Posted on 07/20/2008 3:15:21 PM PDT by Borges
Holy blockbuster, Batman! The Dark Knight grossed a behemoth $155.3 million from Friday through Sunday, according to early estimates, to score the biggest three-day opening in box-office history, while leading the way on a weekend for the record books.
The second Batman movie from star Christian Bale and director Christopher Nolan finished at No. 1 (as anticipated, duh!), and, assuming the early estimates hold, it set new standards in just about every category imaginable. It scored the biggest three-day opening weekend of all time (beating Spider-Man 3's $151.1 mil bow). It achieved the best opening day and single day in history ($66.4 mil, shattering Spider-Man 3's mark of $59.8 mil). It brought in the most money from Friday midnight shows of any release ever ($18.5 mil, passing Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith's $16.9 mil). It banked a record $6.2 mil from 94 IMAX venues over the weekend (Spider-Man 3 had the old record, $4.7 mil). And it did it all with the biggest theater count, 4,366 locations, of all time.
Oh, but for Bale, Nolan, costars Maggie Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger, Warner Bros., DC Comics, and everybody else involved (all of whom scored career-best bows, naturally), things get even better. The Dark Knight is already more than three-quarters of the way to passing the $205.3 mil that 2005's Batman Begins earned during its entire domestic run. This followup film also drew raves from ticket buyers, scoring a solid A CinemaScore review from a crowd that skewed slightly male and older. And if you add that to the critical coos that The Dark Knight had already been earning, as well as the fact that it's really the last mega-blockbuster movie to hit the multiplex this summer, the film should continue its remarkable run for weeks to come.
As it happened, The Dark Knight wasn't the only record breaker at the box office this weekend. By coming in at No. 2 with $27.6 mil, Mamma Mia! set a new mark for the biggest premiere ever for a movie musical, if that early estimate holds (Hairspray banked $27.5 mil on its first weekend a year ago). That total also passes the $27.5 mil that star Meryl Streep's The Devil Wears Prada earned in its debut two summers back, and it can be credited to the same crowd: older women. Yep, a whopping three-quarters of the film's audience was ladies, and 64 percent was over the age of 30. But they loved Mamma Mia!, and along with the few fellas who also came to see Pierce Brosnan in the Broadway adaptation, they gave it a nice A- CinemaScore grade.
Mamma Mia! and The Dark Knight accounted for nearly 75 percent of all box-office revenue this weekend, so there was little money to go around for the rest of the movies in release. Hancock (No. 3) fell 56 percent to bank $14 mil. Journey to the Center of the Earth (No. 4) dropped an expected 43 percent to earn $11.9 mil. Hellboy II: The Golden Army fell a colossal 71 percent to earn just $10 mil, after bowing at No. 1 last time around. (That ranks among the 40 worst second-weekend declines in history, ouch!) And newcomer Space Chimps (No. 7) failed to take off, with a mere $7.4 mil.
The success stories continued in America's art houses where the Sundance thriller Transsiberian averaged a sweet $17,608 in two venues.
Overall, the cumulative box office set yet another record: The weekend's $253 mil total domestic gross was the biggest three-day sum in history (smashing the mark of $218 mil, from the first frame of July 2006, when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest led the way). Needless to say, the box office was up an eye-popping 64 percent from a year ago. And, needless to say, with Batman protecting them even more than before, everyone in Hollywood will sleep well tonight.
What are you talking about?
Based on his report Mrs. Lurkin and I decided we will not go to see it. And despite her hints of interest - I'm confident we won't see “Mamma Mia” either!
I think he’s talking about Hollyweird.
gotta adjust these numbers for inflation, at the least..aside from raw dollars, this is nearly meaningless info aside from the fact the 8$ tickets are helping theaters and studios.
I'll probably check out a matinee this week, when there will hopefully be fewer ankle biters in the theater.
Man, I can’t wait to see this movie. All the showings were all sold out, so I’ll probably catch it when demand dies down a little. I have heard that this is not only the greatest superhero movie ever made, but one of the greatest overall movies as well. I’d never thought this would out-do Batman Begins, but I heard it did.
Steven Greydanus at Decentfilms.com liked it a LOT. If the upcoming, potentially-catastrophic, week is reasonably successful, maybe my two oldest (17 and 14) can see it on Friday.
It’s a passable time waster not much more. My vote for best superhero ever made goes to ‘Superman 2’.
Does anyone know of a website that lists ATTENDANCE, rather than GROSS RECEIPTS? Particularly concerning movies from the 30’s, 40’s & 50’s.
It really would be nice to compare Apples to Apples. After all, you could open a home movie with a total weekend attendance of 13 people in Zimbabwe and have the take be several billion! :-)
ROFL. You're kidding or smoking crack, right?
It’s a small masterpiece and is a much better film than the first Superman film and any other film of that sort I’ve seen since then.
I saw it last night and it was pretty good. There was no reason, though, for Batman to have copped to the 5 murders that Dent committed. In order that the people of Gothago not lose confidence in their officials? As though with all the crime in Gotham no cops or aldermen had ever been corrupted. Better that they have the example of a dead corrupted Dent and a live incorruptible Batman than the other way around. Batman and Commissioner Gordon were discussing how it was important that the people have someone they can believe in and then finished by saying that the people needed a bad guy to believe in and that bad guy was Batman because he could take it. That was a bit weak, though it left things open to a sequel. Too bad Ledger died; he was a GREAT bad guy.
Terrence Stamp was the best thing about Superman 2. KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!
Gary Oldman is at his best when he takes an understated role like (soon to be) Commissioner Gordon. Nevertheless, his best role was his rather outlandish performance in “The Professional.”
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