It was weirdly calm over the weekend in the world of movie reporting, as both Warner Bros. and rival studios held off on reporting box office estimates for The Dark Knight Rises or anything else in theaters. It was a gesture of respect to the 12 dead and dozens more wounded by the shootings in Aurora, Colorado, which happened early on in a screening of The Dark Knight Rises Friday morning. Warner Bros. was still in the process of figuring out how to respond to the tragedy-- they still are, really-- but taking the commerce out of it, and not speculating about money, seemed like a good idea.
WB finally announced their numbers on Monday, and now they're talking money again, though in a much more meaningful way for the Aurora victims. According to Deadline, the studio has made a substantial donation to the victims via GivingFirst.org the site set up by the Community First Foundation of Colorado to support local non-profits. At the site's homepage there's a button to send money to organizations that will help the Aurora victims, from blood banks to counseling services, but there are also more direct ways to help out the victims. This IndieGoGo page for Petra Anderson, who was shot in the head and now faces $250,000 in medical bills, is but one of many.
It's tempting to go off on a screed here not just about our broken gun laws, but our broken health care system that forces victims of a senseless shooting to pay out of pocket for their medical bills. But in the meantime, we can applaud Warner Bros. for passing on some of the immense Dark Knight Rises profits to those affected by the tragedy, and hope that further support from the community and the world can help the survivors to a full recovery.
