Oscar-winning The Dark Knight Rises composer Hans Zimmer has written an eight-minute musical piece to raise money for the victims of the Aurora shootings, he has revealed on his Facebook page.
The German musician, who won a Grammy for his work on 2008's The Dark Knight, said funds raised by selling the tribute composition online would be donated to the Aurora Victim Relief Organisation. It is available internationally via iTunes.
"Aurora is dedicated to those who lost their lives and were affected by the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado," Zimmer, who won an Oscar in 1994 for his work on The Lion King, wrote on his page. "I recorded the song in London in the days following the tragedy as a heartfelt tribute to the victims and their families."
Cast and crew of The Dark Knight Rises have been quick to express their horror after gunman James Holmes, who was dressed as Batman villain The Joker, fired into an audience of filmgoers at a midnight screening of the comic-book movie on 20 July in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 58. Star Christian Bale has visited victims in hospital and the French premiere of Christopher Nolan's final Batman film was cancelled as a mark of respect.
At Holmes's second court hearing yesterday survivors who were in the auditorium when the killer began shooting showed solidarity with the film-makers by sporting Batman T-shirts. "He attacked us out of cowardice but we will attack back in strength," filmgoer Don Lader told The Hollywood Reporter in a reference to a line in the The Dark Knight Rises. The 32-year-old said he held no ill-will towards the film industry over the shootings. "There was evidence that he was a Batman fan, but it didn't have anything to do with it," he said.
Holmes, 24, was yesterday formally charged with 12 counts of first-degree murder, 12 counts of first-degree murder with "universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life," 58 counts of attempted first-degree murder and another 58 "universal malice" charges related to attempted murder.
