Batman to return as Oscar bait?

Warner Bros., the studio that must be licking its chops right now over the success of the latest Batman flick, wants move than just box office receipts. It wants Oscar recognition as well.

Right now it seems like Heath Ledger will grab a posthumous Oscar nomination for supporting actor for "The Dark Knight." I'm betting the the movie is going to get a handful of technical nominations as well. But Warners is shooting for bigger fish, perhaps a picture and/or a director's nod. To that end, the studio plans, according to this story out of China, for goodness sakes, to re-release "The Dark Knight" to selected iMax theaters in January, the height of the Oscar voting season.

Frankly, I'm not sure I'm buying it. It makes more sense for Warners to schedule a DVD release right before Christmas. That will not only make it the potential No. 1 holiday gift for the upcoming season but it will allow the company to send DVD copies to all Academy voters, much like was done quite effectively with "Seabiscuit" some years ago. I'm positive more voters will be willing to watch it in their own homes than could be dragged to an iMax theater.