Warner Brothers have launched a Dark Knight ‘For Your Consideration’ website as we approach the awards season. The site also features a free download of the Dark Knight screenplay and a list of upcoming screenings.

In other news, the mayor of Batman, a small town in Turkey, is looking to sue the film makers for using the name of their town without permission. Shouldn’t matter really, considering The Dark Knight is currently sitting at almost $997m worldwide, and about to step into the members only billion dollar club.

(Also, did you know, apparently The Dark Knight has broken some records! Maybe even the one for blu-ray sales!)

VideoBusiness are reporting that The Dark Knight is projected to ship over 1 million Blu-ray units to retail for its December 9th launch. Earlier this year Iron Man set the record for the fastest selling blu-ray disk, with over half a million copies sold in its first week.

Warner knows that with Dark Knight’s wild popularity and Blu-ray-friendly special effects, the title should be a winner at retail. However, the studio will still be greasing the wheel with many software bundling promotions in order to encourage customers to buy Blu-ray players in time for the Dec. 9 Dark Knight bow.

A 2 CD special edition of the Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard soundtrack featuring bonus remixes and new tracks will be released on December 9th.

From the press release,

‘The Dark Knight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ returns with the ASCAP-winning composers from Batman Begins- Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard for a powerful orchestral score. The Special Edition features the complete score on two CD’s plus four bonus remix tracks; it also contains an 8×8x40 page hardbound book.

Disc: 1
1. Why So Serious?
2. I’m Not A Hero
3. Harvey Two-Face
4. Aggressive Expansion
5. Always A Catch
6. Blood On My Hands
7. A Little Push
8. Like A Dog Chasing Cars
9. I Am The Batman
10. And I Thought My Jokes Were Bad
11. Agent Of Chaos
12. Introduce A Little Anarchy
13. Watch The World Burn
14. A Dark Knight

Disc: 2
1. Bank Robbery (Prologue)
2. Buyer Beware
3. Halfway To Hong Kong
4. Decent Men In An Indecent Time
5. You’re Gonna Love Me
6. Chance
7. You Complete Me
8. The Ferries
9. We Are Tonight’s Entertainment
10. A Watchful Guardian
11. Why So Serious?(The Crystal Method Remix)
12. Poor Choice Of Words(Paul van Dyk Remix)
13. Gunpowder And Gasoline(Remix by Mel Wesson)
14. Rory’s First Kiss(Remix by Ryeland Allison)

Buy the Dark Knight 2 Disc Special Edition Soundtrack from Amazon | Official Score Website

In speaking with the LA Times and asked whether Batman would participate in any DC crossovers, Christopher Nolan responded,

Nolan: I don’t think our Batman, our Gotham, lends itself to that kind of cross-fertilization. It goes back to one of the first things we wrangled with when we first started putting the story together: Is this a world in which comic books already exist? Is this a world in which superheroes already exist? If you think of “Batman Begins” and you think of the philosophy of this character trying to reinvent himself as a symbol, we took the position — we didn’t address it directly in the film, but we did take the position philosophically — that superheroes simply don’t exist. If they did, if Bruce knew of Superman or even of comic books, then that’s a completely different decision that he’s making when he puts on a costume in an attempt to become a symbol. It’s a paradox and a conundrum, but what we did is go back to the very original concept and idea of the character. In his first appearances, he invents himself as a totally original creation.

GB: That doesn’t lend itselt to having him swing on a rope across the Metropolis skyline.

Nolan: No, correct, it’s a different universe. It’s a different way of looking at it. Now, it’s been done successfully, very successfully, in the comics so I don’t dispute it as an approach. It just isn’t the approach we took. We had to make a decision for “Batman Begins.”

GB: A different path…

Nolan: Yes, completely different. It would have given a very, very different meaning to what Bruce Wayne was leaving home to do and coming back home to do and putting on the costume for and all the rest. We dealt with on its own terms: What does Batman mean to Bruce Wayne, what is he trying to achieve? He has not been influenced by other superheroes. Of course, you see what we’re able to do with Joker in this film is that he is able to be quite theatrical because we set up Batman as an example of intense theatricality in Gotham. It starts to grow outward from Batman. But the premise we began with is that Batman was creating a wholly original thing. To be honest, we went even further than the comics on this point. I can’t remember at what point in the comics history the idea came about that he was a fan of Zorro as a kid. I haven’t researched that, but I don’t believe it goes back terribly far.”

The interview continues by discussing Nolan’s next project, his time off and the upcoming Academy Awards:

GB: You’ve said you aren’t sure what you next project will be. But clearly Warner Bros. looks at Batman as a core part of their movie business, perhaps now more than ever, and there are marketplace pressures on them to schedule the next installment of the franchise. Are you getting a lot of pressure to make a decision?

Nolan: They’re being extremely gracious. I have a very good relationship with the studio. They know that I really needed to go on holiday and take some time to figure what I want to do next. They’ve been very respectful of that, which is terrific and one of the reasons I enjoy working with Warner Bros.

GB: The nominations for the 81st Academy Awards will be announced in January. How meaningful would it be for the cast and crew of “The Dark Knight” if the late Heath Ledger is nominated for best supporting actor?

Nolan: I think the thing that has always been important to me in light of Heath’s death is the responsibility I’ve felt to his work. The responsibility of crafting the film in such a way that his performance came across the way he intended. Clearly, that has been the case. That’s one of the reasons I take such pride in the film.

I felt a great wave of relief, really, as people first started to see the performance and it was clear that they were getting the performance. It’s easy to forget with everything that’s happened what an enormous challenge it was for Heath to take on this iconic role. He rose to that challenge so admirably that any expression of people being excited or moved by his performance is a wonderful thing. Whatever form that takes. People coming to see his performance and getting it. It’s been extremely satisfying for all of us already. Anything that adds to that would be wonderful.

In other news,