The 2007 production of The Dark Knight was famously troubled, as one cameraman was killed in an on-set accident and then, not long after production wrapped, star Heath Ledger died in his New York City apartment. Thus far nothing quite so horrific has happened during the production of The Dark Knight Rises, but tragedy did strike in early November, when an extra died "of natural causes" during a break while shooting a large fight scene. Warner Bros. and the Screen Actors Guild confirmed the death to The New York Post, and sources say the male extra died of a heart attack after wandering away from the set during a break. Here are the other details the source offered:
“It was during a period when the film was shooting a huge sequence with several hundred extras in the Wall Street area. But the male extra had been rehearsing in another location away from the set. While on a break, he’d walked away and died of natural causes.”
From the sound of it, the actor's death had nothing to do with the production and was simply a terrible coincidence that he died while working on the film. In year that's seemingly plagued with on-set accidents-- like the stuntman who was killed on the set of The Expendables 2, or the extras injured on the set of Resident Evil: Retribution-- it's almost a relief to learn that an on-set death occurred through no negligence or accident on someone else's part, just an unfortunate act of God.
As for everything else Dark Knight Rises related, there's plenty going on right now-- last night Eric got an advance look at the prologue that will run in front of IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and we're expecting a new trailer or something similar to drop at 1 PST thanks to the latest viral campaign. The movie is set for release July 20 next year.
