It’s difficult enough for studios to figure out the logistics of giant location shoots these days when juggling things like tax incentives, movie star schedules, and an uncertain economy.
But when you factor in a secrecy-obsessed director, one of the most famous characters in pop culture, a rabid fanbase dying to know more, and a hungry paparazzi, you have the perfect storm that is the production so far of Christopher Nolan’s mega-sequel “The Dark Knight Rises.”
For much of the shoot so far in Oakland, PA and in other surrounding parts of Pittsburgh, there have been non-stop streams of paparazzi photos of the set and the cast. Our first good look at Tom Hardy in his Bane costume came from a shoot on the Carnegie-Mellon campus, and the same shoot has now started yielding photos of Anne Hathaway’s stunt double, in full costume, riding the Batpod.
In response, Warner Bros. has done the only thing they can do, really, and they’ve finally released their own official image. And although it was obviously taken in a different location, they managed to choose a picture of Selina Kyle on the Batpod, suggesting that she either has a close working relationship with Batman in the new film, or access to the place where he stores all the cool toys.
Either way, here is the first official image of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle from “The Dark Knight Rises”:
And if you want a full-size version, click here.
What must really make Warner Bros. nervous about this is the fear of oversaturation and the backlash that non-stop hype can create. In this case, people are already complaining via various social media outlets that they are sick of seeing so many images from “The Dark Knight Rises,” and fans are concerned that the movie’s secrets are going to be ruined for them, one paparazzi photo at a time. Warner has only released two or three official images from the film so far, but the saturation level is still out of control, and there’s nothing they can do to stop it.
Hopefully this all stops as soon as they move from locations to soundstages, and things will get quiet again, giving fans a chance to get excited without being spoiled in the time between now and release.
“The Dark Knight Rises” will close out Nolan’s Batman trilogy on July 20, 2012.