Batman Movie

A masked gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater showing the new Batman movie early Friday morning, leaving 12 people dead and 50 wounded, according to police and local media. Children are among the injured, officials said.  The shooting came minutes after the 12:05 a.m. premiere showing of the widely anticipated "The Dark Knight Rises. " A suspect is in custody. The Denver Post said the suspect is 24 years old.  An eyewitness told The Times that the gunman "busted in" through a door near the front of the screen in Theater No. 9 at the Century 16 in Aurora, a suburb of Denver.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - Vivid testimony about the movie theater massacre that shocked a nation extended into a second day as a preliminary hearing for James E. Holmes resumed Tuesday. Prosecutors continued to lay out their case against Holmes, 25, accused of killing 12 people and injuring about 70 during a shooting rampage on July 20 in a suburban cinema. At issue in the proceeding, expected to last a week, is whether there is a sufficient case to go to trial. In the first day of testimony Monday, law enforcement officials described the bloody shooting scene and heartbreaking rescue attempts to bring the gravely wounded to treatment.

Potent, persuasive and hypnotic, "The Dark Knight Rises"has us at its mercy. A disturbing experience we live through as much as a film we watch, this dazzling conclusion to director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is more than an exceptional superhero movie, it is masterful filmmaking by any standard. So much so that, its considerable 2-hour, 44-minute length notwithstanding, as soon as it's over, all you want to do is see it all over again. That desire comes despite - or perhaps because of - the fact that "The Dark Knight Rises" might be the bleakest, most despairing superhero film ever made.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- After a day of grisly and emotionally difficult testimony from those first on the scene of the Aurora movie massacre, a second day of details about the carnage is set to unfold Tuesday. Prosecutors are expected to continue methodically laying out their case against James E. Holmes, a 25-year-old former neuroscience doctoral student at the University of Colorado-Denver. They must prove there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. Holmes faces 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and weapons charges.

Many moviegoers forgot about"Total Recall" at the box office this past weekend, as the reboot of the 1990 amnesia classic failed to prove as memorable as"The Dark Knight Rises. " For the third consecutive weekend, the final entry in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy claimed the No. 1 position at the multiplex. This past weekend, the film starring Christian Bale as the iconic superhero took in an additional $36.4 million, lifting its overall tally to $354.6 million domestically, according to an estimate from distributorWarner Bros.

DC Comics' superheroes can finally team up on the big screen following yesterday's legal victory for Warner Bros. in its long-running fight over the rights to Superman. The studio is expected to accelerate development of a planned "Justice League" movie that would join Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and other characters, according to a knowledgeable person not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Warner hopes to shoot the film next year and release it in the summer of 2015.

Dane Cook gives new meaning to the phrase "too soon" with this joke about the “Dark Knight Rises” shootings -- though you can wonder if the joke would have been appropriate at any time. In a performance at the Laugh Factory, the comedian quipped that the Batman movie was “crap” and proceeded to say that the violence last week at an Aurora movie theater - which claimed the lives of 12 people and injured scores more - took place because a filmgoer early in the screening lamented “oh...shoot me.” Oddly, Cook elicited some jeers but also some prolonged laughter.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- The handling of a key piece of evidence in the Aurora movie massacre fell under scrutiny on Monday as defense attorneys raised the question of whether law enforcement officers were careless when they confiscated a notebook that might have detailed suspect James E. Holmes' plans in advance. An intriguing, even eerie, fact emerged about the notebook tied to the man who is accused of opening fire on a crowded theater showing a Batman movie: The notebook  has been stuffed with money that had been burned.

Magician David Copperfield filed a $1-million lawsuit Friday against Butterfield & Butterfield, charging that the upscale auction firm sold him a bogus "Batmobile." Copperfield says he bid $189,000 for what Butterfield & Butterfield identified as the Batmobile used in the 1989 "Batman" movie starring Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger. Instead, Copperfield was sold a similar vehicle that was only used for promotional purposes, the lawsuit alleges.

Heath Ledger's family said Friday it was "proud and excited" by his posthumous Academy Award nomination, but that the recognition could not heal the pain caused by his untimely death. Exactly one year after he died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, Ledger was nominated for supporting actor for his portrayal of the Joker in the Batman movie "The Dark Knight." "To us . . . it seems like merely yesterday, and we are all still nursing broken hearts," Kate Ledger, the actor's sister, said in Australia.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- In what appeared to be an eerie allusion to the Joker in a Batman movie, James E. Holmes, the young man charged in the Colorado movie theater shooting, sent a notebook to his psychiatrist with burned money stuffed inside it. The new detail about the notebook was revealed Monday in a hearing that will address many issues, including whether the prosecution violated a gag order. Holmes, 24, faces 166 charges in the attack that killed 12 and wounded at least 58 during the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- The handling of a key piece of evidence in the Aurora movie massacre fell under scrutiny on Monday as defense attorneys raised the question of whether law enforcement officers were careless when they confiscated a notebook that might have detailed suspect James E. Holmes' plans in advance. An intriguing, even eerie, fact emerged about the notebook tied to the man who is accused of opening fire on a crowded theater showing a Batman movie: The notebook  has been stuffed with money that had been burned.

DC Comics' superheroes can finally team up on the big screen following yesterday's legal victory for Warner Bros. in its long-running fight over the rights to Superman. The studio is expected to accelerate development of a planned "Justice League" movie that would join Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and other characters, according to a knowledgeable person not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Warner hopes to shoot the film next year and release it in the summer of 2015.

The web crawler beat out the Caped Crusader on their first day going head-to-head in China. Sony Pictures' "The Amazing Spider-Man" grossed $5.46 million after it started playing in theaters Monday, while Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight Rises" took in $4.45 million. "Spider-Man" played in slightly more theaters -- 2,515 compared to 2,400 for the Batman movie -- and benefited from surcharges for 3-D tickets, making the two movies' performances very close. The two movies opened on the same day, a gambit by state-owned distributor China Film Group to limit the grosses of American movies and boost the share of box office generated by local productions.

The city of Aurora is seeking suggestions to a question that has no easy answer. What should be done with the movie theater that was the site of one of the worst mass shootings in the nation's history? It has been one month since a gunman burst into the Colorado movie theater screening of the latest Batman movie, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others. The Century 16 movieplex in Aurora, a Denver suburb, has remained closed since the July 20 massacre. On Monday, city officials posted an online survey asking for public opinions about the fate of the site.  “It is our hope that the entire community will participate and benefit from the citywide healing process,” officials wrote.

A lawyer says there could be a simple explanation for why an Ohio man allegedly armed himself to the teeth for a Saturday night screening of "The Dark Knight Rises": He wanted the protection. Scott A. Smith, 37, of North Ridgeville allegedly packed a bag with a loaded 9-millimeter Glock, extra ammunition clips and four knives for his trip to the movie theater, according to Cleveland.com. A search of Smith's home following his arrest turned up additional weapons, according to another report on Cleveland.com.

Even as Warner Bros. Pictures is casting new villains for "Batman II," the original blockbuster is still wallowing in red ink--thanks in large part to the Caped Crusader's archenemy, the Joker. The fifth-highest grossing motion picture in history and the No. 1 box-office hit of all time for Warners is still $35.8 million in the red and not likely to ever show a profit, according to financial statements obtained by The Times.

"The Dark Knight Rises"is entering the final sprint to the box office just slightly behind "The Avengers," which set an all-time record in May with its $207.4-million domestic debut. Warner Bros.' third and final Batman movie from director Christopher Nolanmade its first appearance Thursday morning on widely used research surveys known in Hollywood as "tracking" that gauge audience interest in upcoming pictures. All measures for "The Dark Knight Rises," which will hit theaters July 20, were huge, according to people who have seen the confidential data.

Many moviegoers forgot about"Total Recall" at the box office this past weekend, as the reboot of the 1990 amnesia classic failed to prove as memorable as"The Dark Knight Rises. " For the third consecutive weekend, the final entry in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy claimed the No. 1 position at the multiplex. This past weekend, the film starring Christian Bale as the iconic superhero took in an additional $36.4 million, lifting its overall tally to $354.6 million domestically, according to an estimate from distributorWarner Bros.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- Victims of the Aurora movie-theater shooting-- one in a wheelchair -- and many of their relatives came to the Arapahoe County Courthouse on Monday morning as the prosecution and defense teams prepared to hear the charges against suspect James E. Holmes. Holmes has been in custody since the July 20 shooting that left 12 dead and 58 injured in the shooting in the Denver suburb. He is expected to face a range of charges including first-degree murder. Relatives of the youngest shooting victim killed, 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, were among the first in line for one of 35 courtroom seats reserved for victims and their family members.