These are the dates you want to write down in your calendar pertaining to Batman The Killing Joke:
- July 23rd: Available digitally on Video On Demand services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.
- July 26th: Digital HD via purchase from digital retailers including Amazon, CinemaNow, Flixster, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others.
- August 2nd: Available on Blu-rayTM Deluxe Edition for $29.96 SRP, Blu-rayTMCombo Pack for $24.98 SRP, and DVD for $19.98 SRP.
Ever since I heard about Batman: The Killing Joke being made in to a feature length animated movie, I have been excited. When I heard they were going for and were approved for an R-rating, I was truly elated and ecstatic. ComicBooked recently discussed the release of this movie here.
The recipe is there to do the original story justice. The story was initially published in 1988 by DC Comics as a forty-eight page, prestige format original graphic novel. It went on to be highly successful and saw multiple print runs. Today, it is considered on of those all-important, quintessential Batman stories that every Batman fan must read. The graphic novel won an Eisner Award in 1989. It was still a best-seller and even placed on the New York Times best seller list in 2006, decades later. The story, written by Alan Moore and with art by Brian Bolland, features Bruce Wayne -also known as – Batman, The Joker, Jim Gordon and Barbara Gordon as its central characters. Batman: The Killing Joke was had a lasting impact on DC canon and mythology that still resonates today and, thusly, why a movie of the same name and plot feels right and relevant even if it was originally penned twenty eight years ago.
The movie was revolutionary in its story telling but it is still breaking down barriers today. When the movie is released on August 2nd 2016, it will become the first r-rated direct to disc animated movie by Warner Brothers and is only the second Batman movie ever to receive an R rating (For reference, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice the Extended Cut Blu Ray is the first).
The disc will include a preview of the next DC Universe Original animated Movie. The Blu-Ray (both editions) adds in a Featurette the soundtrack for the film as well as an additional Featurette about the artistic process behind The Killing Joke. and two 22 minute episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, “Old Wounds” and “Christmas with the Joker.” From the Official Press Release: “The Blu-rayTM Combo Pack includes a digital version of the movie on Digital HD with UltraViolet. The Blu-ray™ Deluxe Edition will include all components of the Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack, along with an exclusive figurine of The Joker in a numbered, limited edition gift set.”
The movie will star Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman along with Mark Hamill voicing the Joker, and Tara Strong as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon. We have already seen the trailer and it gives us great depth and insight in to the story itself. Here is a breakdown, courtesy of DC Entertainment:
and the trailer itself:
