'Dark Knight' reigns not in video game

LOS ANGELES - It's a puzzle worthy of The Riddler: Why is there no video game based on "The Dark Knight"?

For the first time in the film-franchise's history, the caped crusader flew into movie theaters without a video game attached to his utility belt. Despite a plethora of "Dark Knight" action figures, bobbleheads and T-shirts sweeping in Bat-dollars beyond the film's $400 million record-smashing box office, no "Dark Knight" game is following suit.

Whatever held things up caused about $100 million in sales to be missed, according to estimates.

It's not as if an interactive "Dark Knight" wasn't gearing up before the film's release. Game publisher Electronic Arts had the rights to make a "Dark Knight" title, which EA-owned developer Pandemic Studios was working on, according to an EA manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information is proprietary.

Gary Oldman, the actor who plays Gotham City police officer James Gordon, said in a recent interview with cable network G4 that he had seen a "tiny little piece" of "The Dark Knight" game and described a sequence with Batman realistically gliding across rooftops. Oldman also said the game is supposed to feel like it "doesn't stop and start."

Batman Games Over The Years

Beyond that, details about the game have been as concealed as Bruce Wayne in the Batsuit. Representatives for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, EA and Pandemic would not comment for this story.

Speculation about the cause for the disappearing act has included missed deadlines, Heath Ledger's death, questionable quality and poor sales projections.

Based on the record-breaking success of the movie, Wedbush Morgan video game industry analyst Michael Pachter believes a "Dark Knight" game released at the same time as the blockbuster film last month could have sold 4 million units and banked $100 million -- with $70 million going to the game's publisher and $30 million going to Warner Bros.

Sales of movie-based games often parallel their box-office brethren. Last year's "Transformers" games sold 2.6 million copies while the "Spider-Man III" games sold 2.1 million, according to sales data from NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier. Even the "Iron Man" games have sold 697,000 units following their release at the same time as the film in May.

To quote Jack Nicholson's Joker: "And where ... is the Batman?"

Go To Page Two >>

More Stories

Previous: Brett Favre remains a Packer on Madden cover
Next: Star Trek Online unveiled

MORE ON YAHOO! GAMES:

SEIZURE SCARE DELAYS GAME DOWNLOAD OVAL OFFICE