Celeb9 Blog » The Dark Knight

Conway Wickliffe, New Zealand special effects specialist, died while shooting scenes for “ The Dark Knight”, the  latest Batman movie, reported by an English inquest. Guardian newspaper reported that Mr. Wickliffe was filming in a stunt car that was traveling parallel to another car when the Nissan hit a tree at only 32kmh. The Te Kuiti, a 41-year-old stunt man, was inclining out from the window of a 4WD. He was facing backwards while filming a test run for blowing up the Batmobile, when he was badly injured after the vehicle hit a tree in September last year.

He suffered dangerous wounds and fractures from the impact, and was declared dead at the scene near Chertsey, in Surrey.The case was taken up at the Woking Coroner’s Court, where a panel of jury watched the video footage of the stunt shot by Mr Wickliffe a few seconds before he was killed. The driver of  Nissan,  Bruce Monroe-Armstrong, anticipated that the stunt man might have gone a bit wide towards the bend. “We clipped the bank and the tree brushed the wing mirror. Then we came to a stop and I got out of the car. I saw Conway and shouted for a medic”, he added in his statement.

Although the driver of the vehicle claims to have maintained a control over the speed and angle, his fellow crew, Ian Mitchell said that he saw the  4WD carrying on into the grass even after reaching the end of the run. “Instead of turning on to the service road it carried on and I saw it impact the tree. It appeared to be a glancing blow. He ran over and found Mr Wickliffe in a bad way”, he added.

Mr Wickliffe, grew up in Paeroa, NZ, was buried in his own country, New Zealand. Derryn (Dee) Chase, his wife,  brought their daughter Eden, 4, and son Sabian, 12, back to New Zealand for his funeral.  Wickliffe was known for loving his job. He took part in several extreme sports, his favorite ones being snowboarding and parachute jumping. Batman Begins, Children of Men and the James Bond films Casino Royale and Die Another Day are a few hit films that he has worked in.

The closing credits of “The Dark Knight” commemorated his contribution to the film industry and his career : “In memory of our friends Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe”.

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Morgan Freeman

The Dark Knight has claimed another one of its actor’s again.The line up includes Heath Ledger who died of a drug overdose and Christian Bale who got involved with his own family members. The brawl cost the actor a few hours in jail and a whole lot of social embarrassment. The latest to join the ranks of misfortune is Morgan Freeman. The 71 year old actor has sustained injuries after getting involved in a deadly car accident late Sunday night. The injuries he sustained includes a broken arm, a broken elbow and minor shoulder damage.

Even after he had to go through so much Freeman is said to be in good spirits while he is being kept under medical supervision.Morgan was driving the car with another female passenger being identified as Demaris Meyer late Monday Night.The Dark Knight actor was in “serious” condition after the accident happened at about 11:30 p.m. Freeman was driving in Tallahatchie County when the accident occurred according to Mississippi Highway Patrol. He was taken away from the accident wreckage using the jaws of life. He was then airlifted from the scene to the Regional Medical Center located in Memphis. The Oscar winning actor has acted in movies like Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, Million Dollar Baby, and the others.

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The Dark Knight poster

There are a lot of things that have been said about The Dark Knight. Many records have been broken and a lot of statistics have been redone. Last week the Christian Bale and Heath Ledger starer had yet again achieved another landmark in its successful box office run.

The Hollywood biggie that opened to audiences some weeks ago has created history in numerous fronts. Last week it earned yet another feather in its cap when the total earnings went up way beyond the $10 million mark. The movie has broken the previous record held by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest that had grossed $300 million in 16 days. The Dark Knights second weekend earnings are also without precedent even though there has been the expected 50 percent drop in sales that is usual in second week earnings. The Dark Knight will also break the previous record held by Shrek 2 that had reached $400 million in a week’s time. The movie is all set to grab the best statistics that has only been acheived by Titanic in Hollywood history. In related news Chritian Bale has been given a thumbs up by his Terminator Salvation director. The 34 year old actor has been called a passionate actor and a good family man. Bale is suppoed to attend the Tokyo premiere today.

Tags: Christian Bale, The Dark Knight
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After being away from the promotion of his film The Dark Knight for sometime, Christian Bale was back doing his job. Christian was spotted attending the Barcelona premiere of his latest film The Dark Knight on Thursday evening after charges of assualt were leveled against him by his mother. The police however chose not to press charges against the actor and released him on Tuesday.

Christian was accompanied by his wife Sandra Blazic at the Barcelona premiere. He did pose for the photographs however avoided any questions that were directed towards him. As rumors have it the brawl between mother and son was because of the wife. It was because of certain things that were said about Sandra by mother Jenny that kicked off the fight on Sunday evening. This blew the lid and the actor went ballistic and lashed out at his mother and sister. The actor is currently filming for his new movie Terminator 4. This is the first movie in the franchise that would not feature Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead. The actor has been reported to have lost his temper on the sets of the film too.

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According to Christian Bale’s attorney the actor has denied the allegations that have been made against him by his family members. Christian Bale, star of the blockbuster The Dark Knight, that is breaking all records, was arrested in Belgravia on Tuesday. This was in response to a written complaint made by his mother. An alleged incident took place between the star, his mother Jenny and sister Sharon.

The Dark Knight star was staying at a hotel before going to The Dark Knight premiere on Monday evening. The actor was questioned and then released on Tuesday.  What exactly happened is subject to conjecture however the family is being tight lipped about it. Gossip suggests that the feud resulted from the actors mother abusing his wife. On Tuesday Bale came in to report his side of the story. He left the police station only after he had aided the officers with the legal case. No charges are being made against the star as of now but he needs to return in the month of September for further inquiries on the case.

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The Dark Knight has gone onto become one of the biggest grossers ever in the opening weekend race. Breaking most of the records from the time of its release the superhero saga is going from strength to strength and achieving one milestone after another in order to bring about a new Batman genre that surpasses all. With The Dark Knight debuting at a record $66 million it broke the record previously held by Spider-Man 3, which opened with $59.8 million last year. Spider-Man 3 lost its titles to The Dark Knight as the biggest-ever opener and biggest-ever single-day grosser.

If the going is as good as it has been so far studio experts predict that by the week’s end, The Dark Knight should have a total weekend take amounting to almost $155 million. This would be much better than the previous record of $151.1 million held by  Spider-Man 3. Till date the Christian Bale starer has the midnight record surpassing 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith that had made $16.5 million by earning $18.4 million. It has also gone ahead of  the widest-release record that was previously held by 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End of 4,362 theaters worldwide. The Dark Knight has been released at 4,366 theaters. Great word of mouth with positive reviews and exceptional performances by Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger has helped The Dark Knight to become one  of the biggest summer releases of all times.

Tags: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
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The Dark Knight seems to have created a genre of its own with its take on the caped crusader. The New York premiere at the AMC Loews Lincoln Center was a star-studded event and the movie outing turned out to be one of the best summer popcorn movies in recent times. With all the hype that had already been created around the movie Christopher Nolan had to make sure that his venture lives up to the entire buzz.

By breathing new life into the Batman franchise with Batman Begins the creators knew that they had to deliver the goods and meet the expectations that they had increased to gigantic proportions. The director who had also co-written  The Dark Knight incorporates strains of action, suspense and an undercurrent of emotions in the plot with power packed performances by his cast. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne is exceptional again while the icing on the cake is Heath Ledger as the Joker. That the actor has outperformed Nicholson’s Joker would be an understatement. Nicholson is sure to go green with envy with Ledger’s take on the Joker. It’s not for nothing that he is tipped for the Oscars this time. The Dark Knight creates a new standard to view superhero movie that has come a long way from the likes of the Spiderman series and Superman.

Tags: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
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The AMC Loews Lincoln Center played host to the New York premiere of The Dark Knight on Monday evening. All the stars of the movie including Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gyllenhaal attended the premiere with the red carpet turned to black in the honor of the late actor Heath Ledger. The Hollywood brigade that attended the premiere included the likes of Emile Hirsch, Blake Lively and Lauren Conrad as well as such stars like Edie Falco.

With one significant star missing from the premiere there was no mistaking his presence  in the conversations of his costars. All of them have heaped praises on the Brokeback Mountain star who plays the challenging role of the Joker in the movie. His performance has won him rave reviews from the film fraternity. He has also been tipped off to get a posthumous Academy award this year for his performance. Christian Bale who plays Batman in the movie has this to say of the actor “He was wonderful. He was talented beyond belief,” “His immersion in the character was a greatly satisfying thing to work opposite.” He added “I would love to be right here with him. And I thought I would be”.

Tags: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
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Michael Caine the legendary actor who has appeared in almost 100 films and is the winner of two academy awards, three golden globes and a BAFTA was honored for his contributions by the world famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater. On Friday, July 11th the actor was immortalized at the Hand and Footprint Ceremony. He would be seen next reprising his role of Alfred Pennyworth in the forthcoming Batman film “The Dark Knight”.

The actor who is respected in many circles for his acting capabilities believes that his costar in the film Heath Ledger has given a performance that is Oscar worthy. Though the veteran actor did not have any scenes with him he has stated that during the shoot he had watched and talked to Heath for three days and felt that he was “extraordinary”. Ledger who is tipped to become the second actor since Peter Finch to get a posthumous Oscar award plays the infamous Joker in the film. His performance has won him accolades from different sections of the filming community even before the film’s release. The Dark Knight is set for a release on July 18th this year.

Tags: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
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