'Dark Knight' Today Became 2nd Highest Domestic Grosser Behind Only 'Titanic'

62 Comments »

1. DK certainly deserve the no 2 spot. If it reaches above 491M, then it will be the highest grossing comic hero after Silly Spidey 1 after adjusting inflation. (FYI, Spidey 1 final gross in 2002 -403M)

   Now it remains to be seen if Nolan can make DK3 even bigger and better or screw it up like many other trilogies that suffered the curse of ‘3rd Crap’ curse.

   All this while, when DK2 was breaking the records, I can’t help to think who will better DK2 many daily and weekends records.

   For sure, Transformer 2 is a shoo-in. Maybe Ironman2 and most def the last Harry Potter.

   Comment by Armand — August 16, 2008 @ 10:15 am

2. I was not aware of a curse! That’s interesting! The only comic triology I can think of off-hand that this would apply to, though, is X-Men - with X3 seeing a new director that clearly botched it, after Singer did such a great job with X2.

   Comment by bobisimo — August 16, 2008 @ 12:22 pm

3. Nice to see TDK doing so well. But “deserving” the number two spot? I don’t think “deserve” is really a good term to use with box office, does anyone really think Titanic deserves to be number one based on the quality of the film itself?

   And I’m skeptical that Transformers 2 or anything any time soon will beat many of these records. Maybe some individual days, maybe even opening weekend after a while. But TDK is really one of a kind, nothing else has come remotely close to how it has done. It’s scary when a movie breaks opening weekend records and that’s not the most impressive of the many records it has set.

   Comment by milo — August 16, 2008 @ 1:08 pm

4. The curse: Superman III, Spidey 3, X3, Batman Forever, Blade Trinity, T3, Alien 3, plus a few more genre films I’m forgetting

   Comment by robbaron — August 16, 2008 @ 1:34 pm

5. I doubt we’ll see another movie come close to The Dark Knight numbers. Fewer and fewer people go to movies, ticket prices just keep going up while attendance goes down. Titanic came out just before the wide release of DVD. I’m willing to bet more copies of Titanic were sold on VHS than DVD.

   Comment by Dave — August 16, 2008 @ 1:37 pm

6. Spider-Man 3 made more money than Spider-Man & Spider-Man 2.

   Comment by Dave — August 16, 2008 @ 1:56 pm

7. “I doubt we’ll see another movie come close to The Dark Knight numbers. Fewer and fewer people go to movies, ticket prices just keep going up while attendance goes down.”

   Yes, but movies also keep grossing more and more upfront. You have to remember that Titanic started off with less than $30 million at the box office. It then just kept raking in money for nearly a year. Compare that to today, where a heavily-hyped movie can easily clear $150 million in its first three days. Is it any wonder that so many records have been set and broken in the past few years?

   What’s surprising is that, despite the #2 ranking, Dark Knight is still performing much like Spiderman 3 did. The only difference is that Spiderman made the majority of its gross overseas- while Dark Knight is having to rely on domestic totals.

   To put that into perspective, when Titanic made $600 million domestically, it was also making over $1 billion dollars overseas. Now that’s the kind of ridiculous numbers we may not see duplicated anytime soon.

   Comment by Jake — August 16, 2008 @ 2:47 pm

8. That is correct for opening weekends, Dave, but not cumulative: SM: $403, SM2: $373, SM3: $336. And the drop in quality between 2 & 3 has to be the most spectacular, especially considering the directing/acting teams were the same. I mean, was there one scene where Spidey WASN’T blubbering like a baby?

   Comment by Venom — August 16, 2008 @ 2:49 pm

9. So, starting with day 31 (month 2)of its release/run TDK needs approximately 140 million more to beat Titanic.
   Don’t these summer movies usualy eventually make 100 million or so following the drop off from #1? That seems do-able for TDK as well. AEspecially since Warner Brothers has cleared the space(see you next July, Harry) for leaving it up in selected venues right through Christmas and beyond until — Heath and hopefully the movie itself gets the nod for Oscar.

   Comment by Mel — August 16, 2008 @ 3:50 pm

10. Don’t forget — Greedo Lucas is re-releasing SW in 3D in a year — TDK’s spot may be in jeopardy. The only movie that could realistically take its spot is the last Potter flick. Transformers sequel — 400 mil at best.

    Comment by Alboone — August 16, 2008 @ 4:51 pm

11. Is this why?

    http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article4524352.ece

    Comment by Bingo — August 16, 2008 @ 6:15 pm

12. It’s all a bunch of hype. Ticket prices are higher so BO receipts are higher. Most of these movies are crap anyway, but business is business and it’s good that people w\in the industry have work. But no intelligent person I know would suggest that BO figures bear any reasonable correlation to artistic merit. This era will be largely forgotten due to lack of legitimate stars and conceptual originality.

    Comment by Realist — August 16, 2008 @ 7:01 pm

13. The next Batman will not have one thing in it’s box office favor, the death of one of the leads. I think Ledger’s death is one of the main reasons for the high numbers. The shear curiosity and the appeal that death seems to have to a great many.

    Comment by John — August 16, 2008 @ 7:50 pm

14. With all the money the movie industry is taking in this year, why aren’t congressional Democrats talking about a Windfall Profits Tax on Big Movie??? I wouldn’t suppose they’ve been corrupted by the campaign donations out of Hollyweird?

    Comment by shawn — August 16, 2008 @ 9:41 pm

15. For the Spider-Man 3 numbers I was including outside the US in the totals. Spider-Man 3 beat both Spider-Man & Spider-Man 2.

    I doubt The Dark Knight will make much more than $500 million US unless its re-released at Oscar time.

    Public schools start back up next week here in Columbus. So that’s going to cause a drop in overall box office numbers. Iron Man made an additional $100 million after its first month in the theaters - but it all all summer to do so - Dark Knight doesn’t have that luxury.

    Comment by Dave — August 16, 2008 @ 9:50 pm

16. John: People who keep blaming Ledger’s death for the film’s excitement are either legitimately retarded (Oooh, shades of TROPIC THUNDER) or just incredibly detached social hermits who also happen to be as uneducated as they are socially inept. You’re basically suggesting that the death of one of the film’s main actors has lead to the film becoming the second largest grossing domestic film of all time … think about that. Consider that … consider that you’re implying that so much of the American population was so intrigued by Ledger’s death, which happened months ago and featured no where in the studio marketing campaign, somehow mobilized a record number of folks to go out to the theater to watch a dead actor. That isn’t absurd - it’s downright stupid, and John, if you legitimately believe that, I’d like you to submit your address so myself and other like-minded, intelligent individuals can visit you and forcibly sterilize you.

    Nikki, can you place some sort of intelligence filter on this site? Between people like this and the knuckedraggers who crawl over here from Drudge links don’t really add anything constructive, just try to drag down the general IQ.

    Comment by Frank N. Stein — August 16, 2008 @ 10:11 pm

17. Actually, Spidey 3 did make the most of the three when you look at total worldwide numbers. It was the lowest domestically, but more than made up for that overseas.

    And TDK isn’t performing like Spidey 3 at all, it has blown way past it. You can’t really compare overseas numbers yet because TDK has only been released in five countries so far, some of them small ones. Most big movies seem to make more overseas than domestic, and I expect TDK will follow that pattern - if it does, it could make a billion JUST from overseas tickets.

    And Realist, it’s not just ticket prices going up, TDK is doing spectacularly even when you compare to other movies adjusted for inflation.

    Comment by milo — August 16, 2008 @ 10:15 pm

18. All-time box office numbers are meaningless without an inflation adjustment.

    Here are the REAL figures for the top 5 grossers:

    (1) Gone With the Wind–$1.4 billion

    (2) Star Wars–$1.2 billion

    (3) Sound of Music–$1 billion

    (4) E.T.–$1 billion

    (5) Ten Commandments–$927 million

    The Dark Knight comes in at #43, just behind “The Robe.” Wow. What a blockbuster.

    Comment by riredale — August 17, 2008 @ 1:07 am

19. Dear Mr. Stein,
    Are you having a bad day? I think somebody needs a hug! C’mere, you.

    Comment by Shatnerd — August 17, 2008 @ 1:18 am

20. Call me old fashioned, but Star Wars (1977) still reigns supreme. I believe it had the most FITS (Fannies In The Seats) domestically: 137,786,483 based on BoxOfficeMoJo’s figures vs. 130,890,673 for Titanic (same source). That works our to 62.6 tickets to Sar Wars purchased for evey 100 U.S. citizens vs. Titanic’s 48.9 tickets per 100 U.S. citizens.
    So, the Star Wars ratio of ticket:population was 28% higher than titanic.

    Comment by Mo Jo — August 17, 2008 @ 2:07 am

21. The greatest trilogy failure in history has to be Godfather III.

    Comment by Joe Keeley — August 17, 2008 @ 3:20 am

22. DK at number two alltime? In absolute dollars - yes. However, adjusted for infaltion it’s #43. Gone with the Wind is #1 with 1.43B and Star Wars #2 with 1.26B. So, in todays dollars, the DK only needs another billion dollars to be #1. Good luck.

    Comment by Jasper Jones — August 17, 2008 @ 5:44 am

23. TDK just shows how far hype will take you. Not particularly entertaining and very preachy I’ll take Iron Man any day of the week.

    Comment by Jim — August 17, 2008 @ 6:51 am

24. Frank N. Stein– good going, man. Use a complete fallacy to try to back up your point. Don’t just say that the other person’s point is “stupid”, and that he’s “stupid” for thinking it– I think the majority of us grew out of name calling at that level in, hmm, the third grade maybe?

    Get real. Most of the hype around OPENING WEEK was about Heath Ledger. I can go back and pull the media’s baited breath, proclamations of Ledger’s posthumous Academy Award possibility, and all the extreme hype about “Heath Ledger’s last movie”, if you want me to.

    He had a valid statement, up to a point. Did that account for all that the movie grossed? Obviously not. Was it the reason a LOT of us went to see it? Yes. Perhaps not even a majority, but a large percentage of the people that I personally know went to see it just for that reason.

    Ta.

    Comment by klahsipper — August 17, 2008 @ 8:17 am

25. Frank,

    John’s post stated opinion and some reasons for that opinion. He may or may not be correct, but he stated an opinion and did so as a gentleman.

    Your post said nothing and made you look silly.

    First sentence - 1, 2, 3 insults. Second sentence, summarizing someone else’s position, then asking him to “think” about it. Then you ask him to consider his position. OK, he’s thinking it over now…..Well, maybe not since you never really refute anything. At least throw out something that backs up your own position. Something like “Actor X, died right before Movie X came out in the summer of 19XX, and that movie still flopped” would have gone a long way. Nope, no facts, just insults.

    Then there’s the use of “legitimately” again and talk of sterilization. Sterilization over an opinion on a movie?!?! Sad. If Nikki did place the filter on the site, based on your lack of persuasion in your writing coupled with insults, I think you could get filtered out. You are passionate about Batman, apparently, but you simply make zero points in your post.

    Last sentence - a parting shot at Drudge, who has been statistically shown, in scientific studies to skewer both sides of the political aisle.

    I think you should “legitimately” take a hard look at yourself in a “detached” fashion to make sure “like-minded, intelligent individuals” don’t see YOU as a “knuckledragger” “dragging down the general IQ” and hunt you down to “sterilize” you. To top it off, they might even put the pictures on Drudge. Now that would create some ratings.

    To be truthful, I think you should spend just a little bit less time getting wrapped up in Batman and a little more time listening to the very people who crawl over from Drudge that you hate so much. You won’t. You are blinded right now. That will change though once you have some kids, a house, and something to lose.

    The down-to-earth, brave, conservative, honest, sacrificing, level headed people who “crawl” over from Drudge will be the same people who rise up some day to save the coutry from the people who worry more about Batman than they do about this great nation of ours.

    I dream about that day more than anything……..

    Comment by First Post Here — August 17, 2008 @ 8:30 am

26. @shawn, you’re a moron. The profits from these movies doesn’t even come close to comparing to the windfalls collected by the oil industry…who also gets tax breaks and other FREE money from our government.

    Keep your political horse**** to yourself. This is an entertainment forum.

    Comment by Chris — August 17, 2008 @ 8:57 am

27. I think a lot of non-fans are seeing TDK because of Heath’s death … I sincerely doubt that a superhero movie will ever perform as well as this or the SM films. Why? - Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four, Superman Returns (UGH), et cetera. I almost didn’t see Iron Man because of all the superhero flops I’ve wasted ten dollars on.

    Not to dis the film or anything, but I think these numbers are inflated by curious moviegoers; much like the Titanic numbers were inflated by tweens seeing the film eight times. Star Wars was re-released, but that is the only movie on the short list that I think has a wide enough appeal to really deserve its spot. Just my opinion.

    Comment by AlphaNerd01 — August 17, 2008 @ 9:06 am

28. While Ledger’s death may’ve piqued some curiosity in those who otherwise wouldn’t have seen TDK, it still wouldn’t be enough to compile numbers near half-as-good as the one it currently enjoys.

    What’s doing it is Ledger’s performace lives up to the hype, the picture is well-acted, edited, produced, directed, scored, and … nearly any other title you can find among the credits! This picture also helps fans forget the Val Kilmer/George Clooney attrocities released in the ’90s. (Now, if something could help us forget Clooney-tunes altogther …)

    Comment by John K — August 17, 2008 @ 9:13 am

29. Frank N. Stein: Is there a reason you feel the need to be such a dick?

    Comment by Chad — August 17, 2008 @ 10:38 am

30. Recession? What recession?

    Comment by devan95 — August 17, 2008 @ 11:01 am

31. To my dear, dear First Post Here: I appreciate your attempt to mask your hurt feelings based on the Drudge quotes, but all your intellectual grandstanding doesn’t successfully hide the blatancy with which you’re feebly, limp-wristedly swatting back at me. Also, thanks for the strawman argument about caring more about Batman than this “great country of ours”; that’s what this thread needs more of, some saccharine patriotic nonsense to blur any actual topic or point, just a lowly device to try to demean someone. Yes, you must be a patriot, my poor, deluded friend - why, only a true patriot would call into question other’s patriotism, right? Sterilization would be far too easy on folks like you - we don’t need to fear you passing your pathetic political views on to others since procreating for your kind is entirely out of the question. Instead, your type simply need to be dealt with swiftly and ruthlessly, like the bothersome dogs you are. I cannot emphasize the amount of simultaneously hilarity and nauseating idiocy within these lines: “The down-to-earth, brave, conservative, honest, sacrificing, level headed people who “crawl” over from Drudge will be the same people who rise up some day to save the coutry from the people who worry more about Batman than they do about this great nation of ours.” You truly are a worthless shell of a human, unable to understand or comprehend the world around you, instead clinging to these ridiculously operatic overtures about political movements … not to mention any look back at any of the comment sections linked from Drudge is chock full of absolute anti-intellectualism side by side with that friend of American politics, Complete Uneducation. So don’t whine to me about “caring less about Batman,” you middle aged twerp; I’m sure you think someone, somewhere is so thrilled you toed the line, but the sad reality is … well … no one does, no one will, and hopefully, just hopefully, soon you’ll close your eyes and never open them, and we’ll all be better off for it.

    Do try and keep the Norman Rockwell-inspired monologues about “good, hard, salt-of-the-earth people rising up” to the Breitbart comment boards where you and your ilk congregate to mutually masturbate in some sort of brain-defunct orgy. It’s unbecoming, and frankly, we’ve already strayed far enough away from the topic.

    That topic is, of course, the fact Ledger’s death had little to nothing to do with the success of THE DARK KNIGHT. Period. To think otherwise is a fantasy … absolutely illogical. Thanks for playing, kid, now go read a book and let the adults talk.

    Oh, and to Chad: it’s because I love this country so much I felt the need to be a dick.

    Comment by Frank N. Stein — August 17, 2008 @ 11:07 am

32. Whatever your belief or thoughts on this issue, one thing is fact. TDK is the most popular comic-based movie ever made. Kudos to Chris Nolan and his team!

    Comment by Turner — August 17, 2008 @ 11:35 am

33. Too bad that such an average film gets to no. 2. If it weren’t for all of the flaws such as, how did the Joker plan and execute everything (i.e. putting barrels of explosives on those ferries) or how did the mob run city not know anything about the Joker or that Batman could have justifiably killed the Joker with his GUNS(!) on the motorcycle thus SAVING countless lives, it would have been excellent. Batman has been pussified and everyone thinks it’s awesome.

    Comment by rmccoy554 — August 17, 2008 @ 11:49 am

34. Us knuckledraggers are truly impressed by Mr Stein’s verbal diarrhea. Another example of how a certain group of people want something to be the case and so they talk, or in this case type, incessantly and passionately until they believe they have actually bent reality to what they wanted to believe in the first place. Or maybe Mr. Stein is just a pompous jackass who thinks we all care what the hell he thinks every five seconds. Maybe you could filter that asshole Nikki.

    Comment by gdixon — August 17, 2008 @ 12:20 pm

35. It would be more interesting to see how DK and other recent films rank after an adjustment is made for inflation. I understand Gone With The Wind would be several times more than Titanic DK. When it comes to viewers and cable TV and DVD sales and rentals then the actual number of times a film is seen would be something else again. Maybe someone can find a formula for that.

    Comment by Dr. Fred — August 17, 2008 @ 12:38 pm

36. Mr. Stein……….looks like somebody found themselves a dictionary. Good job on all those long, fancy words to throw in your last comment.

    Seriously, its a Batman movie! Don’t get so hot and bothered by what people say about it.

    Speaking of which, do you honestly think that Ledger’s death had NOTHING to do with the kind of money it’s bringing in??? To use your own adjective on you, you’re stupid if you believe that. The man played a phenominal role and was getting great reviews regarding it. Top that with his early passing and people become more curious about it.

    If you want to believe it had no effect on the box office, more power to you. Just remember, don’t get so mad over a comic book movie; actually any movie in general. There are more important things to worry about then why a movie did so good in the box office.

    So Frank, take a couple of breaths, put down the dictionary, and get over it.

    Comment by Jason — August 17, 2008 @ 12:44 pm

37. Its not a curse when the studio intentionally looks at profits. Maybe someone with some hard facts to share can validate this, but I suspect that Spiderman 3, Superman 3, Blade Trinity, and X3…ALL MADE MAD MONEY. Some may have had to wait to recover costs in home video, but I stand by my suspicion. I figure that the studios will churn out garbage if allowed to. Marvel really didn’t have much say in what happened to its properties before Marvel Films assumed control, and WB has never really given a S**T about the DC Stepchild.

    Comment by Charlie — August 17, 2008 @ 12:49 pm

38. CHRIS…

    Oil is a necessity.. not entertainment.. Next time you bash oil, try to understand that we can’t live without it. Moron

    Comment by JS — August 17, 2008 @ 12:58 pm

39. This is all rather silly. The only reason it’s that high is because of inflation. At the time of this writing (Sunday 8/17/08), the movie is #39 behind “Beverly Hills Cop”. Box Office Mojo keeps a running tally. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

    Comment by drjoewebb — August 17, 2008 @ 1:57 pm

40. Keep digging, Frank. There must be a cliche insult you’ve missed.

    Comment by lurky — August 17, 2008 @ 2:04 pm

41. Right or wrong, we can all agree that Frank N. Stein has too much time on his hands.

    That said, I think people are curious about Ledger’s performance not because he’s dead, but because his work was simply the best thing in a good movie. If you disagree, I ask you this: do you think “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” will gross $500m domestically?

    Normally, an actor’s death doesn’t add extra gross to a movie and in fact is usually considered box office poison, with the exception of James Dean’s last two movies and maybe “The Crow”. If you believe otherwise, then you must think that “Wagons East!” was John Candy’s biggest hit.

    Comment by dhd — August 17, 2008 @ 2:07 pm

42. Wait until a full Silver Surfer Movie comes out. The greatest story never told.

    Comment by Greg — August 17, 2008 @ 2:48 pm

43. You’re all self-deluded morons if you legitimately think Ledger’s death played a vital role in the performance of THE DARK KNIGHT; we’re talking about a film with a huge marketing campaign that commenced, what, two years prior to release, a major, iconic property with built-in awareness as well as the fact the film is a direct sequel. I wouldn’t deign to argue the quality of Ledger’s performance - he’s wonderful - or the obvious appeal of the character - but I just don’t see how a rational person can see Ledger’s death as a major motivating factor in getting butts in seats. For a tiny percentage, maybe … but we’re talking about a film with enough awareness and reach to become the 2nd biggest domestic grosser of all time. If it were that easy, I’m pretty sure the studios would start recruiting death squads for their summer flicks …

    Like I said, I think there’s a HUGE differentiation between what Ledger’s presence and performance and the fact he died … some people, like our old friend John, seem unable to parse one from the other. I think pointing to Ledger’s death as some hugely significant factor the THE DARK KNIGHT’s performance is not only illogical and, frankly, tawdry, but undermines a wonderful (albeit flawed) film. Simple as that.

    Oh, and all you kids with the snarky comments - good for you, glad to see you’re actually dusting off your creaky, rusty, limited understanding of the English language to churn out some real sustenance. Seriously, good for you kids; writing and read is fun, and good for you, and maybe my efforts here will, in some small way, encourage you to take up literacy and actually transform yourselves into meaningful, useful, intelligent, and informed citizens.

    Except GDixon. That guy’s a pedophile.

    Comment by Frank N. Stein — August 17, 2008 @ 3:18 pm

44. DHD: Glad to see someone actually thinking rather than knee-jerk struggles to articulate monosyllabic grunts.

    Also, Jason, I’d be more than happy to e-mail you a few “Words of the Day” to help you get your own vocabulary up to speed. I try to do my best for the functionally illiterate. Didn’t know having a large vocabulary was a bad thing, but then again, you’re probably not the kind who values intelligence anyway …

    Comment by Frank N. Stein — August 17, 2008 @ 3:22 pm

45. Sheesh, I guess I’ll go way out on a limb here what with the minor threads of cultural bitch-slapping going on here and just say that I was truly excited about this movie ever since A) the sheer genius of the Nolans’ “Batman Begins”, 2) my faith in that genius reinforced by “The Prestige” and an awareness of ground-breaking film-making apparent in “Memento”, C) the first notice that a wonderful actor like Heath Ledger was hired for the role and D) the incessant chatter extolling the script itself for TDK on the Web. Maybe a lot of people unfamiliar with the first movie checked out TDK because of Heath’s passing, but I just feel in my gut lots of folks were just like me as per above.

    God, it’s just a movie! Why don’t we ALL read a book and don’t let any of the adults talk!

    Comment by Memo to Frank N. Stein et. al. from Mary Shelley: chill out — August 17, 2008 @ 4:12 pm

46. You know…before The Dark Knight came out, no one really talked about adjusted gross, It’s long been established that Titanic holds the #1 spot in total gross. Now that a Batman film has come out in a Marvel-loving world, people are playing it down by saying that “it’s only #39 in domestic gross!”. Considering that countless numbers of films have been made since 1900…I still call that an accomplishment.

    Now…adjusted gross is merely fun trivia. The Dark Knight is #2 on the list that matters. Deal with it.

    Comment by Brandon — August 17, 2008 @ 4:41 pm

47. I had just about given up on _going_ to movies when I strolled into my local video store and browsed the titles a couple of years ago. When my eyes casually settled on Batman Begins, I shrugged and said to myself, “well, can’t be all bad with a cast like that.” I cannot even begin to express how completely blown away I was when I finally saw it. Everything was perfect; the tone, the acting, the production, and, more than anything, the screenplay! I really regretted not seeing it in a proper theater as I thought, “I can’t wait for the sequel.” That from someone who had all but given up on the moviehouse.

    I think what Heath Ledger’s death did for a fan of the first film was to turn him or her into an activist on TDK’s behalf. If TDK does eventually overtake Titanic in raw dollars (and I hope it does), it will be the result of said individuals selling the film on its incontrivertible merits to friends, family, and anyone who will listen.

    Comment by Parrish — August 17, 2008 @ 4:46 pm

48. You’re the man Greg! If somebody had the balls to do the Silver Surfer Origin story right — then without a shadow of a doubt it would be the best comic book superhero movie ever made. But it’s Hollywood…so it’ll never happen.

    Comment by Alboone — August 17, 2008 @ 5:29 pm

49. Brandon,
    No, you are incorrect — people have talked about inflation-adjusted grosses for a long time, including when Titanic was breaking box office records back in 1996.

    At the time, people made the (correct) point that Gone with the Wind made more “real” dollars at the box office that did Titanic — meaning, in 1933 Gone with the Wind was a bigger money-maker than was Titanic in 1996, or is Dark Knight in 2008.

    Comment by whitetower — August 17, 2008 @ 5:52 pm

50. Once in a while I make the mistake of reading a post at some random website and responding. I wrestled with the pig. He enjoyed it. Someday I’ll learn to stick with hard work, friends, family (and dragging my knuckles) rather than verbally sparring with a faceless kid who is full of himself. My mistake.

    However, I gained some perspective today. While at least one person here insulted people all day long, I worked in the sun and landscaped a yard. I feel good knowing that 20 years from now by daughter will still enjoy and benefit from the work I did today. I doubt the insults thrown about today will stand the same test of time.

    And by the way The Dark Knight was a badass movie, but I too believe that Ledger’s death did contribute to the box office. Just my opinion though.

    Comment by Second Post Here — August 17, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

51. As some people already explained above, to anyone who knows anything about the industry, claiming that Heath Ledger’s death had anything to do with The Dark Knight’s phenomenal success is like saying Michael Phelps’ 8 gold medal record came after he broke his wrist last year.

    Now just imagine hearing about that broken wrist thing over and over and over again, for at least a month, by people who just don’t appreciate Phelps’ records, and you may come close to understanding Frank N. Stein’s reaction.

    Comment by cheaplog — August 17, 2008 @ 7:05 pm

52. It’s hard to knock TDK for being low on the adjusted list when people could only see movies like Gone With the Wind in theaters. DVDs and VHS did not exist so people couldn’t simply wait to buy it for home viewing. If DVDs or VHS didn’t exist today I’m sure TDK would be significantly higher on the adjusted list along with a lot of other movies. In short there are too many factors that determine a movie’s relative popularity that go beyond a mere adjusted or absolute gross list.

    Comment by Jeremy's Iron — August 17, 2008 @ 7:25 pm

53. People did go to see this film on account of Heath Ledger, but not because he had died prior to its release. Rather, it was strongly rumored that he lit up the screen as few actors ever do, and the rumors were right. This version of the Joker is a genuinely “new thing under the sun,” a “new kind of man,” such as James Bond or Indiana Jones, but in decidedly darker form.

    This Joker’s nihilism has no real movie antecedents (except perhaps pale premonitory suggestions in “White Heat,” which is a very old gangland film, or Richard Widmark’s Tommy Udo character, and neither of those was as philosophical or verbal as this self-justifying lunatic version of the Joker). The nearest thing one can find in popular English-speaking theater can be found a few times in Shakespeare, whose plays are obviously far older still. Possibly (just possibly) Kit Marlowe’s “Jew of Malta.”

    Comment by Nealie — August 17, 2008 @ 9:32 pm

54. The inflation adjusted lists are meaningless without adjusting for the fact that back in the day there was no such thing as a home video / DVD market. There was also no piracy to worry about. If you were to factor in the eventual DVD sales, rentals, and TV broadcasts of The Dark Knight, it would stack up MUCH BETTER against Gone with the Wind (which was re-released multiple times, by the way, as were many of the other top 50 inflation adjusted films), perhaps even beating it.

    Comment by Michael Stat — August 17, 2008 @ 10:14 pm

55. Concerning where TDK is on whatever list you want to mention, keep in mind that it is still in theaters. In fact, it has only been out a little over a month, right? And the last ten days or so it has been competing with the Olympics. To have done so well so quickly is seems impressive any way you look at it.

    The effect of Ledger’s death on the attendance figures is problematic at best. How many people do you really think are out there who planned NOT to see this movie, but changed their minds after he died? On that basis, The Crow should have been an absolute blockbuster since Lee died as a result of making the movie. And what about Il Postino (the star died the day after production ended). There might be a few who wanted to see TDE out of curiosity or a sense of the macabre, but surely not millions enough to push it to these levels this quickly.

    And by the way, there is also the opposite possibility. At least some people, my wife for instance, lost all interest in seeing the film after Ledger died. So it’s possible that it actually has had to overcome somewhat of a stigma. (Though I love The Crow, I do feel a bit guilty every time I watch it knowing that Lee gave his life for this insignificant bit of entertainment.)

    Let’s wait and see where all this lies in a couple of months shall we?

    Comment by ktd — August 17, 2008 @ 11:45 pm

56. Hey everybody I just got the following e-mail

    from Jason Germany
    to cousindavesplace@gmail.com
    date Sun, Aug 17, 2008 at 5:05 PM
    subject spider man
    mailed-by hotmail.com

    You said in a open forum that Spider man 3 did better than 1 or 2. Please do just a little research before you make an idiot out of yourself. Please see boxofficemojo.com. Look in all time and adjusted for inflation. Spider man 3 or as i like to call it the worst film ever made, is way behind either of the other two. Stupid statement made with n information=stupid person.

    “Each new day that dawns brings the promise of wonderful,

    and exciting things for you to enjoy and experience, but you won’t.

    You’ll stay inside and watch American Idol instead.”

    Here is my reply:

    from Cousin Dave
    to Jason

    Spider-Man $821,708,551 http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman.htm

    Spider-Man 2 $783,766,341 http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman2.htm

    Spider-Man 3 $890,871,626 http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman3.htm

    I realize I went to public school, a state university, and a lower tier law school, but the math I learned was that 890,871,626 is greater than both 821,708,551, and 783,766,341.

    Turns out Box Office Mojo agrees with me, http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/ - Spider-Man 3 did make more money at the box office than.

    Now adjusted for inflation you’re probably right, but I never said that if you adjust for inflation, etc… all that was being discussed was how much each of these movies made at the box office, and Spider-Man 3 made more month than the other two.

    So Jason, it turns out you’ve made an idiot of yourself - stupid statement with no information which makes you a stupid person.

    I’ll bet you’re one of these types who hates movies directed by Michael Bay and Brett Ratner, just because some fat guy in Austin, Texas told you, that you’re supposed to hate their movies.

    Comment by Dave — August 17, 2008 @ 11:47 pm

57. Dark Knight got some bump from Ledger. Saying it didn’t is a bit off. However, I think the surprising quality of the ‘first’ one combined with tons of play on cable merely got more people re-excited about a very beloved superhero.

    @Comment by Chris — August 17, 2008 @ 8:57 am

    you should follow your own advice and also read something other than the Pelosi/Obama playbook. It’s and undeniable fact that oil companies pay more in taxes than any other corporations in the US. 44+% compared to 27-33% for companies like Microsoft.
    Sure they get breaks on other stuff, but the majority of oil companies are owned by nations and aren’t taxed. The US companies need advantages in some areas if they expect to compete on the world market. If they didn’t I hope you are in favor of paying $10+ a gallon. (they do in Europe already because of that as I’m sure you know. )

    Comment by manny — August 18, 2008 @ 2:31 am

58. TDK has a number of reasons it made so much money.

    While it would be ridiculous to insist that it’s all because of Ledger’s death, it’s just as silly to insist that had no effect at all.

    It’s one of many factors, one that in combination with other things (particularly his spectacularly memorable performance), certainly had at least some effect on the box office. How much of an effect, there’s no way to tell.

    And what’s with all the childish name calling? That’s a great way to keep people from even making it to the end of your post, much less take what you have to say seriously.

    Comment by milo — August 18, 2008 @ 11:17 am

59. Like I said on the headline above this one, going by the adjusted gross is silly because it is 100% biased against new films. No movie will ever gross as much as something from even 10 years ago when you adjust for inflation. You either go by what we go by now, or by total tickets sold, or both.

    Gone with the Wind was released like 12 times in theaters all in an era before TV was released. How is that fair to compare TDK, a great film in an era where there’s TV, internet, on-demand, videogames, and about a billion other things.

    Star Wars was also re-released a couple times, so if you want to go by total tickets, maybe you should separate the number by each release.

    Comment by TheaterFan — August 19, 2008 @ 10:35 am

60. TDK already beat Titanic. Titanic had to spend nearly 4 extra months in theatres to get from 577 to 600. On top of a 6 month stay in theatres that was drying up after the middle of the 3rd month. I forgot the website, you can find its week to week earnings on the web. TDK shattered every record - even weird trivial ones i didnt know existed (first to 400m? thats actually noted?).
    TDK made 500 million in 2 months. Titanic made 600 in a smidgen over 10 months.

    Nuff Said.

    Rob
    “the lil guy in yer sock drawer”

    Comment by Sheepysmurf — August 22, 2008 @ 11:37 am

61. I hate when the all time adjusted numbers are brought into discussion, including the classic oldies. It’s reasonable and fair to compare inflation for recent movies within the last 10 years (maybe), because tickets have gone waaaaaaay up, but the fact that Gone With The Wind made 1.4 billion dollars and you want to compare the 2 films, wtf? 1.4 billion dollars when ticket prices were probably a nickel and the only other source of entertainment was a stereo in the living room. And how long did these movies run for in the theatre for, close to a year?

    The movie industry then in comparison to now is much different. The fact that The Dark Knight is nearing 500 million in it’s first month is amazing, in a time where it cost over 10 dollars a ticket is an awesome achievement. A night out to the movies on a date with a loved one recently ran me 30some dollars, that’s 2 people with popcorn and drinks. Different circumstances for different times. Stop being haters!!!

    Comment by Escobar — August 25, 2008 @ 2:58 pm

62. absolutely rocksing…..ohhhhh..
    ….

    Comment by Deeps — September 26, 2008 @ 12:22 am

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment