<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>For months now, buzz has been building for "The Dark Knight," the next edition of the "Batman" film franchise. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the upcoming movie stars Christian Bale as Batman—and Heath Ledger as The Joker. Advertising for the blockbuster release, which will hit theaters in July, has focused on Ledger's grisly, battered-looking super villain. Now, as The Wall Street Journal says, "the actor's death puts into question the future of the Joker-centric marketing push... and whether Warner Bros. will change tactics rather than risk a negative response." AFP quoted one source as saying that the dilemma the studio finds itself in is "unprecedented in the modern era." We don't know how people will respond to the movie's marketing or its release, but the fate of the film and the look of Ledger's bruised bad guy have electrified searchers. After news broke of Ledger's shocking death, queries for "heath ledger" catapulted upwards. The next most sought-out search was "heath ledger joker." Since his death, demand for the actor's portrayal of the criminal mastermind has surged nearly 3,600%. Over the past week, we've also logged massive spikes in terms like "batman the dark knight joker," "heath ledger joker pictures," and "heath ledger as the new joker." General queries, such as "dark knight movie" and "batman the dark knight trailer," have skyrocketed.</div> Source
I wouldn't doubt that they change the marketing push for the movie. Will the trailers be as appealing though? Maybe not, but this movie is going to be huge regardless of how they advertise it, so it doesn't matter in the end.
I don't see why the studio has to change it's marketing campaign though. They probably loved Heath's part and respect him, and just want to show his talented clips on tv. It doesn't seem offensive at all; the movie will do great either way.
The marketing campaign has been under way for quite some time. AJ Hammer & a pannel of "experts" were discussing this very thing on Headline News' Celebrities are the new royalty (tongue in cheek)show. I I think its really called Entertainment tonight or something like that. Bottom line: Warner Brothers is walking a tight rope and is in a no win situation IMO. WB best course is to stay the line. The veteran actors (Oldman, Freeman, & Caine) this film has have enough experience & wisdom to keep the media jackals in line. On a related note, Spielberg or Lucas was saying in the current issue of Vanity Fair (never would have read it had H Ford not been on the cover) that, "I Jones 4 is the kind of movie that critcs hate. In fact, they already hate it." TDK is the exact same kind of film. Most critics IMO are pretentious, psuedo-intellectuals. They make Niles Crane look like Joe lunch pail.
they'll get many more views just to see heath' final film. All they (film producers) will d put R.I.P Heath Ledger Whenever he was born - 2008
WB will shoot themselves in the foot if it seems that they're trying to advocate people into seeing Heath's final performance; that would make it seem that they're trying to take advantage of his death. I think they should continue to advertise the movie normally, but have their veteran actors talk about the amazing job that Heath did.
Im not saying they will take advantage of HL's death. I don't expect the advert to say "The last Ledger film ever" or anything. I just know more people will see it to watch it as one, It will get mega-advertised (Kind-of) In the news. E.g. "Ledger died after he filmed the Dark knight" Plus gay guys will go and watch it seeing as he is their Idol, What with Brokeback mountain and all.
