The Dark Knight Trilogy + Photobook (Blu-ray)

Batman Begins

Director/writer Christopher Nolan and co-writer David S. Goyer began work on Batman Begins in early 2003 and aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film. The film, which was primarily shot in England and Chicago, relied on traditional stunts and scale models. Computer-generated imagery was used minimally. Christian Bale starred as Batman. Liam Neeson starred as Ra's al Ghul (albeit masquerading as Henri Ducard) and Cillian Murphy starred as The Scarecrow. Katie Holmes also starred in the movie as Bruce's love interest, Rachel Dawes. A new Batmobile (called the Tumbler) and a more mobile Batsuit were both created specifically for the film.

The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan reprised his duties as director, and brought his brother, Jonathan, to co-write the script for the second installment. The Dark Knight featured Christian Bale reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Heath Ledger as The Joker and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent / Two-Face. Principal photography began in April 2007 in Chicago and concluded in November. Other locations included Pinewood Studios, Ministry of Sound in London and Hong Kong. On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died from a bad combination of prescription medication. Warner Bros. had created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screen shots of Ledger as the Joker, but after Ledger's death, the studio refocused its promotional campaign.

The Dark Knight Rises

Nolan wanted the story for the third and final installment to keep him emotionally invested. "On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question," he reasoned, "how many good third movies in a franchise can people name?" He returned out of finding a necessary way to continue the story, but feared midway through filming he would find a sequel redundant. The Dark Knight Rises is intended to complete Nolan's Batman trilogy. By December 2008, Nolan completed a rough story outline, before he committed himself to Inception. In February 2010, work on the screenplay was commencing with David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan. When Goyer left to work on the Superman reboot, Jonathan was writing the script based on the story by his brother and Goyer. Tom Hardy was cast as Bane and Anne Hathaway plays Selina Kyle. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast as John Blake, and Marion Cotillard was cast as Miranda Tate. Filming began in May 2011 and concluded in November. Nolan chose not to film in 3-D but, by focusing on improving image quality and scale using the IMAX format, hoped to push technological boundaries while nevertheless making the style of the film consistent with the previous two. Nolan had several meetings with IMAX Vice-President David Keighley to work on the logistics of projecting films in digital IMAX venues. The Dark Knight Rises featured more scenes shot in IMAX than The Dark Knight. Cinematographer Wally Pfister expressed interest in shooting the film entirely in IMAX.