This document compares the production, distribution, marketing and exhibition of the independent British film Four Lions to the Hollywood blockbuster The Dark Knight. Four Lions had a much smaller budget of £2.5 million compared to The Dark Knight's $185 million budget. It was distributed to 115 UK cinemas initially and struggled to find a US distributor. In contrast, The Dark Knight had a wide global release in theaters. While Four Lions had modest commercial success, The Dark Knight became one of the highest-grossing films ever with over $1 billion in global box office revenue.

1. PRODUCTION,DISTRIBUTION,
MARKETING AND EXHIBITION.
FOUR LIONS AND The DARK KNIGHT.
Kamil Wojtas

2. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Director and Writers
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Writers:
Jonathan Nolan(screenplay), Christopher
Nolan (screenplay), 3 more credits
Stars:
Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
Production

3. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Four Lions is the debut feature film from
director Chris Morris. The film is a Jihad Satire
following a group of jihadi islamist terrorists
from Sheffield, England.
Morris spent three years researching the
project, speaking to terrorism specialists and
experts, police, the secret service and imams
as well as ordianry Muslims, and writing the
script in 2007.
The project was originally rejected by both the
BBC and Channel 4 as being too controversial .
Morris suggested in a mass email, titled ‘
Funding Mentalism’ that fans could contribute
between £25 and £100 each to the production
costs of the film and would appear as extras in
return. The funding was secured in October
2008 from film 4 productions and warp films,
with Mark Herbert producing. Filming began in
Nolan's inspiration for the film was the
Joker's comic book debut in 1940, the
1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke, and
the 1996 series The Long Halloween which
retold Two-Face's origin. The nickname
"the Dark Knight" was first applied to
Batman in Batman #1 (1940), in a story
written by Bill Finger The Dark Knight was
filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in
several other locations in the United
States, the United Kingdom, and Hong
Kong. Nolan used an IMAX camera to film
some sequences, including the Joker's first
appearance in the film. On January 22,
2008, some months after he had
completed filming on The Dark Knight and
Production

4. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Producers Links
Film4 Productions
http://www.film4.com/film4-productions
Wild Bunch
http://www.wildbunchmedia.com/
Optimum Releasing
http://www.studiocanal.co.uk/
Warp Films
http://warp.net/films
DC Comics
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Legendary pictures
Syncopy inc
Production

5. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Production

6. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Budget & Production Companies
£2.5 million
Warp Films
Wild Bunch
Optimum Releasing
$185 million
DC Comics
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Legendary pictures
Syncopy inc
Production

7. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Budget & Production Companies
Distribution

8. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Four Lions was distributed to 115 cinemas. It
then spread to 200.
It was shown at the Sundance Film Festival.
Had a premiere at the National Media
Museum and was nominated for the Sundance
film festivals best Narrative.
However the film struggled to find a US
distributor, although Drafthouse films released
it in America, it was limited and grossed just of
$400,000.
DISTRIBUTION

9. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
http://www.timeout.com/london/film/chris-
morris-and-the-writers-of-four-lions-interview-
1
However the film struggled to find a US
distributor, although Drafthouse films released
it in America, it was limited and grossed just of
$400,000.
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/nov/1
0/four-lions-us-chris-morris
http://www.slashfilm.com/alamo-drafthouse-
announces-distribution-arm-first-release-will-
be-four-lions/
DISTRIBUTION

10. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Trailers
Marketing

11. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Interviews
Marketing

12. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Poster – Four Lions has one MAIN poster that
fits in with the theme.
Trailers – Four Lions has one trailer that has
been carefully thought out showing the best,
funniest and most exciting bits of the film.
Online and Mobile – The online and Mobile
marketing campaign was much
more simpler and directed ant a certain
audience. Myspace, Facebook, Twitter (they
did not use every social networking site but
still used quite a few) and trailers. They did not
have such a big online presence .
Media Advertising – Trailers, Internet social
networking sites.
Promotional Partnerships – Four Lions does
not have any promotional partnerships
Merchandising – Four Lions does not really
have much merchandise. DVD, Blu-Ray DVD.
Marketing

13. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Film Posters
Marketing

14. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Box office revenue
Exhibition

15. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Four Lions was released onto 115 screens
across the UK.
Made a total of $609,000 on it’s opening
weekend.
It was branded a ‘sleeper film’ and Optimum
Releasing went on to screen the film in 200
screens across the UK.
After having an unsuccessful run in the USA, it
grossed a worldwide total of - $4,658,570.
The film was mainly shown in Independent
cinemas which contrasts to The Dark Knight
which featured in many multiplexes and
Independent chains.
Exhibition

16. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Platforms
Released on Blu-ray and DVD,
the price ranges from
approximately £5.00 to £8.00
This film was eventually aired
on TV for free on Film 4.
Release on blu-ray earned
$33,095,519 and the total
domestic video sales is
$315,121,940
Exhibition

17. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Awards
Exhibition

18. INDEPEDENT FILM
Four Lions
BLOCKBUSTER
The Dark Knight
Reviews Ratings: 9.0/10 from 1,384,463 users
Metascore: 82/100
Reviews: 4,217 user | 626 critic
Exhibition