After yesterday’s fatal shooting at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Brothers have issued a statement expressing their shock and sympathy and have cancelled tonight’s premiere in Paris. Now, reports are coming in that the studio is considering pulling all other screenings of the movie as well.
According to ComicBookMovie.com, Warner Brothers studio executives have been deliberating all night over whether or not to pull The Dark Knight Rises’ run entirely out of respect for the tragedy, and then re-release at a later date. An official announcement in terms of a decision has yet to be made.
The shooter, medical school dropout James Holmes, had dyed his hair red, wore all-black and a riot helmet, and had called himself “The Joker”. He is now in custody, but fears of copycat crimes are spreading; The New York Daily News reports that NYPD will be increasing security at screenings in the real-life Gotham, and NBC10 reports that Philadelphia will be doing the same.
Key themes in Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy include finding humanity and equality despite chaos, overcoming fear amidst the tyranny of evil, and striving to be honest in the pursuit of justice.
Early on in the film, Batman (Christian Bale) tells Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) one personal rule as they fight together: “no guns,” a line that now has crushing poignancy.
If Warner Brothers does pull the movie’s run, it could still benefit from a re-release, possibly around Christmas. If nothing else, it would compliment some of the beautifully-shot winter imagery in the film.
What do you think? Should the film be pulled?
