The Dark Knight Rises Spoilers Released By Warner Brothers: Five Revealing Details of Production Notes

In two weeks, "The Dark Knight Rises, one of the summer's most anticipated films, is slated for release. In an effort to ramp up the hype of the film, Warner Brothers has released plot spoilers in 50 pages of production notes.

This is usually not a big deal, but director Christopher Nolan is known for being protective about letting spoilers for his films get out.

Reader be warned, what follows is a series of spoilers on the latest Batman movie.

(SPOILERS BELOW)

8 years later

At the end of  2008's "The Dark Knight" Batman (Christian Bale) and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) agreed to lie about Harvey Dent's evil deeds in order to protect Gotham. "The Dark Knight Rises" is set eight years later and sees a safer Gotham with Batman out of the picture. As stated at the end of 2005's "Batman Begins," Bruce Wayne (Bale) has rebuilt Wayne Manor and the Bat cave. Meanwhile, Gordon feels guilty about the lie and seeks out an opportunity to reveal the truth.

Retired Batman

According to the production notes, Batman is out of shape due to his lack of physical exertion. He does however have new toys including the Bat, which is a plane that is part helicopter and part jet.  Batman rejoins the fray to protect Gotham not because of the threat that Bane poses but because of Catwoman/Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) who seeks him out during a benefit at Wayne Manor in honor of Harvey Dent. She makes him feel something that he has been missing for the last eight years.

New Characters

According to Tom Hardy, who plays the main villain Bane, his character "is a terrorist in both his mentality and his actions. He is physically intimidating and he's also very intelligent, which makes him even more dangerous." Nolan adds that "Bane is raw strength with a fanatical devotion to duty and the combinations makes him unstoppable."  

The notes make reference to other new characters played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard. Regarding Gordon-Levitt's John Blake, the notes state that "Commissioner Gordon and Bruce Wayne have become somewhat jaded, so we wanted to contrast that with a younger, more idealistic individual who, in a way, represents where they've come from. Joe really captured the strength and courage of a man who refuses to back down, regardless of the odds."

Cotillard's character, Miranda Tate, "is somebody who is encouraging Bruce to use his resources for the betterment of Gotham through an environmental project. She is beautiful, smart and altruistic, and all the good that she aspires to earn his respect and also intrigues him a great deal," state the notes.

Prologue Shot in the Sky

The prologue, which hit the Internet and was previewed in some IMAX theaters, features the hijacking of a plane by Bane and his minions. The production notes reveal that the scene was shot in the air and uses minimal special effects. The crew literally filmed the sequence from a helicopter traveling alongside two planes.

Running Time

Finally, the notes state that the film will run at a whopping two hours and 45 minutes, a full quarter hour long than its predecessor and 25 minutes longer than the first film in the trilogy.

"The Dark Knight Rises" Christian Bale reprising the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Cane, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, and Juno Temple among others. The film is set for a July 20 release date and according to most prognosticators will likely blow the $158 million opening of its predecessor "The Dark Knight" away.

Early reviews from a press screening on July 6 have been overwhelmingly positive. Critic Marc Genuso tweeted, "If this does not break the mold and win Best Picture, no comic book movie ever will." 

READ FULL REVIEW FOR THE DARK KNIGHT RISES HERE.