Anne Hathaway was forced to laugh off a huge spoiler about the new Batman film after U.S. talk show host David Letterman appeared to let slip the movie's mystery ending during a TV interview on Thursday (12Jul12).
The Late Show presenter was enjoying an animated discussion about director Christopher Nolan's trilogy-ending The Dark Knight Rises with Hathaway, who plays Catwoman, when he suggested Christian Bale's Batman character is killed off.
He said, "I think this is it and in the end, Batman is dead."
A stunned Hathaway shot a warning glance to Letterman, saying, "Daaaave...", prompting both the star and the presenter to laugh off his remarks.
The actress tried to cover up the apparent gaffe by asking, "Metaphysically or emotionally?" before appearing to confirm speculation the Caped Crusader meets his death, adding, "You know that's a whole thing (storyline)?"
Turning to the studio audience, Letterman then insisted, "He's not dead...! Just relax, will ya?"
But Hathaway did her best to distance herself from the spoiler, telling to host, "I just want you to know, the wrath you have just invited onto yourself (from Batman bosses)... I had no part in it - I'm sorry."
Nolan went to extreme lengths to ensure the castmembers - including superhero Bale and villain Tom Hardy - were kept in the dark about the ending of The Dark Knight Rises, and even sent out scripts with pages missing. The film's stars have also been limited in what they've been allowed to reveal during promotional interviews to maintain the mystery for fans.
During a late-night interview with U.S. comedian Jimmy Kimmel earlier this week (beg09Jul12), a cagey Gary Oldman would only reveal the lengths Nolan went to to keep his plot points secret - and he laughed nervously when the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host suggested they simply revealed all about the movie.