JAPAN: Christian Bale still remains silent on assault allegations during a news conference for "The Dark Knight" film in Japan

Record ID: 464342

  • Title: JAPAN: Christian Bale still remains silent on assault allegations during a news conference for "The Dark Knight" film in Japan
  • Date: 30th July 2008
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, FILM DIRECTOR OF "THE DARK KNIGHT" SAYING: "When you do a film of this scale, you are certainly hoping to reach widespread of people, large number of people. But I think we all have been completely taken by surprise by the scale of film success in America particularly. I would not be able to point to exactly what it is to make so successful if I knew that all my films would have been successful."
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Reuters ID: LVA28F09O1MECES3WKLDGQ0C0ZB4
  • Story Text: Actor Christian Bale, star of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight," on Tuesday (July 29) remained silent on allegations of assault at a news conference for the film in Tokyo, Japan.
    "It is a private matter," said Bale when a reporter asked him a question related to the allegations.
    The record-breaking film director Christopher Nolan, producers Emma Thomas and Charles Roven and actors Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal also participated in a news conference.
    British media reports said Bale was arrested following allegations of assault made by his mother and sister in relation to an incident at his London hotel suite late Sunday (July 20).
    The Welsh-born performer, 34, riding high as Hollywood's latest blockbuster film star, spent several hours at a London police station before being released without charge, his Los Angeles-based spokeswoman, Jennifer Allen, said.
    When asked if Bale had been arrested and released on bail, a police spokeswoman said: "A 34-year-old man has been bailed to return to a police station on a date in September."
    Bale was in London for the European premiere of "The Dark Knight," which shattered box office records in North American theaters.
    A martial-arts enthusiast and environmental activist, Bale has often played troubled characters, first donning the cape and cowl of the brooding superhero Batman for the 2005 film "Batman Begins."
    "The Dark Knight" also stars the late Australian actor Heath Ledger as Batman's maniacal arch-nemesis, the Joker. Ledger died of an accidental drug overdose shortly after completing the film.
    "Heath played that, you know, beautifully. I enjoyed very much, actually our very first scene together in an interrogation room that said, you know, because first time I got to see, you know, what Heath was really gonna do and enjoyed it very much, you know, despite the rage and everything that Batman was displaying at that scene, I, actually between takes, I was laughing my head off because I was liking how much it seem to be working between us.
    Heath also you could see how much glee and delight he got from playing this character, you know, he really got satisfaction out of it,"
    Bale told during a news conference.
    The latest Batman buried his rivals at the North American box office for a second weekend on Sunday (July 27), racing past 300 million USD in a record 10 days.
    The film also sold an estimated 75.6 million USD worth of tickets during the three days beginning Friday, taking its total to 314.2 million USD, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said.
    A week after it scored a record-breaking 158 million USD opening, "The Dark Knight" added a new title to its impressive list of superlatives: the best second weekend, surpassing the holiday-boosted 72 million USD haul of 2004's "Shrek 2."
    "When you do a film of this scale, you are certainly hoping to reach widespread of people, large number of people. But I think we all have been completely taken by surprise by the scale of film success in America particularly. I would not be able to point to exactly what it is to make so successful if I knew that all my films would have been successful," said director when asked about the reason of the huge success.
    The film hits theatres across Japan on August 9.
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