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.
Wow you are really hung up on S2. Ok ok its fantastic. I bet you bought that steel box set with the alternate S2. I know I did. I’ve seen them all and this Batman still outshines the rest.
That’s what I’m going to do too. Probably fewer yappers if I wait anyway. Heard a lot about it & I’m not about to miss the chance to see Christian Bale.
I did buy the remastered version of S2. I’m a big Richard Lester fan and it’s one of his better films.
You sound like a misanthrope; welcome to the club.
I have no plans to see Dark Knight in the near future --- if ever.
I thought it was just me. Same for the next movie on the "success" list.
Hancock has already made a ton and it will make more. I love Wil Smith.
Well, I have to admit I really enjoy his movies now, although he was a bit of a whiner there for a while.
You’re missing out on what’s arguably the most conservative movies in a while.
Want a movie proclaiming messages of why you can’t appease evil? Here you go.
Will and Tom Cruise are two actors with ZERO appeal to me. Don't get me started on the horse faced, one dimensional Julia Roberts either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w94dZtKXaaE
Gary Oldman as Drexel
My favorite scene of all.
WARNING: contains profanity.
Great performances from Hopper, Walken, and James Gandolfini in the first role I ever remember noticing him in.
Yes...James Gandolfini’s scene with Alabama in the hotel room got him Tony Soprano, IMO.
But, I’m surprised you thought Slater didn’t carry himself.
I thought he was perfect...for the personality Clarence called for. Dim-witted, cold-blooded, but with morals.
He’s found a great niche and makes a fortune.
I thought he was great in Independence Day, I Robot, and also enjoyed him in I Am Legend.
>> 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.
You should see Richard Donner’s re-edit of Superman II. Donner was the director of SM:The Movie, and the original director of SMII, but was fired after disagreements with the Producers. The new director added some of the stupid stuff (the big cellphane “S”, vanishing people in fortress, pink honeymoon suite, etc.).
But, Donner did a re-edit of Superman II last year. You can get in on DVD. Superman II: The Donner Cut. 10x better than the original!
Its so much better, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Takes itself more seriously. Less schtick. Zod is more imposing. The original was good ... the Donner Cut is great!
H
I’ve seen it. I much prefer the Lester version. That ending Donner had in mind was awful. The comic touches Lester brought were a nice addition. The Lex Luthor scenes in the first film were campier than anything in the sequel.
Absolutely right on. This movie was incredible. The Morgan Freeman speech on eavesdropping was the typical lib line, Fox did go along with Batman and use the technology to catch a terrorist.
The movie was awesome. So much to take in and can’t wait to see it again. Ledger....that was Heath Ledger? Wow!
>> The Lex Luthor scenes in the first film were campier than anything in the sequel.
I’m not a huge fan of Hackman’s Luthor — not evil enough, too much of a used car salesman. Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns) and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) do much more justice to Lex Luthor.
>> I’ve seen it. I much prefer the Lester version. That ending Donner had in mind was awful. The comic touches Lester brought were a nice addition.
To each his own I suppose. I thought Lester screwed up the final fight at the fortress pretty bad ... the big cellophane “S” didn’t make sense (Superman can’t do that), and I don’t really go for campy humor in superhero movies. They tend to be better when taken seriously.
I also like Lois’s attempts to “out” Clark — jumped out of the hotel window, shot him with a “blank”, etc. Worked better than the Niagra Falls and the Clark just falling face-first into a bonfire (Clark isn’t REALLY clumsy, he’s faking ... why would he dive into a fire?).
H
“The best news is that nobody is going to see “Hancock” anymore. The sooner the world is rid of Will Smith, the better (although I wish him a happy and lucrative retirement).”
Domestic: $191,504,000 51.6%
+ Foreign: $179,814,933 48.4%
= Worldwide: $371,318,933
>> LOL! I’m sure he meant “Superman 4”
Superman 4 was a true atrocity of movie making. Horrible story. Horrible acting. Horrible villain. And, under no circumstances should Superman ever make a political statement outside of “Truth, Justice and the American Way”. Truly the worst superhero movie ever made.
I wouldn’t own it if it didn’t come with the Superman 14-DVD “Holy Crap” Edition Set. I and II were great. III is underrated, but mediocre. IV is should be considered a war crime, if it isn’t already (God needs an 11th Commandment, thou shalt not make Superman IV). Even worse than Batman & Robin (with Clooney/Schwarzennegger).
For Heaven’s sake ... the bad guy flew out of the Earth’s atmosphere carrying Muriel Hemingway — and she screamed. No boiling blood. No guts sucked out her eyes. Nothing ... she just screamed.
I can semi-buy that Superman and Nuclear Man can fly in space without tearing themselves apart. Hemingway cannot.
H
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