Those who have seen the pirated Batman: Gotham Knight sneak peek on YouTube now have a release date to look forward to. DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Animation have announced that the new animated feature will be available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 8. Following Superman Doomsday and Justice League: The New Frontier, the next entry in the acclaimed DC Universe series of PG 13-rated animated films will also be available via OnDemand, pay-per-view and download on the same day. The aforementioned preview of the anime-inspired pic can be found on the New Frontier DVD, which arrives on store shelves tomorrow.
For Batman: Gotham Knight, DC and Warner Bros. Animation teamed with leading Japanese anime creators to weave six interlocking stories that chronicle Bruce Wayne’s journey as Bob Kane’s legendary Dark Knight. The production was divided among Studio 4’C, Production I.G and Madhouse, and overseen by visionary directors Shojiro Nishimi (Tekkonkinkreet animation director), Futoshi Higashide (Jaianto robo: Animeshon animator), Hiroshi Morioka (Tsubasa Chronicle), Yasuhiro Aoki (The Animatrix animator) and Toshiyuki Kubooka (Fushigi no umi no Nadia animation director). Individual stories were written by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Josh Olson (A History of Violence), David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), Emmy winner Alan Burnett (Batman: The Animated Series), Jordan Goldberg (associate producer of the upcoming live-action film The Dark Knight), and award-winning comic-book writers Greg Rucka and Brian Azzarello.
In the movie, several different versions of Batman will take on such villains as Scarecrow, Killer Croc and the marksman known as Deadshot. The film is produced by Emma Thomas (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight), Michael Uslan and Benjamin Melniker (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight), Toshi Hiruma and Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series).
The standard release will carry the a suggested retail price of $24.98, and the two-disc special edition will available for $29.98 on DVD and $34.99 on Blu-ray Disc. Bonus features on the special edition release will include the documentary A Mirror for the Bat: The Evil Denizens of Gotham City, which looks at Gotham City’s most nefarious characters and the symbiotic relationship Batman shares with his enemies. Another doc, Batman and Me, a Devotion of Destiny: The Bob Kane Story, will offer comprehensive chronology of the remarkable life of the Batman creator. The two-disc version will also offer audio commentary by the filmmakers; bonus episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, as handpicked by Timm; and a sneak peek at the next DC Universe release, Wonder Woman.
