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
The Dark Knight arrived from Warner Bros. in the summer of 2008, directed by Christopher Nolan as the second chapter in his Batman trilogy. It redefined what a comic book film could be, pairing blockbuster scale with a crime saga sensibility. Heath Ledger's performance, released posthumously after his death that January, earned the film lasting cultural weight and an Academy Award, cementing its place as a touchstone of modern studio filmmaking.
This cell centers on The Joker Attacks, a moment built around direct confrontation between Ledger's Joker and Bale's Batman, the film's defining adversarial pair. Frames pairing these two figures are among the most sought after from the production, representing the central tension of the entire story: order against chaos. A 35mm cell from this sequence functions as a physical fragment of that confrontation, a tangible piece of the reel rather than a reproduction, prized by collectors for placing both characters together in the moment the film's conflict comes to a head.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Dark Knight (2008).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible as a blue-tinted dual-band waveform strip running the full length beside the picture area, consistent with a Dolby Stereo or SR analogue optical track; Dolby Digital pixel blocks appear present in the inter-perforation gaps on the lower edge, suggesting a hybrid SR·D track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cyan-teal tint typical of modern polyester safety stock; the dye image reads as a warm, dense colour positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible; the surface appears consistent with a projected release print showing normal use.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of The Dark Knight (2008).
Era check
The hybrid analogue optical plus Dolby Digital soundtrack format, polyester base with cyan tint, and dense colour positive image are all consistent with a 2008-era theatrical 35mm release print.
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 000065912
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
