The first six minutes of Warner Bros.’ Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight, will screen at IMAX theaters next week prior to screenings of Warner’s adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend. According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Christopher Nolan used IMAX cameras to film portions of the movie, which has Christain Bale returning as the caped crusader and Heath Ledger taking on the role of The Joker. The preview will roll out on Dec. 14.
The six-minute prologue involves a team of crooks entering a bank wearing clown masks for a heist that goes wrong. Audiences will get their first look at Ledger as Batman’s arch enemy, a role origniated on television by Cesar Romero and more recently embodied by Jack Nicholson in the Tim Burton movies.
When the movie screens in IMAX theaters, scenes shot in the 70mm IMAX format will fill the entire screen, while the 35mm footage will be letterboxed. The effect will be similar to early experiments with the Cinerama format, which had theater curtains open wider to reveal more screen real estate for certain sequences in films. The Dark Knight is scheduled to debut on July 18, 2008.
