Just as July began, the Warner Bros. studio, which had been quiet for a while, became bustling with activity again. Anna Prince, Hannah Selina, Mike Dawson, Jimmy Carter, and John Schwarzman all ended their vacations and regrouped at Warner Bros., ready to prepare the latest project with Duke.
Since no press conference was held, a large number of reporters and paparazzi gathered near the studio gates, and almost all the cars were packed into the lot.
However, like Duke, they were already accustomed to such scenes.
Also present on set were many star actors, including Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Laurence Fishburne.
Indeed, Duke's new project was Batman. Under constant urging from Warner Bros., the new Batman crew was officially formed. This installment, also without the Batman title, was named The Dark Knight Rises.
It would serve as the conclusion to the new Batman trilogy.
As a sequel, the high salaries of the actors were unavoidable. Christian Bale alone earned $20 million, and the estimated production cost of the entire film reached $250 million, the highest investment for a single film in Duke's career.
Beyond these veteran actors, Duke had also confirmed some new cast members, such as the tall and leggy Gal Gadot as Selina Kyle, and James Franco as John Blake.
As for the main villain Bane, Duke had no interest in Tom Hardy, who had been active in the indie and art film circles. He preferred someone truly bulky to play the role.
In fact, Duke was well aware that no matter what, Bane could never surpass the Joker.
The Joker became iconic due to its character design and the actor's performance, but an equally important factor was Heath Ledger's death.
Without Heath Ledger's passing, the Joker could never have reached its current legendary status. There is no doubt about this.
Duke certainly would not allow the actor playing Bane to die; he wasn't that insane.
In Duke's conception, this destructive Bane would primarily demonstrate formidable combat ability, incitement skills, and anarchistic madness, without delving deeply into psychological layers.
The Dark Knight Rises would conclude the trilogy with an epic finale. Near the end of The Dark Knight, Batman is the true hero who saved Gotham City, yet he has become redundant, abandoned like trash.
This is a conclusion full of conspiracy yet seemingly destined, ultimately turning Batman into an outright murderer, responsible for Harvey Dent's tragic death—though no one knows that Harvey didn't die and became a vengeful "Two-Face." As a relentless reformist crusader against evil, he paid a huge price for the city's peace.
Built on lies, Gotham City implemented strict, harsh new laws, locking all criminals in prison or expelling them entirely from the city…
The new story begins eight years later. Batman and Jim Gordon seem to have achieved their goals, and the city has entered an orderly state, seemingly no longer needing the Dark Knight. Perhaps the audience would think that Bruce Wayne, the true Batman, has won this battle. However, he is deeply tormented by all that has happened and has completely lost himself. He no longer knows how to present himself as Batman—so in the third film, Duke essentially needs to address the consequences of previous events, including Batman himself and other characters.
As the finale of the Batman trilogy, Duke decided to tell a story that would no longer have any extensions. These details were already submitted to Warner Bros. in 2005 when he produced Batman Begins, including the script outline and character designs.
The scale of this film would be smaller than The Dark Knight. As a $250 million blockbuster, it would naturally be rated PG-13.
In essence, the Batman trilogy never strayed from the PG-13 family-friendly category. It is precisely the PG-13 rating that ensures the films can achieve massive box office success.
In Hollywood, to gain sufficient market returns, films must be comprehensible and acceptable across different demographics and media platforms. On the diverse family entertainment platforms—cinemas, TV, home theater, games, toys, or other derivative forms—PG and PG-13 films are most easily accepted and commercially successful.
Such films are designed to reach audiences under 17 across all media platforms, crossing population and cultural barriers to attract a broader audience.
Almost all superhero films fall into this category.
They build stories and characters through accessibility, spectacle, emotional arcs, and positive values, and under commercial profit requirements, they aim to please as many viewers as possible while offending as few "artsy" viewers as possible. This is the defining feature of such films.
Although family-friendly films in Hollywood can be traced back to the early sound era, their current market dominance began only in the late 1980s.
The central position of family-friendly films in post-Hollywood times is often seriously overlooked. Many define family films as movies for children and their parents, but this definition is already outdated.
Since the mid-1980s, such films have not only been for parents and children's leisure but have also targeted the global media market, aiming to cross regions and cultures to reach more audiences.
Family films are no longer just a single cinematic format; most are collections of multiple media intellectual properties, often based on existing brands.
For example, Warner Bros.' Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Superman, and Batman series.
The core brand images of these films have already been accepted by audiences, with an established mass base, and can be presented across multiple media—films, TV, computer games, comics, toys—allowing Hollywood family films to transcend cinema and reach a broader sky.
In Hollywood, including Duke, industry professionals share a consensus: whoever wins the family market wins the world!
Reviewing the list of the 100 highest-grossing films worldwide, over 95% are marked or widely recognized as family films, most released in the late 1990s.
Additionally, these 100 films were all produced or distributed by Hollywood's "Big Six"—Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Sony Columbia, and Universal—which collectively form the MPAA.
Although these studios produce less than 30% of Hollywood's annual films, they occupy the vast majority of the global box office market and primary film rights. These MPAA member studios nearly dominate global film distribution.
Today's blockbusters from these major studios show clear standardization in form and target audience. Increasingly, mainstream Hollywood films are rated "Parental Guidance" (PG) or "Parents Strongly Cautioned under 13" (PG-13), indicating a clear aim at the global family market.
In contrast, the R-rated films that were once the backbone of film studios, which children and teenagers could not watch without adult supervision, have gradually declined in both number and appeal.
So far, among the top 30 highest-grossing films worldwide, not a single one is R-rated.
Since the mid-1980s, a clear effort by Hollywood studios to expand the audience for family films has been the creation of the PG-13 rating (suggested for children over 13 with guidance), originating from the 1984 American film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
PG-13 serves as a buffer between PG and R ratings, allowing children under 13 to watch with adult supervision. PG or PG-13 ratings have become a primary condition for box office success because the audience range allowed to watch in theaters is wide enough.
Although family films have evolved into various forms today, the most popular genres remain fantasy and science fiction, with superhero films being the most typical example. The Batman trilogy, regardless of changes, cannot alter the fact that it is a superhero film. Fantasy and science fiction are truly the genres that can break out of North America and dominate worldwide.
The film industry's diverse collaborations and integration of derivative markets directly impact the film's subject matter.
Most obviously, there has been a surge in sequels and fantasy-themed films. After the millennium, such themes became a major component of family blockbusters.
There are reasons why these films became Hollywood's mainstream.
First, fantasy genres have a highly visualized form, satisfying international consumers' demand for visual impact.
Second, because these genres generally operate outside Earth's reality, they avoid alienating non-Western audiences due to social or cultural factors.
Third, and most importantly, a rich fictional world provides unlimited opportunities for developing movie merchandise and other commercial tie-ins. For instance, Warner Bros., through the Batman, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings series, transforms an already well-known narrative world with a deeply rooted fan base into reality. The series of films, spin-off products, and cinematic style built on this foundation have made Warner a leader in "world-building" after the millennium.
Audiences actively describe films through word of mouth, social networks, and fan clubs, and purchase related products. This significantly extends a work's lifespan. Such cross-media interactions sustain the development of post-Hollywood cinema and provide a basis for industrial decision-making.
Undoubtedly, The Dark Knight Rises must follow these principles.
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