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Box Office Update: KNIGHT Scores Victory Over Brothers and FBI
By
Jarrod Sarafin
July 27, 2008
The heat is on for the Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT(2008).
© Warner Bros.
It seems that all the hype, all the eager fan anticipation and all the high expectations were meant to come true for the Christopher Nolan-directed sequel The Dark Knight. The Warner Bros. film has managed to accumulate the amount of $314 million in 10 days of release, the same domestic mark that Iron Mann($314.9 mil) needed 13 weeks to achieve and the mark that Indy ($313.6 mil) is now getting in its 10th week of theatrical release.
A few weeks ago, a fellow Maniac (Joey Baloney) said The Dark Knight could hit the $300 mil mark by its third weekend, a bold prediction at that time for me with all the demographic competition in the month of July. Apparently, I was entirely wrong with the competition being a factor and that Maniac was not bold enough for the film hit the $300 mil mark by the beginning of its 10th day in domestic theaters and grabbed an eye popping $75.6 mil in its second weekend of release, making it the #1 film of the country once again.
For individual records, let’s look at the current tally.
1. Biggest Theatrical Release: 4,366 theaters
2. Biggest Midnight Debut: $18.4 mil
3. Biggest Opening Day: $67.2 mil
4. Biggest Friday: $67.2 mil
5. Biggest Sunday: $43.5 mil
6. Biggest Summer Opening: $158.4 mil
7. Biggest PG-13 Opening: $158.4 mil
8. Biggest All-Time Opening: $158.4 mil
9. Biggest July Opener: $158.4 mil
10. Biggest IMAX Debut: $6.2 mil
11. Fastest to $100 Million: 2 Days
12. Fastest to $200 Million: 5 Days ($203.8 mil)
13. Fastest to $300 Million: 10 Days ($314.2 mil)
It took Shrek 2 a total of 43 days to hit the $400 million domestic mark so unless The Dark Knight has a major drop off in the next few weeks, it will likely grab that record as well. With this weekend’s winning tally of $75.6 mil, the film is currently sitting at the domestic mark of $314.2 mil. The foreign numbers are not yet in but if you include last weekend’s debut of $41.3 mil, it currently has a worldwide gross of $355.5 million.
Update: The trades are now reporting that the sequel also pulled in an impressive $65.6 million from its 7,143 prints in overseas territories this weekend. This has its international gross sitting at $126.3 mil in 43 markets and means it has a worldwide gross of $440.5 mil after only 12 days of theatrical release. And there are still some key foreign markets for the film to debut in. France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Spain won't see the film opening in their countries until August.
The Bats sequel is already ranked 23rd on the All-Time Domestic Grosses and as said above, it will be passing Iron Man and Indy IV on that list today. It’s likely to be in the top 10 of all time by next weekend.
And now, it’s time to talk about the other nine films of this weekend’s report.
Both Sony Pictures and Universal have used counter programming against Dark Knight and X-Files and came out the best in the game of demographic competition against The X-Files: I Want to Believe by landing in 2nd and 3rd place with their comedy Step Brothers and musical Mamma Mia! respectively.
Step Brothers follows the caped crusader into 2nd place by taking in $30.0 mil on its debuting 3,094 theaters across the country, which makes for an average of $9,696 per showing. Not a bad debut for a second place finisher for Sony Pictures. Add in the fact that they kept the budget to $65 mil and their profitability is looking good at this point of time.
Following in 3rd place is the returning Universal musical Mamma Mia!, which grabbed another $17.8 mil in receipts in its second weekend of release. This film is already a success for the studio, taking advantage of audiences who have already seen the Dark Knight or had no interest in it as of yet. In 10 days of release, the musical has grossed $62.7 million domestically, set against a budget of $52 mil.
The final debuting film for this weekend is the long awaited sequel to X-Files: Fight the Future, Chris Carter’s X-Files: I Want to Believe. The film opened up in 3,185 theaters this weekend but managed only 4th place and $10.2 million for 20th Century Fox. Still, it’s not all doom and gloom for the franchise, despite a poor debut. The studio and Carter kept the budget very low at $30 mil. This opening grabbing a third of that cost in three days seems to keep its prospects of profitability very high.
Landing behind X-Files is the returning 3-D remake of Journey to the Center of the Earth by grabbing another $9.4 mil in its third weekend of release. The New Line film seems to be doing very well with family audiences, having grossed $60.1 mil (Budget: $60 mil) while its counterpart Hellboy II fell to 8th place in this report. If you include the $11.7 mil that “Journey” has grossed overseas, the adventure has a worldwide tally of $71.9 million.
Sony has also maintained steady legs with their misguided superhero adventure Hancock, the latest successful venture for Will Smith. In its fourth weekend of release, the film has the 6th place with $8.2 mil in receipts for the studio. They set the budget at $150 mil for this tent pole and thus far, it has grossed $206.3 mil domestically. If you include its $179.8 mil in foreign sales, the superhero flick has a worldwide tally of $386.1 million for Sony. Yet another success for Will Smith.
Pixar and Disney are finally seeing some profitable returns for their latest animation Wall-E. It took the film four weeks to get to its budget line but by landing in 7th place and grabbing another $6.3 mil in its fifth weekend of release, the tiny robot is $15 mil past that mark domestically. With a budget of $180 mil, the film has grossed $195.2 mil domestically and it has yet to premiere in most foreign markets, having only grabbed another $3.1 mil from foreign sales.
Universal is also struggling to meet their budget lines with their sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Whereas it took Wall-E five weeks to surpass the mark, the Guillermo del Toro-led sequel has yet to reach their $85 mil mark in three weekends of release. The film landed in 8th place in this report by scaring up another $4.9 mil this weekend but with its current domestic gross of $65.8 mil, it still has a few weeks to go. It’s also yet to be released in oversea markets.
20th Century Fox isn’t really grabbing anything substantial with their animation Space Chimps. Last weekend, it debuted in 7th place and this weekend, the film finds itself in 9th place with a $4.3 mil tally. The studio has the budget listed at $40 mil so its $16.0 mil domestic gross doesn’t look bright at the moment. Whereas audiences did go to counter programming these past few weekends, Space Chimps was not one of them.
And landing in the final 10th place is the returning graphic novel adaptation of Wanted by taking in another $2.7 mil in receipts. Universal does have a hit on their hands with this film having grossed $128.6 mil domestically and another $95.4 mil in foreign markets. The studio kept the budget low at $75 mil so its worldwide gross of $224.0 mil spells success for Universal Pictures.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total | Budget |
| 1 | The Dark Knight | $75.6 mil | 4,366 | $17,322 | $314.2 mil | $185 |
| 2 | Step Brothers | $30.0 mil | 3,094 | $9,696 | $30.0 mil | $65 |
| 3 | Mamma Mia! | $17.8 mil | 2,990 | $5,974 | $62.7 mil | $52 |
| 4 | X-Files: I Want to Believe | $10.2 mil | 3,185 | $3,202 | $10.2 mil | $30 |
| 5 | Journey to the Center of the Earth | $9.4 mil | 2,688 | $3,502 | $60.1 mil | $60 |
| 6 | Hancock | $8.2 mil | 3,309 | $2,478 | $206.3 mil | $150 |
| 7 | Wall-E | $6.3 mil | 3,044 | $2,085 | $195.2 mil | $180 |
| 8 | Hellboy II: The Golden Army | $4.9 mil | 3,018 | $1,634 | $65.8 mil | $85 |
| 9 | Space Chimps | $4.3 mil | 2,538 | $1,723 | $16.0 mil | $40 |
| 10 | Wanted | $2.7 mil | 1,754 | $1,554 | $128.6 mil | $75 |
Overall Numbers for Summer 2008 Tent Poles
Indiana Jones 4 Numbers:
Budget: $185 mil
Opening: $100.1 mil
Domestic: $313.6 mil
Foreign: $430.0 mil
Worldwide: $743.7 mil
Iron Man Numbers:
Budget: $140 mil
Opening: $98.6 mil
Domestic: $314.9 mil
Foreign: $251.7 mil
Worldwide: $566.6 mil
The Dark Knight Numbers:
Budget: $180 mil
Opening: $158.4 mil
Domestic: $314.2 mil
Foreign: $126.3 mil
Worldwide: $440.5 mil
Hancock Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $62.6 mil
Domestic: $206.3 mil
Foreign: $179.8 mil
Worldwide: $386.1 mil
Sex and the City Numbers:
Budget: $65 mil
Opening: $57.0 mil
Domestic: $150.8 mil
Foreign: $221.6 mil
Worldwide: $372.5 mil
Kung Fu Panda Numbers:
Budget: $130 mil
Opening: $60.2 mil
Domestic: $208.9 mil
Foreign: $154.1 mil
Worldwide: $363.1 mil
Prince Caspian Numbers:
Budget: $200 mil
Opening: $55.0 mil
Domestic: $139.7 mil
Foreign: $161.5 mil
Worldwide: $301.3 mil
The Incredible Hulk Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $55.4 mil
Domestic: $132.5 mil
Foreign: $95.1 mil
Worldwide: $227.6 mil
Wanted Numbers
Budget: $75 mil
Opening: $50.9 mil
Domestic: $128.6 mil
Foreign: $95.4 mil
Worldwide: $224.0 mil
Wall-E Numbers:
Budget: $180 mil
Opening: $63.0 mil
Domestic: $195.2 mil
Foreign: $3.1 mil
Worldwide: $198.3 mil
Get Smart Numbers:
Budget: $80 mil
Opening: $38.6 mil
Domestic: $124.2 mil
Foreign: $56.0 mil
Worldwide: $180.2 mil
The Happening Numbers:
Budget: $60 mil
Opening: $30.5 mil
Domestic: $63.8 mil
Foreign: $78.9 mil
Worldwide: $142.7 mil
Speed Racer Numbers:
Budget: $120 mil
Opening: $18.5 mil
Domestic: $43.8 mil
Foreign: $42.2 mil
Worldwide: $86.0 mil
Hellboy II: The Golden Army Numbers:
Budget: $85 mil
Opening: $34.5 mil
Domestic: $65.8 mil
Foreign: N/A yet
Worldwide: $65.8 mil
Can The Dark Knight win its third weekend of release? That seems to be a good question despite the overwhelming numbers it has pulled in these first two weekends. Universal is having The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor debut in over 3,600 theaters next weekend and by then, most audiences will have seen the caped crusader. It now becomes a question on repeat viewers keeping the numbers high over these upcoming debuts.
Friday August 1, 2008 Releases
Wide
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (3,600+ theaters)
Swing Vote (2,000 theaters)
Limited
Midnight Meat Train
Frozen River
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
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