"It’s an undisputed fact that Duke Rosenberg has a special fondness for IMAX. With the prior success of ’The Dark Knight’ as precedent, his summer release this year, ’The Dark Knight Rises,’ is an even bolder challenge. Over one hour of the film’s footage was shot entirely with IMAX cameras, setting the record for the longest IMAX shooting duration in any Hollywood film to date!"
As the release date approached, Warner Bros.’ promotions became increasingly diverse, and IMAX was undoubtedly one of the film’s key promotional points.
In early April, Warner Bros. hosted a six-minute IMAX screening for fans and media reporters, which received an enthusiastic response.
"When the lights dimmed and the screening began, you could feel the energy in the theater rise, ready to explode!"
Such comments also spread widely across the internet.
Correspondingly, Duke also shared his thoughts on IMAX.
"When we decided to assemble a team to shoot a Hollywood film using IMAX cameras, many people told us it was too difficult. How ironic that it’s considered challenging. These cameras can reach the Himalayas, dive into the deep sea, and even be used in outer space—so why shouldn’t we use them to film a movie?"
A few days later, the cast and crew of ’The Dark Knight Rises’ held a global press conference at the Hilton Beverly Hills in Hollywood.
Director Duke attended with lead actors Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot, James Franco, Michael Caine, Laurence Fishburne, composer Hans Zimmer, producer Charles Roven, and other key creators to answer questions from worldwide media.
This was undoubtedly a major promotional event ahead of the release. Nearly 700 reporters from around the globe attended, and NBC broadcasted it live to North America and overseas.
"Undoubtedly, Duke Rosenberg’s direction of ’Batman Begins’ and ’The Dark Knight’ not only elevated the Batman films but also took the entire superhero genre to a new level. This is why ’The Dark Knight Rises,’ as the trilogy’s conclusion, is so eagerly anticipated by fans worldwide."
Before the press conference began, NBC reporters were preparing for the live broadcast. Regarding the film’s conclusion for Batman, Duke had previously stated that he first planned the story’s ending and then worked backward to develop the other plotlines. He explained, "’Batman’ is a comic series that has run for over 70 years. Its serialized nature allows the story to extend endlessly, but I wanted this trilogy to be a self-contained narrative, so the third film had to provide a perfect conclusion."
The press conference soon commenced. Compared with Duke’s calm and articulate demeanor, Christian Bale seemed not entirely detached from the role of Batman, often falling into deep thought with his intense gaze.
When asked which villain in the Batman series he most wanted to play, Bale gave a somewhat surprising answer. He said that Batman himself has villainous aspects: "The reason I love Batman is because he is almost a bad man. He walks the line between good and evil. He has dark thoughts but always restrains them, ensuring he remains on the side of justice. On the surface, Batman acts righteously, but deep inside, his true motivations are not entirely pure. Fortunately, he uses altruism to control himself, ensuring he remains a good man."
Like Duke, ’The Dark Knight Rises’ was also the moment for Christian Bale to say goodbye to Batman. Reflecting on this farewell, Bale seemed filled with mixed emotions: "As Duke said, this trilogy is an important part of my life. Duke’s decisions regarding the films have always been correct; if he says it’s time to say goodbye, then it must be."
After the routine interviews with other actors, nearly all reporters turned to Duke, their questions coming like waves, and for the most part, Duke answered them all.
A reporter from the Los Angeles Times stood first and asked, "Was handling the connection between the previous film’s ending and this one’s plot a difficult task for you? How does the ending of the last film affect the characters in this one?"
"As the third film in the series, our challenge was to tell a story worth telling, one that makes audiences feel it’s necessary to return to this series, back to Gotham City."
Adjusting to a comfortable sitting posture, Duke prepared for a long session with reporters: "From the very beginning, I didn’t want to treat this film as just another installment in the Batman series. I wanted the three films to form a complete story, so the ending of the previous film had to influence the plot of this one. The previous story remains deeply meaningful in this film; it must continue and extend here. That’s our approach."
A reporter from Entertainment Weekly, after being named, took the microphone and asked, "Why insist on using IMAX technology?"
"I’m not deliberately insisting; it’s just a choice. When I film with IMAX and project the film onto a massive screen, I can honestly say I’ve never seen any other format match IMAX’s image quality. For me, the characters and stories of the Batman series exist beyond reality, and IMAX’s colossal imagery perfectly reflects this trait of the film."
Duke, well aware of the principles of promotion, then smiled and added, "There are only four IMAX cameras like the ones we used in the world. While shooting ’The Dark Knight Rises,’ we damaged one, so now only three remain worldwide."
Laughter erupted at the press conference.
These words were factual—during the shooting of a car crash scene, an IMAX camera was unfortunately destroyed, making it the second IMAX camera Duke had broken.
After the laughter subsided, Duke continued, "IMAX can attract audiences away from their home TVs and into theaters, because the massive visual impact of IMAX cannot be replicated in a living room. Nowadays, getting audiences to leave home for a movie is increasingly difficult, but IMAX gives them a reason they must do so."
A reporter from The Boston Globe pressed further, "It’s said that this film has the longest IMAX shooting duration to date. Director, how did you decide which scenes to shoot with IMAX cameras and which with regular cameras?"
After a brief pause, Duke gave an interesting answer: "Because IMAX cameras are relatively noisy, dialogue scenes are generally shot with regular digital cameras, while fight scenes and large-scale action or battle sequences are usually filmed with IMAX cameras."
Laughter arose again.
Since a six-minute IMAX preview had already been held, revealing some of the plot, the next question came from a reporter from The Times, who asked about story content: "This film seems to carry some political undertones. In the test screening, Bane leading the mob to cause destruction was sure to be controversial. Did you intend from the start to make a politically charged film?"
"I don’t think my films have ever been strongly political. When ’The Dark Knight’ was released, many people viewed it through a political lens..."
Compared with earlier statements, Duke now spoke more candidly: "In fact, the purpose of making films is entertainment, to tell a good story. I enjoy building plots in a fictional environment like Gotham City so the film resonates widely with audiences, because each viewer can bring their own life experiences into the story. In the process, some may interpret the film politically—that’s unavoidable."
A reporter from The New York Times then focused on the newcomers: "The previous film in the series was unprecedentedly successful. Did that bring extra pressure for making this film, especially for the new actors joining this time?"
"Indeed, the previous success brought significant pressure. But when we sat down to conceptualize this film, our minds were focused only on making this film well. We couldn’t deliberately try to replicate the success of the last one."
Duke first answered, "The previous success was incredible; sometimes even I can’t explain it, and that’s great. But the real pressure comes from the studio—they’ve spent so much on production and promotion, so my film has to earn money for them. That’s the pressure."
The microphone turned to Gal Gadot, who said, "At first, I was a bit nervous because the other actors had, more or less, worked with Duke before, but I’m a newcomer. However, everyone on set was enthusiastic, introduced me to the situation, and Duke and the lead actors treated me the same as the veteran members. My initial anxiety gradually eased."
James Franco’s face beamed with a sunny smile: "When ’The Dark Knight’ came out, I watched it twice and loved it, but I never imagined I’d become part of the series. Later, I worked with Duke on ’Inception,’ which was a thrilling adventure, and then I got the opportunity to be in this film. For me, it really was a dream come true."
At the end of the press conference, the first trailer for The Dark Knight Rises was unveiled.
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