Movies / Comics To Film News

The Dark Knight Rises Trailer: The Plot Thickens

By Dan Horn
July 17, 2011 - 16:11

As I had reported last week, I had suspected Warner Brothers of being behind a diversion campaign, mass-replicating a fan-made The Dark Knight Rises trailer on YouTube to obscure the bootlegs of the actual teaser trailer that they were scrambling to bar from the web. So, I dug a little deeper, and what my "Detective" work produced is nothing short of puzzling.

The fan-made trailer that inundated YouTube as WB forced the streaming video site to take down bootlegs its users had posted may have originally been made as early as February, 2011, as commissioned by Bryan Rivelli, a name I was in no way familiar with. I started looking for anything connecting Rivelli and WB, and it wasn't long before I uncovered the link. Bryan Rivelli was an amateur screen-writer/film-maker in 2009 who had submitted a treatment to Warner Bros. for a little film called (DUN DUN DUN!!!) Man of Steel. And so the plot thickens. Comicbook.com has even implicated a subliminal ad for Man of Steel within the TDKR teaser poster. As far as I can tell, Rivelli is not actually attached to the MoS production in any capacity. So, what could his role be, if any? What does it all mean? It means, simply, Chris Nolan and company's methods and motives remain as inscrutable and enigmatic as ever. Call them the illuminati of Hollywood. There are some strange things afoot when it comes to TDKR. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that this could all be some very odd coincidence.

Then again, what's a better hype machine than conspiracy? Both TDKR and MoS crews have been obstinately tight-lipped in regards to their respective projects and with great effect, peaking unprecedented interest and fueling that ever-grinding rumor mill. After mishandling press releases for films like Green Lantern, where we felt we already knew everything that movie had in store for us going into a screening, perhaps WB has learned a few things about marketing, mystery breeding the most adamant curiosity and enthusiasm.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12