The Dark Knight Rises: Why So Quiet?

Before Christmas, The Dark Knight Rises was the talk of the movie world. It seemed like every day brought a new photo or tidbit of information about the film. However, other than toy photos from Toy Fair, it's been rather quiet on The Dark Knight Rises front lately. The Dark Knight Rises sat out the Super Bowl, where The Avengers gained serious momentum with a great new commercial. Of course, Warner Bros. sat out the Super Bowl completely, which is not surprising considering the expense of Super Bowl commercials. What is surprising is how quiet Warner Bros. has been after the Super Bowl. The Amazing Spider-Man wasted no time scheduling a sneak preview in early February. Sony/Columbia Pictures has also launched an innovative viral campaign called "Mark of the Spider-Man," which has become the talk of the comic book world. In fact, it's the same type of viral campaign that has been used in the past and that you might expect from a Batman film. The Dark Knight Rises official Facebook page only has one post so far this year, and it was of already released photos from the film. The @thefirerises twitter account which helped to reveal the first image of Bane hasn't had a tweet yet this year. Did the Dark Knight Rises social media team go on vacation? There have been no new trailers or official photos released since December. A couple of cast members have referred to the film in interviews, but in general, there has been nothing major revealed. Other than some January coverage in Entertainment Weekly's 2012 preview issue, there hasn't been any major magazine coverage lately either. Marvel Comics has announced a number of tie-in comics related to The Avengers, but DC Comics hasn't announced anything related to The Dark Knight Rises so far. And it's not like DC Comics isn't trying to do everything possible to generate buzz with a major re-launch and a Watchmen prequel. It's somewhat shocking that there's been no crossover promotions revealed with The Dark Knight Rises. So what's going on? Why is Warner Bros. so quiet in regards to the Dark Knight Rises? Is it all part of a carefully planned strategy? Is there a major viral campaign in the works that will be revealed soon? Or did all the media uproar over Bane's voice make the studio shy? Or could Christopher Nolan have become worried that too many elements of the plot were leaking out so he put out a gag order to preserve the element of surprise?