SUNDAY AM: Warner Bros' The Dark Knight is still smoking hot at the box office, winning its 4th straight weekend after taking in $26 million from 4,025 North American venues. The last film to do this was 2003's Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King. Sony's stoner comedy Pineapple Express was in 2nd place with $22.4 million from 3,072 runs. The Batman installment's win was fueled by Friday's $7.5M and Saturday's $10.3M (+37% gross compared to Friday's), while the Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen laugher earned $7.9M Friday but fell -3% for Saturday's $7.7M. The two pics fought for U.S. and Canadian supremacy all weekend, with Hollywood exec emails flying fast and furiously to me as Sony claimed victory for Friday while Warner Bros touted its better Saturday and weekend totals. The Chris Nolan-directed comic book caper starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger Dark Knight has taken in a staggering $441.5 million domestic gross in less than a month and is now the 3rd highest grossing film of all-time for North America -- and climbing. The incredible repeat business for Batman is mostly the work of fanboys who want their fave pic to keep setting movie records. But it's still a long way behind Titanic's best-ever $600.7M.
As for the well-reviewed Pineapple Express, it was hampered at the box office by debuting on Wednesday (earning a surprisingly good $12.1 million) which cut into its opening weekend figures. And it's also R-rated. Still, Sony was more than pleased with its 5-day debut of $40.4 million -- especially considering the film's negative cost is only $27M. "The executives at Sony are as high as the characters in the movie over the strong opening for the film," one studio insider quipped. Exit polling showed the opening weekend audience was 58%/42% male-female.
It's unclear what effect the Beijing Olympics will have on moviegoing for the next two weeks. Total box office looks to be down 17% from last year, but that may be due to two Wednesday openings rather than any Olympics impact. The No. 3 movie was Universal's Mummy 3: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor which did $16.1M from 3,780 plays, down 60% from its debut a week ago. Its new cume is $70.6M. Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2 opened Wednesday and managed 4th place for Friday-through Sunday with $10.7M from 2,707 runs and a 5-day cume of $19.7M. Sony's other R-rated comedy was No. 5, the Will Ferrell laugher Step Brothers made $8.9M this weekend for a new $80.9M cume.
Universal's Mamma Mia! came in #6 with $8M this weekend and passing the $100M marker for a new cume of $104M. The 7th spot went to Warner Bros's Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D with a $4.8M weekend and new $81.7M cume. Sony's Will Smith starrer Hancock was No. 8 with $3.3M for the weekend and a $221.7M new cume. The 9th spot went to Disney's Swing Vote with a $3.1M weekend and paltry new cume of $12M. And, rounding out the Top 10, Pixar/Disney's Wall-E amade $3M over the weekend for a new cume of $210.1M.
The real question: Was Sony greedy by opening on Wednesday or smart? The 5-day total for Pineapple Express would have been an astounding 3-day weekend total. Obviously the interest in the film was there for a blockbuster weekend where it would’ve single-handedly knocked Batman to #2.
Comment by 40yearoldstitzer — August 9, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
I am soooooooooo sick of Apatow and his disgusting crew of vulgar, ugly man-childs! I’m thrilled ‘PE’ is far underperforming ‘Superbad’, hopefully his films will just go straight to DVD in a few years.
Comment by L. Moss — August 9, 2008 @ 11:44 pm
I think movies may have opened on Wed. because the Olympics started Friday so its win win?
Comment by jones — August 9, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
::Obviously the interest in the film was there for a blockbuster weekend where it would’ve single-handedly knocked Batman to #2.::
There is no guarantee PE would have grossed it’s five-day take in three days. Keep in mind the film had the bottom drop out on Thursday and it never really recovered for the weekend. It’s very likely that it’s three-day total from opening Wednesday would have still been about what it grossed for an opening weekend.
Stoner movies are nitch movies and they never have a good hold over.
Comment by Mark — August 10, 2008 @ 12:08 am
I guess Pineapple Express didn’t have the ‘mass appeal’ that I thought it might have…but it has had a pretty sweet 5 day run…and I’m pretty sure it’ll get plenty of good word of mouth for a nice total after all is said and done.
As for TDK…amazing!
Comment by neil — August 10, 2008 @ 12:14 am
I think Sony made a wrong move by opening on Wednesday. It would have bumped The Dark Knight to #2, it had opened on Friday as bragging rights.
Comment by mayhemstudios — August 10, 2008 @ 12:36 am
DHD poster Armand will be very happy TDK won.
He had a lot of ego and self esteem wrapped up in the film’s success this weekend.
Hope your Mom let you wear your Batman pajamas to the movies this weekend Armand.
Comment by reelbusy — August 10, 2008 @ 12:59 am
The Dark Knight won because Pineapple Express is a train wreck. I saw it yesterday and it was a miserable experience. It ran too long and was short on laughs. I guess Apatow isn’t infallible after all.
Comment by AaronSch — August 10, 2008 @ 1:49 am
Single-handedly, huh? Is there any other way for a movie to claim the number one spot? Or is there a new rule that says that if two movies gross more combined than another movie, then they earn the # 1 spot?? LOL. Just playing. Its fantastic that TDK has earned the top spot 4 weeks running. But, it would have been more useful if TDK had managed to gross around or over $30 mil so that it could keep some ppl’s hopes alive that it could surpass Titanic. But, now it is almost a mathematical certainty that it won’t. Too bad. But it accomplished all that I asked, which was for it to outgross Indiana Jones 4. What a sorry excuse for a sequel that garbage was. It didn’t deserve the money it made. I like Harrison Ford, but the plot in that movie belonged in an X-Files show. And Harrison Ford is definitely no David Duchovny. Not that this latest X-Files experiment was a success. Not even close. Whew!! And now I am slightly dizzy from the abrupt change in topic and I must regain my equilibrium.
Comment by ComeAgain_rinse_repeat — August 10, 2008 @ 2:50 am
Happt Gilmore is what I am feeling right now for DK2 stayed number 1 for another wknd at the B.O
Can’t recall the last time another movie stayed number 1 for 4th wknd straight. A feat that only a true blockbuster can achieved. Not even Shrek, PoTC nor Silly-Spidey trilogies can lay claim to that.
40yearoldstitzer
I guess Sony wasn’t aiming for the weekend record but to collect as many dollars as they could for the 5 days showing and certainly they succeeded their aim.
Kudos for Sony for amassing the dollars for PE but years from today, we will remember the record holder DK2.
Comment by Armand — August 10, 2008 @ 3:44 am
So what will that bring the domestic total to? And what is the current international tally do you know - box office mojo’s int column has been down for a few weeks.
Comment by syms — August 10, 2008 @ 4:51 am
Not really sure why they chose to open on Wednesday, but at least next weekend’s drop of over 50% will look better than the 60% drop that would have resulted had they opened on Friday.
I think TDK’s reign will end next weekend. Not that I have much faith in TT (I’m interested in seeing if it can top PE on Wednesday), but Clone Wars is the film everyone’s underestimating… I predict an opening upwards of $20-$25 million, while TDK will finally fall to second.
Wouldn’t it be fitting for Clone Wars to unseat TDK on the same weekend TDK replaces Star Wars as the second highest-grossing film of all-time?
Comment by Squirrel — August 10, 2008 @ 6:27 am
Awesome. And nobody believed me.
40yostitzer– I don’t think it was a greed issue. I think it was because of The Olympics and all that. Plus, why not open it mid-week– stoners don’t have jobs so a Wednesday is just like a Saturday, right?
Congrats to Apatow & Co though for a nice 5 day turnout, though.
Comment by Cartoons In Bed — August 10, 2008 @ 8:29 am
I think they released it on Wednesday because they anticipated Friday numbers would be low due to the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.
Comment by Sean — August 10, 2008 @ 8:49 am
It would appear that the (deserved) Dark Knight hype train hasn’t slowed down yet. But now that the film won’t hit 600m at the US box office, where will it land?
Is 550/575m a good shout? I think that Tropic Thunder and Clone Wars will have too much for it next weekend. The bubble finallt bursts and it drops to third place.
And considering that WB still have House Of Lies, Yes Man and a Harry Potter film no less for the Fall, can we give WB the year end marketshare winners medal now?
But what does this all mean for Sony’s frankly bizarre decision to let Seth Rogen write and star in a big budget film version of The Green Hornet?
After all, wasn’t Pineapple Express the subtle experiment to see if audiences would see Mr Rogen in a comedy film with action?
Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s everything.
Comment by Warner Borg — August 10, 2008 @ 9:39 am
Saw P.E. last night because DK had only crappy seats avail only at the Univ IMAX. The kids got some less crappy seats, so we were stuck.
Figured P.E. couldn’t be THAT bad… but it was WORSE.
It makes Superbad look like a masterpiece, and i never thought i’d use those two words in the same sentence.
Who are the execs that keep giving these guys green lights?
With each film released they fall farther away from the comedy gold they struck with 40 Year Old…
It was a disgrace to stoner films!
There was no question in my mind that DK was going to win the weekend after seeing the nearly empty PE theater, compared to the packed houses DK is still playing to across the city. What a great feeling to see a movie hold onto the top spot for a month.
It’s been too long!
Will Tropic Thunder and Robt Downey, Jr. be the movie to take over the top spot?
Comment by simon says strike! — August 10, 2008 @ 9:52 am
couldnt agree more with the earlier poster. I like Apatow-gangs movies, but you can just see the egos of these young folks being blown out of the water. Was hoping it would tank a little more.
Comment by jimmy — August 10, 2008 @ 9:56 am
My prediction that TDK will cross the 500 million mark at a record pace seems to be a sure thing at this point. It may not beat Titanic, but it may come pretty close. And that’s amazing when we’re told internet pirates are destroying the film business. I think not.
The truth is, if they make a good movie, people will flock to see it in the theaters, The problem is, too many movies these days are rentals.
Comment by James Hudnall — August 10, 2008 @ 10:36 am
This week TDK will beat Blazing Saddles and become the highest grossing Warner Bros. film ever, including inflation.
Comment by Sandy — August 10, 2008 @ 10:55 am
Quoth Nikki: “The incredible repeat business for Batman is mostly the work of fanboys who want their fave pic to keep setting movie records.” Ha! As if fanboys are purposefully engineering this. Nikki, Occam’s Razor suggests simply that repeat business is from people who liked the movie and want to see it again. And let’s not forget that there is still a lot of first-time viewership from people who avoided the movie at first, due to crowds or lack of interest, but whose curiosity is finally bringing them to the theaters.
That said, the buzz over “Tropic Thunder” absolutely dwarfs the built-in cult following for “Pineapple Express”, and I’d put money on Thunder being #1 next weekend, with “Clone Wars” a possible #2 but probably more like #3. (It just doesn’t look good; even Star Wars fans aren’t excited about it.)
“Dark Knight”’s final domestic total? I’ll guess $520M.
Comment by dhd — August 10, 2008 @ 10:58 am
Well said , “L Moss” :
I am soooooooooo sick of Apatow and his disgusting crew of vulgar, ugly man-childs! I’m thrilled ‘PE’ is far underperforming ‘Superbad’, hopefully his films will just go straight to DVD in a few years.
———————————————
It’s hilarious how the losers are so emotionally invested in Apatow succeeding - gives hope for their pathetic lives perhaps.
Meanwhile, the 42% female audience had to be dragged along by BF’s. What woman would waste her time on Apatow movies - there’s not even good looking guys to look at to make the unfunny stupidity more bearable.
Comment by Freud — August 10, 2008 @ 10:59 am
I think it’s an incredible misnomer to attribute all of the repeat viewings of TDK to fanboys. I am in no way a fan boy and I have seen the film multiple times. It’s a damn fine piece of cinema and a great experience on the big screen. A lot of people who don’t exactly fall into the fanboy category are going back and seeing this film again. Honestly, there aren’t enough fanboys in North America to account for the staggering numbers this film has produced. True Story.
Comment by Not a Fan Boy — August 10, 2008 @ 11:04 am
I love how people are acting like a film almost doubling its budget in 5 days is some huge flop that is going to take down Apatow. It will probably eclipse the box office take of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” in a week. I thought Pineapple Express was hilarious, a great send-up of action films. Sorry that so many other people went in looking to hate it.
Comment by Kevin — August 10, 2008 @ 11:56 am
There is no way Pineapple Express’ negative cost was $27M! Sony had to have just made this up. Plus, the reviews weren’t that good and the audience I saw it with clearly got bored once all the gun battles took over the story. So I’m quite certain it’s going to have a big drop next weekend. I gotta say, I’m getting a little tired of the Apatow formula. He needs to stretch himself a bit before people get bored of it.
Comment by EllPeeWhy — August 10, 2008 @ 11:59 am
Speaking as someone who still hasn’t seen TDK and may not see it for another few weeks, it’s NOT doing this well only because fanboys keep seeing it to boost its total. It’s also doing well because it’s stretching beyond its intended demographic to bring in folks to the theater who normally wouldn’t go see a Batman movie. The real life people I’ve talked to say that they’re now seeing more seniors and families in the theaters, two groups which probably went to see what all the fuss is about.
I can’t understand why PE didn’t do better, or even why Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants didn’t do better. I’d blame the Olympics but do either stoners or pre-teen girls really care about the Olympics?
Comment by shelly — August 10, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
Keep trying to get friends my age to see Dark Knight but nobody’s biting. High ticket prices, closing the small local theater in favor of an Orlando-style kiddie megaplex complete with no parking and rides for the kids, no smoking, etc has made movietgoing for the Woodstock generation dubious. Maybe I’ll actually have to scrounge up a quasidate, or wait til cable. But I cancelled HBO. Anyway, I have read such good reviews, and alone among all comic book movies have enjoyed the Batman series, so I hope this movie, in Deadline Hollywood terms, hits 600 mill though the ” experts” say it won’t.
Comment by moraliste — August 10, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
TDK Performance to Date: No. 3 on the all-time domestic box-office charts with $441.5 million, behind “Titanic” ($600.8 million) and “Star Wars” ($461 million).
Studio Prediction for TDK: Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., said TDK should top out at $510 million to $520 million.
Last Film at #1 for Four Weeks: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in late 2003 and 2004.
Effect of Inflation: TDK would need to reach $900 million to match the number of tickets sold for “Titanic” and $1.2 billion to equal “Star Wars.” “Gone With the Wind” leads all with $1.4 billion in today’s dollars.
Comment by Harold — August 10, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
In a previous post I made the prediction that TDK was going up to 600 million — I take that statement back. It’ll go at least to 530. Which to me is a damn good thing. Star Wars time has come and gone. As far as Clone Wars making a killing at the b.o. — not happening! It’ll make under 10 and a final gross of less than 40 if its lucky.Everytime those trailers played all you heard was crickets People who are fans of the SW franchise like myself have had enough of Lucas’s crap. Time itself being the ultimate critic of all things pop culture has not been kind to those prequels. Watch them again and tell me differently. Tropic looks like the one to beat.
Comment by Alboone — August 10, 2008 @ 3:11 pm
The ‘fanboy’ statement may be true on the coasts (have no way of knowing), but here in ‘flyover country,’ both showings I’ve attended have had an amazingly wide range of audience ages and types, from teens to grandmothers/grandfathers.
Also first instance of spontaneous standing audience applause on the credit roll (both showings) in my experience, since “Return of the King.”
Comment by MidWest Guy — August 10, 2008 @ 3:39 pm
I would assume they opened on a Wednesday to get ahead of the Olympics.
Comment by Geoff — August 10, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
We don’t use inflation numbers. The Box Office Adjusted for inflation is just fun for “what if?” scenarios. No one recognizes “Gone With the Wind” as the #1 movie of all-time. They all recognize “Titanic”. If “The Dark Knight” was somehow able to manage $602 Million (which it won’t) people would name it the new #1 movie of all-time. It doesn’t have to hit $900 Million to earn that title just as “Titanic” didn’t have to hit $1.4 Billion to earn the title it has now.
Comment by Brandon — August 10, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
Nikki, pardon me for asking this but what’s with this fanboy theory making DK2 a big hit and staying at the top again this weekend. I was with room full of movie-goers of various ages watching the show last weekend.
There were paying adults in 30s & 40s and families with kids as well. So I’m not sure the theory of fanboys causing DK2 to achieve this feat is true afterall.
I would say this though, Clone Wars is a fanboy pic and I am sure it will drive Clone to a number 1 B.O this weekend. As much as I would like to think Tropic Thunder would be popular, never underestimate the power of the Star Wars.
But afterall that’s said and done, it’s an amazing Summer with 3 movies grossing 300M vs 300M in 2007 and we’re only half way to end of the year.
Comment by Armand — August 10, 2008 @ 5:16 pm
Actually, even the adjusted for inflation comparisons are nonsense. You can’t just adjust GONE WITH THE WIND’S box office for inflation, because ticket price increases have VASTLY outpaced inflation. GTW did almost $200M with ticket prices that were at most an average of 36 cents a pop. AT MOST. Which means at today’s ticket prices, GTW would have grossed over 4 billion dollars! At at a time when the U.S. population was like half of what it is today. Pretty impressive, to say the least.
Comment by Boxofficeinfo — August 10, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Don’t forget, the reason why old movies like GWTW made so much was because of re-releases, something very common in the days before home video and cable. That’s why no film today will beat that gross: it won’t be brought back to theatrical runs every year for 30 years!
Comment by dhd — August 10, 2008 @ 7:49 pm
Are you guys sure TDK won’t get to $600M?
Seriously. I mean this thing has proven EVERYONE wrong. No one, I mean no one, has predicted this thing correctly at all. #3 movie of all time in 24 days? #1 for 4th wekend in a row?
Everyone on here said that Pineapple would beat it this weekend and everyone was wrong.
It will be the number 2 movie of all time in 5 or 7 days. Less than a month in release. That is staggering
I mean when this thing gets to $500M+, a feat that has only happened once before, are we sure strange things won’t start happening? Will WB start doing things to push it to try and get it to number 1 so it can have bragging rights over Fox/Paramount? Would they leave it in theaters for almost 10 months (Dec 97-Oct 98) the way Titanic did?
I mean if TDK stayed in theaters the last 3 months of the year, and not leave at the end of Sept, it would surely top $600M with no problem right?
$10M a week for an extra 10 or 12 weeks.
And it’s true about the audiences. My dad is even gonna see it this week and he hasnt been to a movie in a decade. But the buzz has him intrigued and THAT is saying something.
Would WB push back the DVD release date? I mean why not, it’s gonna sell a ton whenever it’s released. Will it sell more than Finding Nemo (number one DVD seller of all time)?
Everyone who is now absolutely sure it won’t be #1 next week, reach $600M, etc…check your earlier predictions and double check if they were right.
I’m just sayin’ is all.
Comment by Cartoons In Bed — August 10, 2008 @ 8:22 pm
Including this weekends estimated take. The Dark Knight has made so far is:
Domestic: $441,541,000
Foreign: $263,100,000
Worldwide: $704,641,000
Comment by mayhemstudios — August 10, 2008 @ 8:46 pm
I’ve talked to a couple of people who went to see Pineapple Express this weekend, and they were ‘underwhelmed’…so maybe its not for everyone.
However, if you don’t like Apatow and his brand of comedy…don’t go see his movies…why you have to come on here and trash the people who did go see it…to the tune of $40 in 5 days…I’ll never understand! I mean, I think a show like Sex and The City, perhaps one of the worst television shows ever…is just as sexist, if not more so…but I didn’t complain or rant on comment boards telling people what trash it is…you know what I did? I never watched it, and I left those who did enjoy alone. I didn’t judge them…maybe I made fun of them with my buddies…but if they got a laugh out of 30something chicks talking about giving head and buying $1000 shoes then good for them!
Quit trying to save the world from itself!
Comment by neil — August 10, 2008 @ 9:18 pm
The incredible repeat business for Batman is mostly the work of fanboys who want their fave pic to keep setting movie records.
Nikki, Nikki, Nikki — that’s just utterly unsubstantiated total nonsense, and you know better. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of the truth. (Seriously, was it a typo?)
Because you not only grossly (exponentially!) overestimate the population of “fanboys”, you grossly underestimate how potently this movie is resonating with audiences nationwide as the event film of the year (which also happens to be one of the very best films of the year — a rare occurrence).
“The Dark Knight” is a certified phenomenon, the likes of which we haven’t seen in years. It’s not going to top half a billion domestic because of fanboys, but in spite of them, because it isn’t perceived as simply a fanboy comic book movie, but an important must-see cultural event.
And it actually deserves to be. Go figure!
Comment by Robogeek — August 10, 2008 @ 9:45 pm
TDK has zero chance of making $600.Despite a $158 mil opening weekend TDK has already dropped to $26 mil in its fourth weekend.Titanic made $28.7 mil in its fourth weekend and didn’t drop below $20 mil for another six weeks.At the rate TDK is declining it will make about $15 mil next weekend which will be good enough for 2nd or 3rd place. It will make about $9 mil the weekend after that and be headed to the bargain theaters by weekend 10.
Comment by Linda — August 11, 2008 @ 2:13 am
What is the impact of IMAX ticket prices on TDK’s box office? Would PE have won the weekend were it not for the big-screen showings?
Comment by TorontoTodd — August 11, 2008 @ 5:15 am
I saw “Pineapple Expres” at a free preview screening and it was jaw-droppingly bad. Hardly anyone laughed and a lot left early. Hey, they hadn’t paid for it.
Stupid and boring. How many times can you watch two stoners scream in a high-pitched voice “Dude! You just shot me!”? I really hope we stop seeing Judd Apatow movies for a long time (maybe forever.) All of his films think they are WAY funnier than they really are. “The Dark Knight” is an actually film with shading and depth. “Pineapple Express” was written on the back of napkin.
I agree with the poster who said “you can just see the egos of these young folks being blown out of the water. Was hoping it would tank a little more.”
If they let “The Dark Knight” play for another couple of months (say until Halloween) I think it definitely has a shot at $600 million.
Brian Wallace
Comment by Brian Wallace — August 11, 2008 @ 5:54 am
The post above is completely incorrect translating Gone With the Wind’s B.O. into ticket sales at 1939 ticket prices.
What should have given them the clue is that $200m divided by $0.35 is around 570m tickets, impossible given the US population was around 133m at the time (well unless it was a case of WB-style self-reporting)
Gone With The Wind premiered in Dec 1939 and stayed in general release to 1941, it’s first release lasted over two years. It was then re-released to theaters in (at least) 1942, 1947, 1954, 1961, 1967, 1974, 1989 and 1998.
Finally the metric used to adjust box office *is* the average ticket price, not some average inflation rate. Play around with the All Time Adjusted chart on Boxofficemojo to learn what the prices used are (which happens to be 23c to 25c in 1939-41.
Comment by DH — August 11, 2008 @ 7:20 am
I think the argument about “ticket inflation” is a valid one.
Actually, the numbers being given are not based on the inflation rate of US currency, but rather the average ticket price as reported by NATO multiplied by actual ticket sales. So the original Star Wars sold about 145 million tickets in 1977-8, and then sold another 27 million tickets in its re-release in 1997 for a total of about 172 million tickets, or about $1.2 billion at today’s ticket prices. ET sold about 147 million tickets, or about $1 billion at today’s prices. Titanic sold about 130 million tickets or about $910 million at today’s prices.
If TDK peters out at the $510 million mark, it would have sold only 73 million tickets at today’s average price of $7 per ticket. That’s half of what Titanic and ET sold and 100 million less tickets than Star Wars sold.
It just puts things in perspective. TDK is still the biggest movie of the year, but without the ability to play for months in theaters, it will be extremely difficult for any film to sell as many tickets as those in the past.
Comment by Dan Zee — August 11, 2008 @ 8:15 am
Knocked up and superbad were really good, but these Apatow crew actors (Rogen, Segal, Danny McBride in particular) are completely one note. And, my biggest problem; Judd Apatow needs to learn how to cut and edit a freaking movie and Sony needs to stop giving him so much control. I could have instantly cut a good 15-20 minutes from PE. The lag was ridiculous.
Comment by RufusTfirefly — August 11, 2008 @ 10:06 am
I agree with “Cartoons in Bed” above.
The same people who say there’s no way TDK could
reach $600 million are probably also the same
ones who thought it “impossible” that the U.S. could
beat France last night in the Olympic swimming pool.
Once TDK crosses $500 million, a popular momentum will build to see if it can beat Titanic. It has a reasonable chance of hitting $600 million if Warners just keeps it in theatres until the end of the year.
And if Warners were to re-release it with an extra
scene or two, well, the sky would be the limit, don’t you think?
Comment by Altamont69 — August 11, 2008 @ 10:16 am
Yes, the Dark Knight has dropped to 26 million after 4 weeks but with a 441 million domestic cume is that really that bad or surprising. The real questions are how much is left out there to get and how long will they leave it in the theaters.
Take a look at similar movies that achieved that much money (Shrek 2 & Phantom Menace). Once they started hitting $25 million weekends they still had about $90 million and $150 left pocket yet. My guess is DK gets about $110 million to break the $550 million barrier and then it’s a matter if they want to pull it or not.
Is it worth it to the studio to go for the extra $50 million or capitalize on DVD sales toward the end of the year. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Comment by Hans Schneider — August 11, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Re-releases don’t make much money anymore.Phantom Menace a film that held up much better week to week then TDK made about $2 mil when it was re-released in the winter after its initial summer run. Gladiator a film that had multiple Oscar noms and won best picture made about $1 mil when it was re-released during awards season.The Passion bombed in its first re-release making about $300K. Both The Passion and Gladiator were released in theaters after being released on dvd.TDK is supposed to be released on dvd in Dec. TDK has this one chance to reach Titanic and its already fallen behind on weekends.
The film that make money from re-release are the ones that are brought back to theaters after many years of being off the big screen like The Star Wars Trilogy and ET. The 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic is 2012, that would be an ideal time for Titanic to return for a limit run.It will have been 15 years since the film was last on the big screen.
Comment by Linda — August 11, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
Per DH above, “The post above is completely incorrect translating Gone With the Wind’s B.O. into ticket sales at 1939 ticket prices.”
Okay, I stand corrected.
However, the real issue is that the all-time box-office list is just plain silly. Comparing numbers from different years, let alone different decades, is really a pointless exercise and means very little. There are just too many factors that change year to year, including inflation and changing ticket prices, to make comparisons have any meaning.
Why can’t we just agree that TDK is a the number one movie this year and a cultural phenomenon and leave it at that?
Comment by Boxofficeinfo — August 11, 2008 @ 8:35 pm