The Dark Knight was produced by Warner Bros. and directed by Christopher Nolan, who had previously directed Batman Begins. Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gyllenhaal star in it. It ranked first in box office performance of Warner Bros. films in 2008. It was the most profitable film of the year in America. It’s an action film, based on the comic character-superhero Batman. Shortly after the end of the shoot Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, died due to an overdose on prescribed medications. This tragic event brought a lot of attention to the film. Ledger’s outstanding performance was rewarded with a posthumously Oscar for best supporting actor. And, in my opinion, he is the best joker of all times. One might argue that this tragedy sold the film, or Nolan’s direction, or the fact that targets superhero-aficionados. It was probably a combination of this factors, but it was definitely worth it, since it’s not the usual predictable superhero film.
Second came Sex and the City, distributed internationally by Warner Bros. but produced by HBO Films. The gap between The Dark Knight and Sex and the City box office results is huge. This movie probably attracted fans of the tv series thirsty for romance, keeping in mind that the tv series ended in 2004. The film is a pleasant comedy that sees the most famous ex-single women of New York moving on with their lives, and one in particular ready to take a ‘Big’ step. All in all it remains faithful to the tv series. In the end it was a commercial success thanks to fans nostalgia (count me in!). It is highly improbable that people who had never watched the tv series went to see the film.
Frame by Frame 