Alone at the top
Records fell over the weekend like so many of the Joker's henchmen as The Dark Knight earned $158.4 million to claim the opening-weekend title previously held by Spider-Man 3. Along the way, Hollywood set an overall box-office mark of $253 million for a three-day weekend, besting the previous high from July 7-9, 2006, when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest debuted.
The up side
As if the opening-weekend record weren't enough, The Dark Knight also claimed the top numbers for a midnight opening ($18.5 million) and opening day ($67 million). Of course, aiding in that charge was another record for the film: widest release, as it was shown in 4,366 theaters.
Bomb Squad
With a stellar overall weekend like this, it's tough to find a bomb in the bunch. Heck, even Space Chimps debuted with $7 million.
Swami Sez
Don't forget about Mamma Mia!
Prediction: The Dark Knight earns $140 million, falling short of Spider-Man 3's $151 million opening-weekend record.
Result: Um, no.
Prediction: Mamma Mia! earns $27 million, good for the No. 2 spot.
Result: Bulls-eye, as the musical made $27.7 million and took the silver.
Staying power
There should be no question as to which flick will rule the roost this weekend -- part of setting the opening weekend record is turning away a lot of people from sold-out shows. And those people will be hitting theaters this weekend to see what they missed out on.
Prediction: The Dark Knight stays on top with a $68 million weekend.
Stepping up
The fight for the No. 2 spot will be an interesting one, as Step Brothers does battle with The X-Files: I Want to Believe. It's been six year since The X-Files went off the air and 10 years since the last movie. Does anyone still care about this show? And for that matter, do we still care about Will Ferrell? The disappointing $33 million that his last film, Semi-Pro, made would suggest no.
Prediction: Will Ferrell bounces back from Semi-Pro's less-than-stellar take as Step Brothers earns $28 million for a second-place finish.
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Comments
Posted by Kip Mooney @ 1:02 AM Fri, Jul 25, 2008
The Dark Knight still made a killing on Monday and Tuesday no less, taking in over $15 million each day. I would still think Space Chimps is a worthy inductee to the Squad. Animated flicks, especially those during the summer are expected to make much more. Hopefully the little ones were there though, and not seeing TDK.