Ben Fritz of Variety:
"The Dark Knight" can't be beat.
Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' superhero sequel rallied on Saturday to win the weekend, grossing $26 million and giving it the top spot at the box office for a fourth consecutive frame.
The Christian Bale-Heath Ledger starrer pushed past "Shrek 2" to become the third highest domestic grosser of all time with a cume of $441.5 million. It's expected to beat "Star Wars" in the next week before finally settling at No. 2.
Per play average was $6,467 at 4,025 locations.
Sony's stoner comedy "Pineapple Express" took in $22.4 million for the weekend and a solid $40.4 million total since its Wednesday debut. Weekend take was lower than last August's Judd Apatow-produced comedy "Superbad," which opened at $33 million, but "Pineapple" easily wins in a first five-day comparison.
"Pineapple" actually beat "Dark Knight" on Friday, its third daily victory in a row, with $7.9 million compared to $7.6 million, but fell far behind on Friday, when Warner Bros.' pic surged to $10.5 million and the Sony comedy declined to $7.6 million.
Frame's other opener was WB and Alcon's "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," which bowed to $10.8 million and a cume of $19.7 million since starting on Wednesday. Both figures are higher than the $9.8 million the first pic in the girl-focused book adaptation series premiered to in 2005.
"Pants" grossed an average $3,979 at 2,707 playdates.
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" dropped 60% on its second frame, landing in third place with a gross of $16.1 million. Cume for Universal's monster three-quel is $70.7 million.
Disney's Kevin Costner comedy "Swing Vote" saw a 50% drop off on its second weekend, grossing $3.1 million and bringing its tally to $12 million.
"Mamma Mia" crossed the $100 million mark this weekend after taking in $8.1 million, bringing its total gross to $104 million.
In limited release, Samuel Goldwyn's release of Lakeshore's "Elegy" opened to a boffo $102,441 at six locations, or $17,074 per play. Adaptation of the Philip Roth novel "The Dying Animal" expands to the top 25 markets in two weeks.
Paramount Vantage's docu "American Teen" nearly doubled its print count to 76 but saw its gross drop 18% to $137,337. It will expand from the top 35 to the top 60 markets on Friday....
Marc Bernardin of EW:
Jokers in the Judd Apatow gang's R-rated comedy are the latest box office challengers to fall to ''The Dark Knight''
I really thought "Express" had what it took to defeat TDK...It's now up to Tropic Thunder...Can the next big summer comedy do it?--Even as groups gear up for a possible boycott of the flick...
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