The Dark Knight Rises. Image: Brett Jordan via Flickr (CC)
The Dark Knight Rises is not up until more than six months from now but Christopher Nolan’s latest Batman installment has apparently sold out in several midnight screening venues.
According to /film, movie ticket seller Fandango subtly started to sell tickets for midnight screenings in Los Angeles and New York, both of which sold out in an instant.
The entire marketing ploy actually began in December when theater chain AMC hosted a few Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol screenings in IMAX before it opened to the public.
The prerelease screenings played a 6-minute The Dark Knight Rises prologue on the large IMAX displays, as several AMC theater managers in Los Angleles, San Francisco and New York conducted a poll to those in attendance if they would want to purchase tickets for a midnight screening of the Batman movie on July 19.
The tickets sold out like hotcakes despite the fact that the latest movie of Warner Bros.’ Batman franchise will not open on the widescreen until July 20.
This incident eventually led to Fandango deciding to produce and sell more midnight screening tickets for The Dark Knight Rises, which features around 40 minutes of footage with IMAX cameras viewed best with 70mm projection technology in theaters.
All this is an exact fit with IMAX’s scheme to be the favored prerelease channel for studios and get audiences psyched up prior to a wide theatrical release.
The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale as protagonist Bruce Wayne, alongside Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Miranda Tate, Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway.
The Warner Bros. picutre is produced by Emma Thomas, Nolan and Charles Roven, who also teamed on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.