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'The Dark Knight' breaks opening weekend record

7:12 PM Sun, Jul 20, 2008 | Permalink |
Stephen Becker

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The Dark Knight earned an estimated $155 million this weekend, breaking the 14-month old record of Spider-Man 3 by about $4 million. Putting Batman just over the top were likely all of those midnight screenings on Friday, as The Dark Knight earned $18 million on them alone, breaking the record for biggest midnight opening previously held by 2005's Revenge of the Sith. And that figure doesn't include the cash it earned from numerous 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. screenings.
So why all the fuss? My guess is that the Heath Ledger curiosity played an even larger role than we like to give it credit for. Once word came out that his performance actually lived up to the hype surrounding it, The Dark Knight became a movie that you HAD to see this weekend if you wanted to be part of any conversation on Monday.
Judging by these numbers, it sounds like you all will be able to share in the chit-chat.

Comments

Posted by Neil M. @ 6:37 AM Mon, Jul 21, 2008

Although I am sure the movie is great - let's think about the increased cost of movie tickets in the last year. My favorite theatre went from 8.50 last year, to 10 bucks this year. That's a 17.6% increase - so just because a movie brings in more money does not mean it actually 'beat' prior movies. How many saw the film is what really counts.

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Posted by allkan camacho @ 6:52 AM Mon, Jul 21, 2008

i saw the The Dark Knight twice, and i couldnt get enough!!!! Heath Ledger is super! Maggie is the best!

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Posted by stephen becker @ 11:52 AM Mon, Jul 21, 2008

Neil --
You are certainly correct that the price of a movie ticket has gone up, and that is a factor in the larger gross. But I would argue that it really is about the money, and not how may people saw it. I do, like you, think it is more interesting to know how many people saw a movie, and I wish that tickets sales were reported that way. But in the end, it's a business, and all those studios care about is how much money all those tickets fetched.

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Posted by Mary Smith @ 2:27 AM Tue, Jul 22, 2008

RESPECT THE SKILLS OF MR. LEDGER!

his opening line was killer

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