How to profit from the Dark Knight Industrial Complex

Dark Knight, the Batman movie starring Heath Ledger, did boffo box office: $158.3 million, according to Defamer. But this blockbuster will not just benefit Warner Brothers and DC Comics, which share parent Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) with BloggingStocks. There are at least six companies that will benefit from Dark Knight's success. According to Seeking Alpha, these companies include:

Time Warner -- through its Warner Brothers and DC Comics subsidiaries are profiting most directly.
Comcast Corporation (NYSE: CMCSA) partnered with Warner Bros. to offer "behind-the-scenes footage, trailers, and mini movies on demand"
Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) collaborated in creating the Nokia6205 The Dark Knight Edition. Seeking Alpha reports that "This batphone targets superfans, with bat wallpaper, voice tones, screensavers, and the film's trailer pre-loaded."

Mattel, Inc. (NYSE: MAT) has the license to sell toys related to The Dark Knight, and it turns out that both kids and adult collectors buy Batman toys.
Imax Corporation (NYSE: IMAX): the film is being shown in 94 Imax venues and CNBC reports it had a record $6.2 million weekend.

Is Dark Knight big enough to move the needle in favor of buying stock in these companies? I think it may be too early to tell. I have not seen the movie yet. If you saw it, please comment below on whether you think it will boost the fortunes of these companies. But with stocks in each of these six falling today, I am not sure whether investors were disappointed with the outcome or simply taking profits that they had been anticipating for months.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-21-2008 @ 8:54PM

peter massa said...

Dark Knight will win many academy awards, including best actor, Heath Ledger.
I'm a senior citizen and wish this was around 60 years ago. I would have enjoyed it more then, than today. It's a winner.

7-21-2008 @ 9:18PM

Teri Davis said...

The movie was really really good. Heath Ledger defines the role of the Joker like no one has ever done before and should be rewarded with and Academy Award even if the do have to give it posthumously. He literally stole the movie from Christian Bale's Batman--and Bale was excellent. Maggie Gyllenhall is hopelessly miscast as Rachel and although she is reputed to be a fine actress, none of her alleged 'talent' is displayed in this movie and, quite frankly, she is homely at best. I can't see any billionaire chasing her but I could see her chasing the Batmobile. The special effects are over-the-top as always, but the endo with the semi is NOT a CGI image! All in all, an excellent movie, with Heath Ledger alone making it worth the price of a ticket!! A must-see for all Bat-fans and even non-bat-fans will rave about it.

7-22-2008 @ 9:52PM

History in Vogue said...

Indeed, Heath Ledger had the final word in portraying the Joker.
I don't know about boosting stocks. Imax, perhaps, but personally, I think the American public is tired of the mass amounts of Made in China toys and overkill on flooding the market with "collectibles" that really aren't all that special.
I don't know that it's going to boost the stocks enough to make a noticeable difference when all else is so "screwy" in the world economy-wise.
Still, it is amazing, and worth seeing: TWICE!