The Dark Knight 2008

IMDb

The Dark Knight 2008 Overview:

Batman, a fictional superhero from American comic books published by DC Comics, has appeared in numerous films since his creation. The character was co-created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and made his debut in two serial films in the 1940s, namely Batman and Batman and Robin. In 1966, he was featured in the film Batman, which was an adaptation of the popular 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

During the late 1980s, Warner Bros. began producing a series of feature films centered on Batman, beginning with the 1989 film Batman directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton as the titular character. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, while Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever in 1995, with Val Kilmer as Batman. Schumacher also directed Batman & Robin in 1997, which featured George Clooney as Batman. However, both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of Batman Unchained, among other proposals.

In 2005, the franchise was rebooted with Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as Batman. Nolan went on to direct two more installments, The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, with Bale reprising his role in both films. The sequels each earned over $1 billion worldwide, making Batman the second film franchise with two films grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. Known as The Dark Knight Trilogy, Nolan's films were critically acclaimed and commercially successful, credited with renewing widespread interest in the superhero, with The Dark Knight considered one of the best superhero films of all time.

In 2013, Warner Bros. launched their own shared cinematic universe, known as the DC Extended Universe, with Ben Affleck cast as Batman for the franchise's expansive new world. Affleck first appeared in 2016 in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, directed by Zack Snyder. The film sparked a series of further DC Comics adaptations, including Justice League in 2017, a crossover film featuring other DC Comics characters, and The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, with Robert Pattinson as the lead.

The Batman film franchise has grossed over $4.99 billion worldwide, making it the eleventh highest-grossing film franchise of all time. Batman has also appeared in numerous animated films, either as a starring or ensemble character, with some films released theatrically. Notably, the 1993 animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and 2017's The Lego Batman Movie were both released in theaters. The Batman film series is also the fourth-highest-grossing film series in North America, with an unadjusted total of $2,783,118,504.