THE DARK KNIGHT Newscaster Secret And More Extras

By Norm Schrager at June 21, 2008 | 8:25 pm | Print

I can’t recall such comprehensive grass-roots marketing for a megamovie like The Dark Knight, but Warner Brothers continues setting a new precedent. The latest nugget: The unannounced actor playing the “Gotham Tonight” newscaster has been revealed… it’s Anthony Michael Hall!

Um, so what’s the big deal? This is a movie marketing “secret”? I mean we like the Dead Zone star, and the Sixteen Candles twerp he once was, but it ain’t like they were hiding Dustin Hoffman.

Here’s the deal: The “who” doesn’t matter. Warner Brothers’ genius is in the “how.” And here’s how you would’ve learned about Hall’s clandestine participation in the film: Order Episode #1 of “Gotham Tonight” on Comcast OnDemand (or gothamcablenews.com) and catch Hall playing TV host Mike Engel, in footage not included in the movie. (See Hall’s interview with SciFi.com for more.)

These are serious movie extras — deep enough to be reserved for the DVD — released before the film. Comcast is a Dark Knight goldmine. If you’re a Comcast subscriber, select “Movies & Events,” and then ”The Dark Knight.” You should get:

:: Two episodes of “Gotham Tonight” (Aaron Eckhart appears in the newly released 2nd episode)

:: A Man Divided, a five-minute segment from Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight

:: The three-minute alternate Dark Knight trailer

:: A seven-minute recap of Batman Begins, including cast and crew interviews

:: Clown Masks, a behind-the-scenes with the production designers who created the eerie masks for The Joker’s crew (those masks are intimidating as hell)

:: A trailer for the DVD of Batman: Gotham Knight from Warner Premier, a series of anime-style Dark Knight tales

:: Field Test, a 15-minute chapter from Batman: Gotham Knight

:: A featurette on the IMAX shooting that took place for The Dark Knight, with lots of commentary from Christopher Nolan

:: A 3-minute snippet on The Dark Knight’s location shooting in Chicago

:: The two one-minute trailers and three-minute trailer

This is advance marketing at its best or most overwhelming or both. And further proof that Warner believes they have some exceptional quality on their hands.

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