LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Christian Bale, the actor behind the Batman mask in "The Dark Knight Rises," visited victims of the Colorado shooting at a hospital on Tuesday, the Denver Post newspaper reported, citing an official for the Warner Bros film studio.

A picture of Bale posing next to a young man in a hospital room was posted on the newspaper's website and on Twitter.

A spokeswoman for the actor was not immediately available to comment, and a spokeswoman for Warner Bros., the studio behind the blockbuster movie, declined to confirm the actor's visit.

A spokeswoman at the Medical Center of Aurora where many victims are recovering also declined to confirm Bale's visit, but security at the facility was particularly tight on Tuesday.

On Friday, a gunman burst into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, and opened fire on the audience for a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 12 people and injuring 58 more.

(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)