July 20, 2008

Random Musing: (More) The Dark Knight


Though I am certain some of you may be tired of me talking about "The Dark Knight" by now, the numbers are in. Today is Sunday, and the weekend's box office is quickly wrapping up. As I went to check my e-mail earlier, a new article caught my eye on Yahoo news, so here it is. Read 'em and weep...

'Dark Knight' sets weekend record with $155.34M

LOS ANGELES (AP) Batman has sent Spidey packing as king of Hollywood's box-office superheroes. "The Dark Knight" took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, topping the previous best of $151.1 million for "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007 and pacing Hollywood to its biggest weekend ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.
My prediction came true. I obviously had never predicted a figure, but I knew it would rake in the big bucks.

"We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight." The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said.
Now was this before or after Warner Brothers claimed it was only going to make about $90 million in its first weekend? Hmmm...

Also, poor "Mamma Mia!" (which I also enjoyed) clearly could not hold a candle to the selling power of "The Dark Knight," as this will be what the top two in this weekend's box office will look like:

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC
1. "The Dark Knight," $155.34 million.
2. "Mamma Mia!", $27.6 million.
But it is ok. For a film to be released with much less publicity and fanfare than the massively hyped "Dark Knight," "Mamma Mia!" certainly did well on its own.

Anyway, it appears "The Dark Knight" has become the blockbuster success I (and many others) predicted. With our minds suddenly eased with its opening weekend fortunes, I am certain we will wonder how much it will ultimately rake in...

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