National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2020
“Bob Kane and Bill Finger's dark, enduring creation first flew onto the screen in a 1943 B-movie serial and would return to theaters several times in treatments both camp and action-oriented.”
Warner Bros. Entertainment · Legendary Pictures · Syncopy Inc. · 153 min
Box office
$1.01B worldwide on a $185M budget
Honors
Academy Awards — 2 wins, 8 nominationsNational Board of Review — 1 winMTV Movie Award — 1 winKids' Choice Award — 1 nominationAll 4 wins · 9 nominations on record
Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor
Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing
National Board of Review: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
MTV Movie Award: Best Villain
Scholarship
Named in the title of 23 peer-reviewed works
Examples
The Dark Knight Rises, 2012
The Dark Knight, 2012
The Dark Knight — Journal of Religion & Film, 2008
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Warner Bros. released The Dark Knight in the summer of 2008 as the second installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and it quickly became a defining event picture of its decade. Built on practical stunt work, IMAX photography, and a script that treated its comic book origins with unusual gravity, the film also carries the weight of Heath Ledger's posthumous, Oscar-winning turn as the Joker. It remains one of the most collected and discussed studio blockbusters of the era, frequently cited as a high point for the genre and a touchstone for how seriously popular cinema could be taken.
This cell places the Joker within a gala setting, a scene tied to one of the character's most memorable public appearances in the film, where his presence disrupts a formal gathering of Gotham's elite. Collectors seek Ledger's Joker material above nearly any other element from this production, given both the performance and its posthumous significance. A 35mm cell from this sequence represents a physical fragment of that encounter, a tangible piece of the moment where menace and spectacle meet inside Gotham's high society.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of The Dark Knight (2008).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on the visible top edge; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on the top edge, evenly spaced and cleanly punched; bottom edge perforations are also present and appear evenly spaced
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area track; a band of what appears to be Dolby Digital data blocks is also visible in the inter-perforation zone on the bottom edge
Edge print
Top edge reads, mirrored: '2383 642 685 1 20 K'
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image appears neutral with no visible fading or red shift
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks or cue marks are apparent in this capture
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of The Dark Knight (2008)
Era check
The Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks combined with a variable-area optical track and the '2383' stock designation are consistent with a post-2000 theatrical release print, matching the 2008 release date of the film on record
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063059
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
