Published: July 18, 2008 09:00 pm            

'The Dark Knight' playing well in Dalton, around the nation

It’s no joke.

“Batman: The Dark Knight” looks to be the biggest movie of the year.

The Associated Press reports that the film sold out thousands of movie screens across the nation at a midnight showing Thursday. And it has reportedly set records for advance ticket sales.

More than 300 people came to the Carmike Cinemas 9 for Thursday’s midnight show, and general manager Brian Latour says advance ticket sales have been very strong.

“We’ve already got almost 50 for 7 p.m. tonight,” he said Friday. “And we’ve got a sprinkling for pretty much every show of the weekend. It’s going to do really well.”

Latour says there’s a “good chance” it could be the biggest movie of the year. He says the return of the Joker seems to have piqued many viewers’ interest.

“The fact that Heath Ledger (who plays the Joker) may also be drawing people in to see that last performance he gave,” Latour said. Ledger passed away in January.

Ledger’s Joker isn’t the campy villain portrayed by Cesar Romero in the 1960s TV series or the sly bad guy played by Jack Nicholson in the 1989 movie.

“He’s still got that wily sense of humor. But he’s really insane and evil,” Latour said.

In fact, the Joker of the comics is a violent sociopath who kills and maims without reason.

“People who read comics know that. People who take their kids to see it thinking it’s going to be like Batman and Robin from the ‘60s may be shocked,” said Mike Babb, co-owner of the Fantasy Factory comics store.

But Latour says the darkness of the film is one reason why it seems to be attracting more than just the typical audience for a comics film.

“I didn’t like ‘Batman Begins,’ the one that came out a few years ago. But this one more than made up for it,” he said. “It felt more like a crime epic than a superhero movie.”

        

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