WB Hopeful For Many More Years of Batman Films February 5, 2009 5:48 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Batman, Movies, News, Sherlock Holmes, Superman, The Dark Knight, Warner Bros.add a comment
During Time Warner’s earnings call yesterday, CEO Jeff Bewkes said that the studio would like to ensure Batman and Superman and perhaps Sherlock Holmes become long-lasting franchises, such as what they have/had with Harry Potter:
“We look at Harry Potter. It’s fantastic to have franchises that last that long. We want to do that with Batman and Superman and perhaps Sherlock Holmes. The sequels are as good, with new characters added, as were the originals. That wasn’t the case in the years ago. Warners has more tentpoles as an on-going strategy taht very much lifts its distribution and performance. We think that’s going to hold up our slate in the 2009 – 2010 period. We’ve got four more big tentpoles coming this year.”
via /Film
The Dark Knight Re-Launch: $667,397 January 26, 2009 5:51 pm
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Without the help of high-profile Oscar nominations such as Best Picture, Best Director or Best Writing, the re-launch of last year’s highest grossing film, and the second highest grossing film of all-time, The Dark Knight, was modestly successful. The film played in 350 theaters (+344 from the weekend prior) and grossed $667,397 (#26) for a PTA of $1,907.
The film’s new domestic cume now stands at $531.71 million with worldwide box office at $997.71 million.
Jonathan Nolan Responds to Fan Outrage Over TDK Oscar Snubs January 25, 2009 5:46 pm
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The Dark Knight screenwriter Jonathan Nolan has responded to the fan outrage caused by the film being snubbed out of several Oscar nominations. Via darkcampaign.com:
“hey — not sure who to address this to as it looks like a collective effort, but I just wanted to pass along my thanks.
It’s truly humbling that you guys would take the time and effort to try to get the film recognized. I, like you, was disappointed that Chris didn’t get some recognition this morning, but for Heath and so many of the people who worked so hard on this thing to get nominated is thrilling.
Any nominations for a comic book movie is a thing of beauty no matter how you slice it, and that takes the sting out a bit. Besides, I’ve been to the big show before, and, like any of these things, it’s a little disappointing. Did you know it’s not even an open bar once the show starts? At least this time I would have remembered to bring a little cash so I could buy myself a drink after losing.
The best part of this experience is seeing other people getting passionate about the film the way that we did. It has been a truly incredible experience. So thank you again.
best,
jonah nolan”
Will The Joker Return for ‘Dark Knight’ Sequel? January 11, 2009 5:11 pm
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The Dark Knight producer Charles Roven was asked by MTV whether they would’ve done anything different with Ledger’s Joker if they knew the actor wouldn’t be reprising the role:
“We have to separate the actors from the role,” said Roven.
“On a personal level, Heath was a friend of mine. We had worked together before ‘The Dark Knight,’ but I still think that ‘The Dark Knight’ is its own thing, and we have to separate them,” added Roven.
That certainly seems to indicate that they’re willing to recast the role, should the story call for the character to return.
The Dark Knight Gets PGA, WGA and DGA Nominations January 8, 2009 3:47 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, The Dark Knight.1 comment so far
The prospects of The Dark Knight receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, a feat many suspected a comic-book movie would never achieve, have increased greatly over the past few days. That’s because the film has received several key nominations by: the Producer’s Guild of America, the Writer’s Guild of America and today, the Director’s Guild of America.
Here are the other nominees for those respective groups:
Producer’s Guild of America (Best Picture)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Frost/Nixon
- Slumdog Millioinaire
Writer’s Guild of America (Adapted Screenplay)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Doubt
- Frost/Nixon
- Slumdog Millionaire
Director’s Guild of America (Best Director)
- David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
- Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
- Gus Van Sant (Milk)
- Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
The Dark Knight Will Not Be Released in China December 27, 2008 1:10 am
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Instead of fighting with Chinese censors, Warner Bros. has opted to forgo a Chinese release of The Dark Knight:
“Based on a number of pre-release conditions that are being attached to ‘The Dark Knight’ as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film, we have opted to forego a theatrical release of the film in China.”
With just a little under a month left before the film’s re-release (January 23, 2009), The Dark Knight’s worldwide cume stands at $996.8 million ($530.8 million domestically and $466 million overseas).
Source: Variety
The Dark Knight DVD and Blu-ray Sales at 13.5 Million Worldwide December 17, 2008 3:59 pm
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has announced that The Dark Knight has sold 13.5 million DVD and Blu-ray disc copies worldwide (US, UK, Canada, Japan, Benelux and Australia). That figure includes a record-breaking 1.7 million Blu-ray Discs worldwide, including 1 million domestically.
The Dark Knight took the world by storm on Blu-ray and DVD, breaking records for 2008. The blockbuster hit from acclaimed director Christopher Nolan became an instant must-own classic with Blu-ray sales of over 1.7 million units and total DVD and Blu-ray sales of 13.5 million worldwide*, including consumer sales and rental sales, in one week. Brisk consumer sales – totaling over 10 million with one week of sales reported – are expected to continue through the holiday season. The Dark Knight is the best selling Blu-ray title in history and will become the best selling 2008 title overall this week. The response to the digital copy offering included on the Blu-ray and Special Edition DVD has been remarkable with the number of consumers activating their digital copies approaching 300,000. The Dark Knight is already the number one movie for the year on the iTunes 2008 Chart.
The full press release follows after the jump.
The Dark Knight Sells 3 Million Units on DVD and Blu-ray December 11, 2008 6:06 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Blu-ray, DVD, Movies, The Dark Knight.1 comment so far
In its first day of release this past Tuesday, Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight sold 3 million copies on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States, Canada and the UK. 600,000 of those copies were Blu-ray, the most ever for the format, beating the record previously held by Marvel/Paramount’s Iron Man, which sold 260,000 Blu-ray discs. That disc went on to sell 500,000 in its first week. The Dark Knight could be on pace to sell 1 million copies on Blu-ray by week’s end.
Sources: Video Business and The New York Times
Academy Reverses Decision on The Dark Knight Score December 9, 2008 7:42 pm
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The Academy has reversed its prior decision (click here to read the original story) that made the score to The Dark Knight ineligible after reviewing information submitted by the affected parties. The Academy’s Music Branch Executive Committe concluded that two, Zimmer and Howard, were responsible for the score.
The score was originally disqualified because five names were listed as composers on the cue sheet.
Source: Variety
The Dark Knight Re-Release Set for January 23rd December 4, 2008 11:50 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News, The Dark Knight.1 comment so far
Warner Bros. has announced that they will be re-releasing The Dark Knight nationwide on January 23rd, effectively guaranteeing that the film will become the fourth of all time to take in more than $1 billion in worldwide box office.
The Dark Knight‘s box office currently stands at $530.3 million domestically and $465.9 million internationally. The re-release will come just six weeks after the DVD and Blu-ray launch of The Dark Knight this Tuesday, December 9th.
Dan Fellman, president of Warner’s domestic distribution, made the announcement Thursday. “We wanted to provide one more opportunity for moviegoers to experience it on the bigscreen as it was meant to be seen,” he added.
The Dark Knight hits DVD/Blu-ray on December 9th. Preorder now on Amazon: $23.99 for the Blu-ray, $20.99 for the two-disc DVD, $14.99 for the single-disc DVD or $47.99 for the Limited Edition with Batpod for Blu-ray.
Source: Variety
The Dark Knight Re-Release Plans Dropped [UPDATE: Re-Release Set for January 23rd] December 2, 2008 3:07 pm
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UPDATED ON 12/04/2008: The below report turned out to be false. WB has announced that The Dark Knight will be returning to theaters on January 23, 2009. That all but guarantees that the film will surpass $1 billion. Click here for more.
SuperHeroHype is reporting that Warner Bros. has dropped their plans to re-release The Dark Knight in IMAX theaters. In September Warner Bros. Pictures domestic distribution president Dan Fellman had indicated that talks were taking place with IMAX theaters about returning the film to some IMAX theaters. It was unclear whether the film would also reappear in conventional theaters.
The decision likely means The Dark Knight will fall short of $1 billion worldwide. It’s current cume sits at $996.2 million–$530.3 million domestically and $465.9 million from overseas markets.
The Dark Knight hits DVD/Blu-ray on December 9th. Preorder now on Amazon: $23.99 for the Blu-ray, $20.99 for the two-disc DVD, $14.99 for the single-disc DVD or $47.99 for the Limited Edition with Batpod for Blu-ray.
Academy Disqualifies The Dark Knight Score November 13, 2008 6:31 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Batman, Movies, Music, News, Soundtracks, The Dark Knight.1 comment so far
Because the films music cue sheet lists five names as composers, the soundtrack to The Dark Knight
Sources inside the committee said that the big issue was the fact that five names were listed as composers on the music cue sheet, the official studio document that specifies every piece of music (along with its duration and copyright owner) in the film.
Zimmer said, in an interview with Variety prior to this week’s Acad action, that listing multiple names on the cue sheet was a way of financially rewarding parts of the music team who helped make the overall work successful. (Performing-rights societies like ASCAP and BMI use the cue sheet to distribute royalties to composers.)
Source: Variety
Nolan’s Return to Batman Contingent on a Good Story October 27, 2008 2:35 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Batman, Movies, News, The Dark Knight.1 comment so far
In the first part of its three-part interview with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, the LA Times asks Nolan whether he’ll be back for a third film:
Could you see actually yourself not making the third Batman film?
Christopher Nolan: Well … let me think how to put this. There are two things to be said. One is the emphasis on story. What’s the story? Is there a story that’s going to keep me emotionally invested for the couple of years that it will take to make another one? That’s the overriding question. On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question: How many good third movies in a franchise can people name? [Laughs.] At the same time, in taking on the second one, we had the challenge of trying to make a great second movie, and there haven’t been too many of those either. It’s all about the story really. If the story is there, everything is possible. I hope that was a suitably slippery answer.
Earlier in the interview, Nolan was asked for his thoughts on the worldwide box office success of the film, and whether or not he expected such a great reaction to it:
“The Dark Knight” is closing in on $1 billion. How do you get your arms around that kind of success?
Nolan: I can’t get my arms around it, to be quite frank. It’s mystifying. It’s terrific but at the same time it’s a little abstract, the numbers are so big. The biggest thrill for me would be, with the number of people who have gone to see the film, how “The Dark Knight” stood on the shoulders of the first film, how we were able to build the audience up and build the story up from the first film. That was really exciting to see. We were all pretty happy with the performance of the first film but so we really didn’t know, “Where does it go from there?” For it to become such a phenomenon is extraordinarily gratifying. I mean, I’ve spent now like six years or something working on Batman films. It becomes an important part of your life; you become very obsessive about it, and it’s pretty fun when there are other people sharing your obsession and going to see the film a dozen times or whatever.Wrapping your arms around the scale of the success, as you ask, I don’t find that possible really. There’s something liberating in knowing that my next film, whatever it is, isn’t going to make as much money [laughter]. I don’t have to try for years.
Read the rest of the first part of the interview here.
Source: LA Times
Warner Waiting on Nolan for “The Dark Knight” Sequel + TDK Passes $500M Domestic, $900M Worldwide September 1, 2008 11:59 pm
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In an article from The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. revealed that the studio is waiting on director Christopher Nolanto come up with a “story and a plan”:
“There are a lot of us who emotionally would love to do it,” producer Charles Roven says. “But it’s really Chris’ call. Chris is the kind of filmmaker who just doesn’t think about the next movie before he has completely finished the movie he is working on.”
For now, Nolan is taking a well-earned vacation.
Says Roven, “When he comes back, we will see how he feels.”
Meanwhile, The Dark Knight drew a third place $8.62M (up one spot from the week prior) and now stands at $502.29M domestically. It’s only the second movie in the history of North American box office to reach $500M and the fastest to ever do it (45 days–Titanic hit $500M in 91 days). The movie’s expected to add another $2.41M on Monday ($504.7M).
In terms of overseas grosses, the movie has taken in $417M overseas, pushing its worldwide cume to $921.7M.
With only an estimated 18.3% drop from last weekend and the film performing better than expected during the weekdays, my estimate has been revised upward to between $518-527M.
Source: THR
Did Harvey Dent Live or Die? The Dark Knight Script Reveals Fate of Character August 21, 2008 3:40 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, The Dark Knight.4 comments
Spoilers follow, but has anyone really not seen this movie yet? When The Dark Knight ended I know I wasn’t the only one unsure about the extent of the injuries sustained by Harvey Dent/Two-Face during his fall. However, the script has been released for purchase, and it reveals the fate of the character. On page 163 of the 167 page script, the stage direction reads as follows [SPOILERS–Highlight to reveal]:
“Dent lies at the bottom of the hole, his neck broken. DEAD.”
The capital letters are what’s written by brothers Jonathan and Christopher Nolan, who wrote the screenplay.
So there’s that. If you still had any questions about the character, we now have confirmation that he died.
Source: MTV
“The Dark Knight” Passes “Star Wars”; Now #2 Highest Grossing Film of All-Time August 19, 2008 7:17 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, Movies, News, The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder.2 comments
After placing first for four straight weekends, The Dark Knight fell to second place this weekend with $16.4M, edged out by the hilarious movie-within-a-movie comedy Tropic Thunder which took first place with $25.8M.
However, and more impressively, The Dark Knight passed up Star Wars ($461M) to take second place on the domestic all-time chart. Through Sunday, its gross stood at $471.1M and is now at $473.2M when including Monday’s grosses. The film moved its way into the number two spot on Saturday.
How appropriate is it that Star Wars fell out of the number two spot on the weekend when a new Star Wars film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, was released? ‘The Clone Wars’ in fact could only manage a third place $14.6M.
I’m currently projecting the final domestic gross of The Dark Knight at between $502-513M.
The rest of the top 10 follows after the jump.
Four Consecutive First Place Weekends for “The Dark Knight”; Now Third Highest Grossing Movie of All-Time August 10, 2008 11:14 pm
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The Dark Knight held off comedy Pineapple Express over the weekend, taking in an estimated $26.03M from 4,025 theaters to take first place for the fourth consecutive weekend. That’s a drop of just 39% from the weekend prior. The film’s total domestic gross now stands at $441.54M, good enough to put it into third place on the all-time list, just below #2 Star Wars ($461M). As I noted last week, I’m going to continue tracking the performance of The Dark Knight and my estimate has widened slightly to $496-547M total domestic box office (Although Titanic’s $600.79M record is unlikely, it’s not entirely out of the question just yet. It’s really going to depend on how the movie performs over the coming weeks).
In terms of overseas box office, the film has tacked on an additional $263.1M, growing its worldwide cume to over $700M at $704.64M.
Pineapple Express, meanwhile, grossed $22.4M over the weekend, but the film actually opened on Wednesday so it’s taken in $40.47M over its first five days of release. A good sum for an R-rated comedy.
Click through the jump for the rest of the top 10.
New Record for “The Dark Knight” August 6, 2008 6:30 am
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The Dark Knight broke yet another record on Monday, fastest movie to $400M. The film accomplished the feat in just 18 days (resting at $400,038,494 by the end of Monday), destroying the prior record held by Shrek 2 which took 43 days to hit the mark.
Additionally, The Dark Knight has added $203.7M from overseas markets pushing its worldwide gross to $603.74M with several key markets yet to open.
My revised estimate for the film’s total domestic gross now stands between $493M and $552M, which would place it second all time ahead of Star Wars ($461M), but below the all-time domestic grosser Titanic ($600.79M). We’ll know in the coming weeks if The Dark Knight truly has the legs to beat Titanic.
It currently ranks as the #8 highest-grossing film of all time. Ahead of #9 Revenge of the Sith ($380.27M) and slightly below #7 Spider-Man ($403.71M) which it should pass on Tuesday. Click here to check out the entire list.
“The Dark Knight” Adds $65.6M From Overseas Markets July 28, 2008 2:06 pm
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Over the weekend, The Dark Knight not only dominated the domestic box office, but it dominated the international box office as well. Variety reports that the blockbuster took in $65.6M from 7,143 theaters in 43 markets, pushing its overseas cume to $126.3M.
Added on its domestic receipts, the film has a worldwide gross of $440.5M in 12 days. This all while still not opening in several key markets including France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Spain (August openings).
“The Dark Knight”: $314.2M In Just 10 Days (Biggest 2nd Weekend Ever) July 27, 2008 7:20 pm
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The Dark Knight is continuing to tear up the box office as the movie took in an astounding record-breaking $75.63M over the weekend (according to estimates) bringing its 10-day cume to an extraordinary $314.25M, making it the highest grossing movie of the year. In addition to countless other records, it also now claims the records for the best 10-day, 9-day, 8-day, 7-day and 6-day (I reported on the others in a prior post) grosses. It’s $314.25M tally is a remarkable $55.88M ahead of where prior 10-day record holder Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was and that movie ended up with $423.32M over its entire box office run so just imagine where The Dark Knight will end up. It also became the fastest movie to hit $300M, doing so in 10 days (six days faster than ‘Dead Man’s Chest‘).
Overall, the movie has grossed $355.55M worldwide, and that includes just $41.3M overseas from just three territories (it’s just now opening internationally, and won’t open in several large territories for several more weeks).
It’s showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, making many wonder if the film could possibly challenge Titanic’s domestic ($600.79M), international ($1.24B) and worldwide ($1.84B) records.
“The Dark Knight” Video Clips and Online Game + News on Videogame July 23, 2008 6:45 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Batman, Games, Movies, News, The Dark Knight, Videogames, Videos.1 comment so far
Still craving Dark Knight content? Comcast has an online destination promoting the movie, which includes a set of exclusive video clips that you can watch here. While there, you can also scan through the various downloads, pictures and more. Including an online game titled Gotham City Street Chase. Here’s the premise behind the game:
The Joker has stolen a police car and you need to catch him! But first, you’ll have to get past his henchmen in vans while avoiding oncoming traffic – that’s no easy feat. Reload your ammo by picking up the crates.
Click here to play it.
And in other Dark Knight news, in an interview with G4, Gary Oldman revealed that a videogame based on the hit movie will be released on home consoles alongside the DVD/Blu-ray release of the film. Click here to watch the interview.
“The Dark Knight” Breaks Another Record: Quickest Ever to $200M July 23, 2008 3:41 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Batman, Box Office, Movies, News, The Dark Knight.1 comment so far
Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight broke yet another record on Tuesday, as it became the the fastest movie ever to cross the $200 million mark, doing so in just five days. That crushes the prior record held by three films; Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Spider-Man 2 and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. All three films took eight days to reach the $200M mark.
The Dark Knight hit the mark thanks to $24.49M Monday and $20.87M Tuesday performances, pushing its domestic total to an impressive $203.77M. Even more impressive is the fact that when Wednesday tallies are included, the film will have grossed in just six days more than its predecessor, Batman Begins, grossed in its entire theatrical run ($205.34M)!
Including the limited numbers we have from overseas grosses, The Dark Knight has taken in $245.07M worldwide ($203.77M domestically and $41.3M overseas).
In just under one week in release, The Dark Knight has already broken 14–major–records (it’s probably broken more, but who’s going to count them all?). Here they are:
- Widest release (4,366 theaters)
- Midnight Opening ($18.49M)
- IMAX Midnight ($640,000–included in $18.49M figure)
- Opening Day ($67.16M)
- Single Day ($67.16M)
- Single Day – Friday ($67.16M)
- Single Day – Sunday ($43.60M)
- Opening 3-Day Weekend ($158.41M)
- Opening 3-Day Weekend IMAX ($6.21M–included in $158.41M figure)
- July Opener ($158.41M)
- PG-13 Opener ($158.41M)
- 4-Day ($182.90M)
- Fastest to $200M (5 Days – $203.77M)
- 5-Day ($203.77M)
And guess what? It’s already made more money in five days than the record holder for 6 days and 7 days, so those two records are also beaten.
“The Dark Knight” Opening Weekend: Breaks Midnight Record with $18.5M, Single Day with $67.2M and 3-Day with $158.4M. Also Breaks FRI, SUN and IMAX Records [CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED] July 21, 2008 4:30 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News, The Dark Knight.3 comments
UPDATED 7/21/2008 AT 4:30PM: Here are the final numbers: FRI – $67.165M, SAT – $47.650M, SUN – $43.596M = $158.411M. It beat all the records once held by Spider-Man 3, with the exception of the Saturday record, which Spider-Man 3 still holds ($51.337M).
UPDATED 7/21/2008 AT 2:00PM: Warner Bros. has released final numbers for The Dark Knight, and their estimate was lower than the actual number thanks to a bigger than expected Sunday take. The Dark Knight took in a record-breaking $43M. That pushes the movie safely past Spider-Man 3 for the all time 3-day record with an enormous $158.3M weekend. I’ll make another update once the Friday/Saturday/Sunday breakdowns are released.
Moving to critical praise, The Dark Knight is surprising still in first place at IMBd.com’s Top 250. It has a 9.5 rating with 69,135 votes. It’s still holding firm with a 94% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, increasing its fresh amount (now 195 Fresh), while no additional rotten reviews have been added (still at 12 Rotten).
UPDATED 7/20/2008 AT 11:45PM: DHD is reporting that The Dark Knight is doing better than expected business on Sunday, besting WB’s Sunday estimate. It looks headed for a record-breaking $40M+, with a high-end of perhaps $43M. That means the three-day record is all but guaranteed and it now looks like the Sunday record is going down. The list of records beaten has been updated.
UPDATED 7/20/2008 AT 12:57PM: Warner Bros. is now estimating a record-breaking $155.34M 3-day weekend for The Dark Knight. That figure includes an updated $67.85M Friday (that number just keeps getting larger and larger doesn’t it?), a $48.07M Saturday and a projection for a $39.42M Sunday. That means Spider-Man 3’s current Saturday ($51.34M) and Sunday ($39.94M) records are safe (at least for the time being, we’ll see what the Actuals show on Monday), but the single day, opening day, Friday and 3-day records appear to have been broken (with the Friday number being the safest).
The film also broke the IMAX weekend record (held by Spider-Man 3–$4.7M). It made an impressive $6.21M from 94 IMAX locations for an extraordinary $66,107 PTA (per theater average).
All record stats updated in the article below.
UPDATED 7/20/2008 at 12:28pm: Estimates put Friday’s gross at an even more impressive $66.4M, shattering the single day record once held by Spider-Man 3. Saturday’s gross is estimated at between $47.4M and $48M (short of the record set by Spider-Man 3).
Keep in mind that the $66.4M Friday figure includes all the midnight previews ($18.5M), so Friday’s gross (from 3AM and upward) was about $47.9M without the sneaks.
The movie should add another $38-43M on Sunday (Sunday record is $39.9M) and that should be enough to push the film over the prior 3-day weekend record, with current estimates putting the weekend figure at between $153M and $155.3M. The Dark Knight will also help the box office to its biggest 3-day weekend ever ($253M), well above the 218.4M set on July 7-9, 2006 when Disney’s Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest opened. Record stats updated below.
And updating the IMBd and Rotten Tomatoes watch, the movie has propelled itself to #1at the IMDb.com Top 250. The movie sits in that spot with a 9.5 rating with 23,611 votes. This is the first time The Godfather has been unsitted in a long, long time. At RT, it’s still sitting at a 94% Fresh Rating (184 Fresh/12 Rotten).
UPDATED 7/19/2008 at 8:35am: DHD is now reporting a $64-65M opening. Impressive. I’ll be out for most of the day, so be sure to check up on two main sites to keep informed: FantasyMoguls.com and DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com.
UPDATED 7/18/2008 at 10:30pm: Steve Mason over at FantasyMoguls.com is reporting via his sources that The Dark Knight has broken the single day/opening day record once held by Spider-Man 3. The movie is expected to gross an enormous $63 million today, moving it past Spider-Man 3 which had a $59.8 million opening day last May. It’s currently projected to reach $153 million for the weekend (which would also beat the record–$151.1M held by Spider-Man 3). Meanwhile, Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that the movie will do slightly less ($60M), yet still enough for the record. I’ve updated the record list below to reflect the performance in terms of the Friday number, but I’m going to hold off on making a statement on the weekend numbers, since we only have one day to work from currently.
On a different note, the movie has made its way to #3 on IMDb.com’s Top 250. It’s currently receiving a 9.1 rating with 7,041 votes. Over at Rotten Tomatoes, it’s holding steady at 94%.
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The Dark Knight broke the record for the biggest midnight opening, tallying up a massive $18.5 million in receipts from 3,040 theaters that previewed the movie (it will play in a record 4,366 theaters this weekend). That easily bests the prior record of $16.9 million set in 2005 by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which was previewed in 2,915 theaters.
What’s even more impressive is that these numbers don’t include the special 3am and 6am screenings of the show that were added. The movie also broke the IMAX record for a midnight opening with $640,000 of the $18.5 million coming from IMAX screenings. With a near sell-through of tickets for the weekend (and still impressive reaction from critics–94% on Rotten Tomatoes), the movie has a very good chance of breaking several more records before the weekend is over with. Here are the key ones that could be broken (updated as records are broken):
- 3-day opening weekend: Spider-Man 3 ($151.1M).
- July Opening: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($135.6M)
- PG-13 Opening: Spider-Man 3 ($151.1M)
- Opening Day: Spider-Man 3 ($59.8M)
- Single Day: Spider-Man 3 ($59.8M)
- Single Day (Friday): Spider-Man 3 ($59.8M)
- Single Day (Saturday): Spider-Man 3 ($51.3M)
- Single Day (Sunday): Spider-Man 3 ($39.9M)
- Conventional/IMAX Midnight Previews ($640,000 for IMAX): Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ($16.9M)
- IMAX Midnight Previews: $640,000
- IMAX 3-Day Opening: Spider-Man 3 ($4.7M)
I saw the movie at one of the 12:01am showings (in a conventional, non-IMAX theater, unfortunately) this morning. Absolutely amazing. Ledger’s performance as the Joker more than lives up to the hype. Eckhart’s portrayal as Harvey Dent/Two Face was also quite strong. I hope his performance doesn’t go unnoticed. The story was amazing, the direction was amazing, the set pieces some of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It was long, but didn’t feel long. It was dark, yet at the same time had some comedy thrown in here and there. I’m not sure if it completely lives up to the hype (which was outrageously high), but it gets pretty damn close. This isn’t just one of the best superhero/comic movies I’ve seen in a long time, this ranks up there as one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.
I’ll continue to update this post throughout the weekend as the numbers come in. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the movie in the comments section below.
“The Dark Knight” Has Now Sold the Third-Highest Advance Ticket Sales of All Time July 16, 2008 3:03 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Batman, Box Office, Movies, News, The Dark Knight.add a comment
In yet another sign that the film is gearing up for an enormous opening weekend, Christopher Nolan’s dark follow-up to Batman Begins, is currently outselling three of the Top-10 Performing Films of All-Time at the same point in the sales cycle. MovieTickets.com is reporting that The Dark Knight has already sold out over 150 performances in Los Angeles and New York alone. To put this in perspective, that’s more than three times as many advance tickets as current weekend leader Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and more than twice as many as Spider-Man 3.
Source: /Film
‘Harry Potter 6’ Teaser Could be Attached to IMAX Screenings of “The Dark Knight” July 10, 2008 5:16 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Batman, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Movies, News, The Dark Knight, Trailers.add a comment
When The Dark Knight hits theaters on July 18th, Warner Bros. will be debuting the following trailers: Terminator Salvation, Watchmen and Body of Lies. Harry Potter 6 will not be attached. However, ComingSoon.net is now reporting that theater goers watching The Dark Knight at an IMAX theater may be getting a super brief teaser of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. With just over a week to go before the film’s release, we’ll find out for sure shortly.
The Dark Knight hits conventional and IMAX theaters on July 18, 2008.
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