Pamela McClintock of Variety;
Warner Bros.’ Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” became box office legend as it opened to an estimated $155.4 million from 4,366 theaters, the highest opening ever for a three-day weekend.
“Dark Knight,” from filmmaker Christopher Nolan and returning Christian Bale as the caped crusader, shot past the previous record-holder, “Spider-Man 3,” which earned $151.1 million in its debut in May 2007. Batman--after multiple stops-and-starts, is now the most successful superhero ever to hit the bigscreen. Legendary Pictures co-financed and co-produced “Dark Knight.”
Universal female-skewing musical “Mamma Mia!” was no wallflower either, grossing an estimated $27.6 million from 2,976 runs in its debut to snatch the best opening for a musical in narrowly beating out the $27.5 million opening of musical “Hairspray” on the same weekend last year.
“Dark Knight,” along with “Mamma Mia” and several stalwart holdovers, delivered the film business its best weekend ever for a non-holiday, with total box office receipts of roughly $250 million. Frame’s performance stunned Hollywood.
Previous best weekend was July 7-9 2006, which racked up total B.O. grosses of $218.4million, led by the $135.6 million opening of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”
That doesn’t mean there weren’t trouble spots. Starz Media’s toon “Space Chimps,” distributed by 20th Century, only placed No. 7 in its bow, grossing an estimated $7.3 million from 2,511 runs. “Space Chimps” was outgunned by Disney-Pixar’s “Wall-E.” Pixar toon placed No. 6 in its fourth frame, declining just 48% to an estimated $9.8 million.
Like “Wall-E,” Will Smith holdover “Hancock” continued to see good results, even with the mammoth opening of “Dark Knight.” “Hancock” declined 56% in its third week to an estimated $14 million from 3,776 runs for a cume of $191.5 million. Pic placed No. 3 for the weekend.
New Line and Walden Media’s 3-D action-adventure “Journey to the Center of the Earth” came in No. 4, declining a slim 43% to an estimated $11.9 million from 2,830 screens--854 of those being digital 3-D screens--for a cume of $43 million in its first 10 days.
U’s “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” came in No. 5 in its second weekend. It took more of a dip, declining a steep 71% to an estimated $10 million from 3,212 screens for a cume of $56.4 million in its first 10 days.
In its second weekend, New Regency and Fox’s Eddie Murphy ill-fated laffer “Meet Dave” fell off the top 10 list, placing No. 11. Comedy declined 69% to an estimated $1.6 million for a cume of $9.37 million.
“Dark Knight’s” transformation into the event film of the summer confirms that Warners and Nolan have successfully relaunched a franchise that has seen several stops-and-starts. “Dark Knight’s” added appeal is due at least in part to the late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine also star.
Film earned a record-breaking $67.8 on Friday alone. Of that, $18.5 million came from midnight shows, besting the previous midnight record set by Fox’s “Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith,” which grossed $16.9 million from 3,663 venues.
“Dark Knight” easily soared past the $47 million earned by Nolan’s “Batman Begins” when opening in summer 2005. Sequel could gross as much as $220 million in its first week domestic--more than the final domestic gross of “Batman Begins,” which cumed $205 million domestically. “Batman Begins” grossed another $166 million internationally...
Joshua Rich of EW:
Batman and the Joker led a record-breaking box-office weekend, while ''Mamma Mia!'' also made history...
'Knight' mighty in overseas launch...
Bat raises hell at foreign box office...
I just hope director Christopher Nolan can be made to stick around for the next one... He's the one who can top TDK...
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