Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight has earned nearly a billion dollars worldwide, but it’s not done yet. In addition to hitting DVD and Blu-ray next week, the film will be re-released in theaters next month. According to Daily Variety, the second Batman flick from director Christopher Nolan will grace the big screen again nationwide on Jan. 23. The additional revenue will make it the fourth film in history to reach the $1 billion mark at the box office.
Boasting the second-highest domestic box-office take behind Titanic, Dark Knight has raked in $530.3 million domestically and $465.9 million overseas. It will join Titanic, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest in the billion-dollar club should it raise another $4 million from the re-issue. Warner is confident that there will be plenty of moviegoers eager to see the pic on the big screen for the first, second or third time, despite its availability on home video.
The re-release should get a sufficient promotional push from awards-season attention as Dark Knight is sure to rack up a number of nominations and wins over the next few months. The pic was just honored as one of the top-ten films of the year by the National Board of Review, and there is Best Director Oscar buzz for Nolan and Best Supporting Actor for the late Heath Ledger, who plays The Joker this time around. There were rumors circulating around the web that Warner Bros. was planning to re-release the film on IMAX screens next month, but fanboy website Superhero Hype reported that those plans have been scrapped.
