sophisticated technology. It was constructed from 200 individual pieces of rubber, fiberglass, metallic mesh, and nylon. The new cowl was modeled after a motorcycle helmet and separated from the neck piece, allowing Bale to turn his head left and right and nod up and down.[109] The cowl is equipped to show white lenses over the eyes when the character turns on his sonar detection, which gives Batman the white-eyed look from the comics and animation.[110] The gauntlets have retractable razors which can be fired.[109] Though the new costume is eight pounds heavier, Bale found it more comfortable and not as hot to wear.[13] The depiction of Gotham City is less gritty than in Batman Begins. "I've tried to unclutter the Gotham we created on the last film", said production designer Nathan Crowley. "Gotham is in chaos. We keep blowing up stuff, so we can keep our images clean."[15]

Aaron Eckhart with make-up and motion capture markers on set. Below is the finished effect.

The film introduces the Batpod, which is a recreation of the Batcycle. Production designer Nathan Crowley, who designed the Tumbler for Batman Begins, designed six models (built by special effects supervisor Chris Corbould) for use in the film's production, because of necessary crash scenes and possible accidents.[111] Crowley built a prototype in Nolan's garage, before six months of safety tests were conducted.[13] The Batpod is steered by shoulder instead of hand, and the rider's arms are protected by sleeve-like shields. The bike has 508-millimeter (20-inch) front and rear tires, and is made to appear as if it is armed with grappling hooks, cannons, and machine guns. The engines are located in the hubs of the wheels, which are set 3½ feet (1,067 mm) apart on either side of the tank. The rider lies belly down on the tank, which can move up and down to dodge any incoming gunfire that Batman may encounter. Stuntman Jean-Pierre Goy doubled for Christian Bale during the riding sequences in The Dark Knight.[111] The Batpod was highly unstable for riding, and Goy was the only stuntman who could manage to balance the bike, even commenting that he had to "nearly un-learn how to ride a motorcycle" to manage riding the Batpod. Bale did insist on doing shots on the Batpod himself, but was prohibited by the team fearing his safety.[112]

Nolan designed Dent's scarred appearance in the film as one of the least disturbing, explaining, "When we looked at less extreme versions of it, they were too real and more horrifying. When you look at a film like Pirates of the Caribbean—something like that, there's something about a very fanciful, very detailed visual effect, that I think is more powerful and less repulsive."[113] Framestore created 120 computer-generated shots of Dent's visage. Nolan felt using make-up would look unrealistic, as it adds to the face, unlike real burn victims. Framestore acknowledged they rearranged the positions of bones, muscles and joints to make the character look more dramatic. For each shot, three 720-pixel HD cameras were set up at different angles on set to fully capture Aaron Eckhart's performance. Eckhart wore markers on his face and a prosthetic skullcap, which acted as a lighting reference. A few shots of the skullcap were kept in the film. Framestore also integrated shots of Bale and Eckhart into that of the exploding building where Dent is burned. It was difficult simulating fire on Eckhart because it is inherently unrealistic for only half of something to burn.[114]

Batman Begins composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard returned to score the sequel. Composition began before shooting, and during filming Nolan received an iPod with ten hours of recordings.[115] Their nine-minute suite for the Joker, "Why So Serious?", is based around two notes. Zimmer compared its style to that of Kraftwerk, a band from his native Germany, as well as bands like the Damned.[116] When Ledger died, Zimmer felt like scrapping and composing a new theme, but decided that he could not be sentimental and compromise the "evil [Ledger's performance] projects".[117] Howard composed Dent's "elegant and beautiful" themes,[116] which are brass-focused.[115]

As Zimmer clarified, the main theme of the film (just like Batman Begins and later The Dark Knight Rises) consists in just two notes repeated, representing Batman's pain and guilt.[118]

In 2008, The Dark Knight was ranked the 15th-greatest film in history on Empire's list of the "500 Greatest Movies of All Time," based upon the weighted votes of 10,000 readers, 150 film directors, and 50 key film critics.[164] Heath Ledger's interpretation of the Joker was also ranked No.3 on the magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time."[165] Roger Ebert included it on the list of his 20 favorite films of 2008.[151][152] In 2009, Paste magazine named it one of "The 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000–2009)", ranking it at No.11.[143]

In 2010, The Dark Knight was included in American Cinematographer's "Best-Shot Film of 1998–2008" list, ranking in the top 10. More than 17,000 people around the world participated in the final vote.[166] The Joker was ranked No.5 on Entertainment Weekly's "100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years."[167] In 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their 8th-favorite film of all time.[168] On the television special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time which was broadcast in March,[169][170] The Dark Knight was voted the second-best action film.[171] In 2012, Total Film ranked The Dark Knight as the 6th most accomplished film of the past 15 years, writing that "Christopher Nolan's psycho-operatic crime drama was its decade's most exciting blockbuster—and its most challenging."[172]

In 2014, Empire ranked it the third-greatest film ever made in the list of "The 301 Greatest Movies of All Time" as voted by the their readers.[173] In the same year, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films.[174] The Dark Knight was listed at 80th place on this list.[175] The film was also included and ranked 57th on Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films, a list compiled by The Hollywood Reporter, surveying "Studio chiefs, Oscar winners and TV royalty."[176] Film critic James Berardinelli included The Dark Knight in his all-time top 100 films.[177] In 2015, The Dark Knight ranked 96th on BBC's "100 Greatest American Films" list, voted on by film critics from around the world.[178] It was also voted as one of New Zealand's favorite films in a poll.[179] In 2016, Playboy ranked the film No.5 on its list of "15 Sequels That Are Way Better Than The Originals".[180] It was ranked the 33rd-best film of the 21st century by 177 film critics, polled by BBC.[181]

In 2017, Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker ranked 2nd on The Hollywood Reporter's list of greatest superhero movie performances of all time, behind Hugh Jackman's performance as Wolverine.[182] Film critic Barry Norman included The Dark Knight in his ranking of the greatest 100 films of all time.[183] In 2019, the film was ranked 15th on Time Out's list of the "100 best movies of all time" list,[184] and was included in The Guardian's list of "The 100 best films of the 21st century".[185] In 2020, Time Out ranked the film 72nd on their "101 best action movies ever made" list.[186] Empire then named it the 3rd-best film of the 21st century.[187]

Mystery writer Andrew Klavan, writing in The Wall Street Journal, compared the extreme measures that Batman takes to fight crime with those U.S. President George W. Bush used in the War on Terror. Klavan claims that, "at some level" The Dark Knight is "a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war". Klavan supports this reading of the film by comparing Batman—like Bush, Klavan argues—"sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past."[188] Klavan's article has received criticism on the Internet and in mainstream media outlets, such as in The New Republic's "The Plank".[189] Reviewing the film in The Sunday Times, Cosmo Landesman reached the opposite conclusion to Klavan, arguing that The Dark Knight "offers up a lot of moralistic waffle about how we must hug a terrorist—okay, I exaggerate. At its heart, however, is a long and tedious discussion about how individuals and society must never abandon the rule of law in struggling against the forces of lawlessness. In fighting monsters, we must be careful not to become monsters—that sort of thing. The film champions the anti-war coalition's claim that, in having a war on terror, you create the conditions for more terror. We are shown that innocent people died because of Batman—and he falls for it."[190] Benjamin Kerstein, writing in Azure, says that both Klavan and Landesman "have a point", because "The Dark Knight is a perfect mirror of the society which is watching it: a society so divided on the issues of terror and how to fight it that, for the first time in decades, an American mainstream no longer exists."[191]

U.S. President Barack Obama used the film to help explain how he understood the role and growth of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). "There's a scene in the beginning in which the gang leaders of Gotham are meeting ... These are men who had the city divided up. They were thugs, but there was a kind of order. Everyone had his turf. And then the Joker comes in and lights the whole city on fire. ISIS is the Joker. It has the capacity to set the whole region on fire. That's why we have to fight it."[192]

According to David S. Goyer, the primary theme of The Dark Knight is escalation.[193] Gotham City is weak and the citizens blame Batman for the city's violence and corruption as well as the Joker's threats, and it pushes his limits, making him feel that taking the laws into his own hands is further downgrading the city. Roger Ebert noted, "Throughout the film, [the Joker] devises ingenious situations that force Batman, Commissioner Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent to make impossible ethical decisions. By the end, the whole moral foundation of the Batman legend is threatened."[148]

Other critics have mentioned the theme of the triumph of evil over good. Harvey Dent is seen as Gotham's "White Knight" in the beginning of the film but ends up becoming seduced to evil.[72] The Joker, on the other hand, is seen as the representation of anarchy and chaos. He has no motive, no orders, and no desires but to cause havoc and "watch the world burn". The terrible logic of human error is another theme as well. The ferry scene displays how humans can easily be enticed by iniquity, and how that could lead to potential disaster.[194]

The Dark Knight is described as a neo-noir film by some authors.[195]

The Tumbler at the film's European premiere in Leicester Square, London

Most notable among the nominations were Heath Ledger's almost complete sweep of over twenty awards for acting, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The Dark Knight also received nominations from the Writers Guild of America (for Best Adapted Screenplay), the Producers Guild of America, and the Directors Guild of America, as well as a slew of other guild award nominations and wins. It was nominated for Best Film at the Critics Choice Awards and was named one of the top ten films of 2008 by the American Film Institute.

The Dark Knight was nominated for eight Academy Awards for the 81st Ceremony,[196] breaking the previous record of seven held by Dick Tracy[197] for the most nominations received by a film based on a comic book, comic strip, or graphic novel. The Dark Knight won two awards: Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger and Best Sound Editing. It was additionally nominated for six others, these being Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Film Editing. Heath Ledger was the first posthumous winner of the Best Supporting Actor award, and only the second posthumous acting winner ever (Peter Finch posthumously won the Best Actor award for his performance in the 1976 film Network). In addition, Ledger's win marked the first win in any of the major Oscar categories (producing, directing, acting, or writing) for a superhero-based film. Notably, Richard King's win in the Sound Editing category blocked a complete awards sweep of the evening by the eventual Best Picture winner, Slumdog Millionaire. Although it did not receive a Best Picture nomination, the show's opening song paid homage to The Dark Knight along with the five Best Picture nominees, including host Hugh Jackman riding on a mockup of the Batpod made out of garbage. In spite of the film's critical success, the film was noticeably absent from the Best Picture nominee list, prompting controversy and leading many to criticize the Academy Awards for "snubbing" the film.[198][199] There was speculation that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences later changed their number of Best Picture nominees to ten, instead of the traditional five, because of the film's omission.[200][201] In a question-and-answer session that followed the announcement, the Academy's then president Sidney Ganis said; "I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words Dark Knight did not come up."[202]

A British-American production, the film was nominated for the 2009 Goya Award for Best European Film.[203] It had a nomination in Japan for the 2009 Seiun Awards under the Science Fiction category[204] with a Japan Academy Prize Award for Best Foreign Film.[205]

A sign of the film's pre-release at Coliseum cinema in Barcelona, Spain

The Dark Knight earned $534.9 million in North America and $469.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1 billion. Worldwide, it became the fourth-highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing film of 2008, and the fourth film in history to gross more than $1 billion. It made $199.7 million on its worldwide opening weekend, which ranks 34th on the all-time chart.[206] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 74.26 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[207]

In order to increase the film's chances of crossing $1 billion in worldwide gross and of winning Oscars, Warner Bros. re-released the film in traditional and IMAX theaters in the United States and other countries on January 23, 2009.[208][209] Before the re-release, the film's gross remained at $997 million,[210] but following the re-release, the film crossed the $1 billion mark in February 2009.[211]

The Dark Knight opened on Friday, July 18, 2008. It set a record for midnight showings, earning $18.5 million from 3,040 theaters[212] (a record first surpassed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince).[213] The midnight opening included $640,000 from IMAX screenings.[214] It was then shown on 9,200 screens at a record 4,366 theaters (a record first surpassed by Iron Man 2),[215] also setting an opening and single-day record gross, with $67.2 million[212][216] (both records first surpassed by The Twilight Saga: New Moon),[217] and an opening-weekend record, with $158.4 million[212][218][219] (first surpassed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2).[220] The weekend per theater average of $36,283 stands as the fifth-largest of all time.[221] It sold an estimated 22.37 million tickets during its first weekend with 2008's average admission of $7.08, meaning the film sold more tickets than Spider-Man 3, which sold 21.96 million with the average price of $6.88 in 2007.[222][223] Additionally, the film set an IMAX opening-weekend record, with $6.3 million[212] (a record first surpassed by Star Trek).[224] It achieved the largest Sunday gross with $43.6 million[212] and the largest opening week from Friday to Thursday with $238.6 million (both records surpassed by Marvel's The Avengers).[225][226] It also achieved the largest cumulative gross through its third and fourth days of release (both records first surpassed by Deathly Hallows – Part 2) and so on until its tenth day of release (records surpassed by Marvel's The Avengers).[227] Moreover, it was the fastest film to reach $100 million (a record first surpassed by New Moon), $150 million and each additional $50 million through $450 million (records surpassed by Marvel's The Avengers), and $500 million (a record first surpassed by Avatar).[228] Finally, it achieved the largest second-weekend gross (a record first surpassed by Avatar).[229]

It has grossed the fourth-largest Saturday gross ($51,336,732). On its first Monday, it grossed $24.5 million, which stands as the largest non-holiday Monday gross and the fourth-largest Monday gross overall, and on its first Tuesday, it grossed another $20.9 million, which stands as the largest non-opening Tuesday gross and the second-largest Tuesday gross overall.[230] Notably, it topped the box office during the second-biggest weekend of all time in North America (aggregated total of $253,586,871)[231] and it was the only 2008 film that remained on top of the box office charts for four consecutive weekends.[232]

The Dark Knight is the highest-grossing film of 2008, the second-highest-grossing superhero film, the second-highest-grossing film based on comics, and the fourth-highest-grossing North American film of all time. Adjusted for ticket-price inflation though, it ranks 28th.[233] In contrast to Avatar and Titanic—both which grossed more than The Dark Knight in North America and had slow but steady earnings—The Dark Knight broke records in its opening weekend and slowed down significantly after its first few weekends.[230][234]

Overseas, The Dark Knight is the highest-grossing 2008 film[235] and the fourth-highest-grossing superhero film. It premiered in 20 other territories on 4,520 screens, grossing $41.3 million in its first weekend.[236] The film came second to Hancock, which was screening in 71 territories in its third weekend. The Dark Knight's biggest territory was Australia, where it grossed $13.7 million over the weekend, setting a record for the largest superhero film opening.[237] It topped the weekend box office outside North America three consecutive times and four in total. Citing cultural sensitivities to some elements in the film, and a reluctance to adhere to pre-release conditions, Warner Bros. declined to release the film in mainland China.[238] Its highest-grossing market after North America was the UK, Ireland, and Malta, where it earned $89.1 million. Also, in Australia, it earned of $39.9 million, still remaining in the all-time top 10 of the country.[239] The five highest-grossing markets outside North America also include Germany ($29.7 million), France and the Maghreb region ($27.5 million) and South Korea ($25.0 million).[240]

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in North America on December 9, 2008. Releases include a one-disc edition DVD; a two-disc Special Edition DVD; a two-disc edition BD; and a special edition BD package featuring a statuette of the Bat-pod.[241] The BD/iTunes version presents the film in a variable aspect ratio, with the IMAX sequences framed in 1.78:1, while scenes filmed in 35 mm are framed in 2.40:1.[242] The DVD versions feature the entire film framed in a uniform 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Disc 2 of the two-disc Special Edition DVD features the six main IMAX sequences in the original 1.44:1 aspect ratio. Additional IMAX shots throughout the film that are presented in 1.78:1 on the Blu-ray release are not, however, included in the DVD's special features. In addition to the standard DVD releases, some stores released their own exclusive editions of the film.

In the United Kingdom, the film had combined sales of 513,000 units on its first day of release, of which 107,730 (21%) were Blu-ray Discs, the highest number of first-day Blu-ray Discs sold.[243] In the United States, The Dark Knight set a sales record for most DVDs sold in one day, selling 3 million units on its first day of release—600,000 of which were Blu-ray Discs.[244]

The DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions were released in Australia on December 10, 2008. Releases were in the form of a one-disc edition on DVD; a two-disc edition on DVD; a two-disc edition including a Batmask on DVD and BD; a two-disc Bat-pod statuette Limited BD Edition; a two-disc BD edition; and a four-disc Batman Begins/The Dark Knight pack on DVD and BD. As of December 19, 2008, the DVD release is the top-selling film in the Australian DVD charts[245] and was expected to break the Australian sales record set by Finding Nemo.[246]

The film also sold Blu-ray copies worth 370 million yen (US$4.1 million) in Japan, placing it 3rd out of 10 in the top 10 overall Blu-ray category.[247][248]

In March 2011, Warner Bros. offered The Dark Knight for rent on Facebook, becoming the first film ever to be released via digital distribution on a social networking site. Users in the United States were able to use Facebook Credits to view the film.[249] The Dark Knight was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on December 19, 2017.[250]