Film News: Bootlegged ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Teaser Trailer, Screenshots Leak

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Update: 1:58 p.m. on July 15, 2011 (official trailer goes online July 18, 2011!)
Update: 12:08 p.m. on July 13, 2011 (removed all imagery per Warner Bros. request)
CHICAGO – “The Dark Knight Rises” teaser trailer has leaked! The videos have been popping up and taken down all morning on Wednesday. While there isn’t currently a reliable video embed because they’re removed as fast as they’re uploaded, we have watched it and snapped screenshots!

Update: We have been contacted by Warner Bros. and have been asked to remove all new imagery in this article related to the bootlegged “The Dark Knight Rises” teaser trailer. We have complied. We are only reposting the official teaser poster below.

In the approximately 90-second teaser trailer we’ve watched (which is long for a Christopher Nolan teaser trailer), we’ve seen focus on Gary Oldman’s character. He’s mumbling and lying in a hospital bed. The villain, Bane (Tom Hardy), also appears in the teaser. We also see the epic city imagery of the bat signal that first surfaced on Monday in the film’s official teaser poster.

The first official teaser poster for “The Dark Knight Rises” released on July 11, 2011. Click for a high-resolution version.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

We’re disappointed with this teaser trailer. It feels somber and sleepy. It doesn’t smack you in the face and build excitement as much as previous Batman trailers have. We demand more. Want to watch the high-quality video for yourself? Stay tuned! We still maintain that the first teaser trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” will likely be officially attached to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” which opens this Friday.

“The Dark Knight Rises” will again star Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox and Michael Caine as Alfred. The film also stars Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, Josh Pence, Diego Klattenhoff and Alon Aboutboul. Nestor Carbonell and Daniel Sunjata are currently rumored to be involved.

The film, which is again directed by Christopher Nolan, is scheduled for release on July 20, 2012. “The Dark Knight Rises” is written by David S. Goyer (story), Bob Kane (characters), Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (story) and Jonathan Nolan (screenplay) with original music from Hans Zimmer and cinematography by Wally Pfister.

By ADAM FENDELMAN Publisher HollywoodChicago.com adam@hollywoodchicago.com