THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: Christian Bale Visits Colorado Shooting Victims

The Denver Post reports that Christian Bale has visited the victims of Thursday night's shooting at the Medical Center of Aurora in Colorado. This was confirmed by an assistant for Susan Fleishman, executive vice president for Warner Brothers corporate communications in a statement issued earlier today. "Mr. Bale is there as himself, not representing Warner Brothers." While petitions were started to get the actor to do this (some rather tastelessly suggesting that he appear in full costume as Batman), the fact he has done so of his own accord and without any photo opportunities is a VERY cool move on the actors part, and hospital personnel have apparently been overheard saying he was talking to patients. Earlier this week, Bale released a statement expressing his sympathies to those affected by the tragedy. "Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them." Below are a couple of photos which were taken by those in the hospital and then shared on various social networking sites. Sound off with your thoughts on this in the usual place.

Christian Bale meeting with shooting victim Carey Rottman.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ "The Dark Knight Rises" is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. The screenplay is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on “Batman Begins” and the record-breaking blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. The film is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.