Right after taking out Ra's Al Ghul, and the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA Scarecrow, Batman continues on his war on crime in the streets of Gotham. As he raises the stakes, with the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that haunt the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective as they are successfully rounding up the criminals that plague Gotham City. But they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker. This crazed murdering psychopath makes it a personal agenda to take out the Dark Knight, before he gets to him first. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, "confronting everything he believes" and improving his technology to stop him. |||| Director, Christopher Nolan, was initially unsure of returning for the sequel, but eventually decided upon creating a new interpretation of the Joker, based on the villain's original appearances in comic book lore. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as had been done for Batman Begins, as well as several other locations in and outside the United States. The director also used an IMAX camera to film four major action sequences, including the Joker's first appearance. The Batsuit was redesigned, with a cowl allowing Bale to move his head, and a recreation of the Batcycle known as the Batpod will be introduced. The studio undertook a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight in which websites were created so Batman fan collaboration would reveal items such as new screenshots from the film. The film will also be marketed by selling related toys and an animated direct-to-DVD anthology titled Batman: Gotham Knight that is set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight will be released on July 18, 2008 in the United States and on July 25 in the United Kingdom.

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