Warner Bros.' tough balancing act for a Ledger Oscar campaign

Very carefully, it seems, as Warner Bros., the studio behind "The Dark Knight," tries to tread the line between tribute and exploitation in rallying academy support for Ledger's performance as the maniacal, nihilistic Joker.

Oscar campaigning is serious business in Hollywood, as studios have been known to spend as much as $50 million in a quest for those golden statuettes. The mantra from Warner Bros. sources -- though no one will go on the record -- is that the studio is running a campaign for all members of the filmmaking team and all the actors. The film, which earned almost a billion dollars, was a critical darling.

But consider one Internet ad featuring Ledger in his ghoulish Joker outfit, with a shaded Christian Bale looming in the background in his Batman gear: The ad touts both actors, but it's clearly the white-faced Ledger whose Joker leer is front and center.

It is a near consensus in Hollywood that Ledger is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination for supporting actor and might even win, which would make the forever young Australian the only actor besides "Network's" Peter Finch to earn an acting Oscar posthumously. Still, he faces strong competition from other contenders, who could include Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt") and Michael Shannon (for his breakout performance in "Revolutionary Road").

Already, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members say that if Ledger is nominated, his spectral presence could help reverse the ratings slide for the Academy Awards show as fans tune in to see if his riveting turn as the demonic Joker is honored.

Eleven months after Ledger's death at age 28, still not much is known about his final days or why he had ingested the six drugs the autopsy detected. Ledger apparently suffered from insomnia, and theories were floated through the Internet and the media that his ferocious commitment to the crazed Joker had taken an emotional toll on him. But, for the most part, Hollywood has succeeded with an improbable media blackout, with almost no real information (aside from a few unsourced quotes in tabloids) leaking out about Ledger's death.

The fascination with Ledger has hardly abated, and interest will probably be juiced again when Warner Bros. releases "The Dark Knight" on DVD next week and stages another nationwide theatrical release for the movie Jan. 23 -- the day after the Oscar nominations are announced and the first anniversary of Ledger's death.