The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray, much like The Avengers before it, will be one of the most sought after Blu-rays this fall and upcoming holiday season. We already know The Avengers will be released September 25 on Blu-ray and DVD. But what about The Dark Knight Rises’ Blu-ray release date? Let’s have some fun and speculate with an educated guess.
Back in 2008, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight was released theatrically on July 18. After a lengthy and incredibly successful theatrical run, Warner Home Video finally made it available to own on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4, 2008.
The same comparison cannot be made with Batman Begins. It made its theatrical debut on June 15 and was quickly shuttled off to home video in October. The shorter window can be attributed to a quicker burnout at the box office and $205 million gross for Batman Begins versus $533 million for The Dark Knight.
Per BoxOfficeMojo, The Dark Knight Rises has made $295 million through its first 11 days of release. The Dark Knight was running a little higher through the same time period with $324 million.
Based on this information, it’s safe to assume that The Dark Knight Rises will follow a nearly identical path to home video as The Dark Knight did and flood store shelves beginning in early December. A quick glance at the calendar reveals December 4, 2012 falls on a Tuesday, the typical day for new Blu-ray and DVD releases. That date is exactly four years to the day after The Dark Knight began its home video dominance.
Let’s be honest; that was an easy analysis. A harder one is guessing when Warner Bros. will announce The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray and when Amazon.com will begin taking pre-orders. Again, let’s look at how that shook out for The Dark Knight Blu-ray.
Amazon.com first put up pre-orders for The Dark Knight on Blu-ray in early September 2008. They were pulled for a few days the same day they went up, then reappeared for good after the disc was formally announced on September 29, 2008.
If I had to guess, and that’s all I can do, my guess is Warner Home Video will announce The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray release date as well as a Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy box set on September 24, 2012. That release date for both will be December 4, 2012. Let the waiting game begin.
