"Dark Knight" Breaks Another Record

LOS ANGELES — Add another entry for "The Dark Knight" in Hollywood's record books: The Batman sequel has climbed past $400 million at the box office in just 18 days, the fastest pace ever, a studio executive said Tuesday.

As of Monday, "The Dark Knight" had taken in $400.04 million domestically, according to distributor Warner Bros.

Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager for Warner, said the film hit that mark in less than half the time it took for the previous record-holder, "Shrek 2," which crossed the $400 million level on its 43rd day of release.

That put "The Dark Knight" at No. 8 on the all-time box-office charts. It was poised to move up to No. 7 on Tuesday, passing the $403.7 million haul of the original "Spider-Man" to become the top-grossing comic-book adaptation ever.

Warner expects the film to pass the original "Star Wars" ($461 million) in about two weeks, making it No. 2 on the all-time domestic list behind "Titanic" ($600.8 million).

Even as "The Dark Knight" heads toward the $500 million mark, it will lag behind "Titanic" and "Star Wars" in terms of the number of tickets sold because admission prices are higher now. In today's dollars, the Batman film would have to take in about $900 million to match the number of tickets that "Titanic" sold.

"The Dark Knight" has earned wild acclaim from critics and fans, particularly for Heath Ledger's maniacal delivery as Batman enemy the Joker. Buzz for his role and the film reached a fever in the months after Ledger's death in January from an accidental prescription drug overdose.

The movie had a record opening weekend of $158.4 million.

"There's no question Heath Ledger's performance has made cinematic history. It's one of the most important or memorable villains ever," Goldstein said. "That added to it, but I think you have to look at a film in its entirety. It's the marvelous job the filmmakers and the actors did."

Comments

[Mondayboy]

I just watched this movie in an Imax theatre. The movie is brilliantly made and Heath Ledger was simply amazing. It made me very sad that Heath is gone.

[LARRYB28]

this movie is making an obscene profit .with the rising prices of movies i think we need to institute a windfall profits tax and give the money back to the movie going public to help defray the cost of going back to the movies

[sharmdun]

I liked the Dark Knight, whould see it again. Will buy it when it's released on dvd.

[schicklett3]

Best movie I've seen in years!!!
Heath Ledger was outstanding.

[LeBelAge]

You don't get out much. :)

[andvoodoo2]

I, on the other hand, see A LOT of movies and I am a writer who used to work in the film industry.
I though "The Dark Knight" was a GREAT movie and will see it AGAIN before it leaves the theaters.

[flyers]

I really liked The Dark Knight alot, yet I do think people need to give the movie time before they pronounce it 'the greatest movie ever' It is so nice to see a summer movie made for adults that doesn't cater to kiddies make a boat load of money. It will finally send a message to studios that there should be a balance of summer movies: ones that are made for kids and ones that are made for adults, cause the over 30's crowd (my generation from the 80's) showed up big time for The Dark Knight. The old rule was a movie can't make big money unless you get a bunch of kids with their parents and a bunch of teenagers who have nothing to do in the summer, but it is nice to watch a movie that has a good plot, good character development, and isn't all about CGI and explosions.

[MKJeeves]

'alot'
grrrrr

[collprof]

Mr. Ledger will certainly get an Oscar nod if not the Oscar. He would not be the first actor to receive an Oscar after he passed away.

[murphysgirl]

Credit needs to be given where credit is due..The Dark Knight rocks!! And all of those Dark Knight haters can suck it!!

[stepintothelight]

I would have to say that this movie represents the first over hyped movie that not only met my expectations but exceeded them beyond all. The subtle in your face introspection message on about 5 different levels. The commitment of the performers (I agree that Ledger was brilliant .... so sad) and how beautifully suspended in time my city looked. I hope it breaks all records and raises the bar for audience expectations in action films. You can only blow a building up so many ways .... but when there is an actual story behind it .... it truly becomes an art form!!!

[Longwire]

PS....

An important business factor NOT previously acknowledged....and that it the BUSINESS of movie exhibition has changed significantly since Titanic was in theatres.

Literally hundreds of screens have been added in the last 10 years...remember long long ago (circa 1998) when there was no stadium style seating? In the old days, if a movie was sold out you had to settle for an alternative...or go home. As a result a movie could be #1 at the box office for many weeks.

NOW, with all the screens available we can choose to see a film at 7, 7:30, 7:45, etc. As a result it is highly unusual for film to be #1 for more than two weeks. In this case, it reflects a lot of positive buzz for the Dark Knight,

[Longwire]

Kudos to Nolan, Bale, Caine, Freeman(get well soon), Gyllenhall, Eckhart, and of course Ledger for this fine, ambitious film. Unique in many ways.

[PaxMundis]

"Even as "The Dark Knight" heads toward the $500 million mark, it will lag behind "Titanic" and "Star Wars" in terms of the number of tickets sold because admission prices are higher now. In today's dollars, the Batman film would have to take in about $900 million to match the number of tickets that "Titanic" sold."

This is misleading, as by the standards of inflation 1) Star Wars trumps both Dark Knight *and* Titanic, and 2) Gone With The Wind trumps them all. Titanic is probably one of the most overrated movies of all time.

[ObamaEdwards]

The film has made over $400 million in less than 20 days. It will probably pass the $900 million mark easily. Even with a slightly messy plot and a few too many explosions, it's awfully good story entertainment beautifully acted. And Heath Ledger is just brilliant. Wonderful, wonderful actor. He took that role to a place no one else could have. I believed every word.

[walk0nwalls]

Actually it probably won't because part of Titanic's massive haul was due to its unheard of 22-week engagement. No movie is ever going to stay in theatres as long as Titanic did.

[RyanMuadDib]

I have seen nobody mention that Titanic was released in the Winter, with little competition, and that is a major contributing factor to it's success. What The Dark Knight is doing is not unprecedented, almost every record seems to be broken every year, but being a summer movie makes it more impressive a feat in my opinion,

[LadyFist]

Why are my comments coming up not as a 'reply', but as individual comments and therefore nonsensical and out of context? Weird.

[LadyFist]

Who knew that a crappy movie would cause such a stir? Titanic passion. Wow.

[stringer]

Ummm it's not a crappy movie.

I'd be interested in hearing your actual reasons for why you think it's crappy.

There are certainly some justifable opinions one could have: it's too long, the editing is choppy, or it's essentially 2 movies in one.

You didn't really offer any of those.

And, even with those (debatable) weaknesses it still holds together as a heck of a movie, anchored in realistic portrayals by all, a great story, and a ground-breaking performance by Ledger.

[walk0nwalls]

He might be referring to Titanic, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt

[lesterfreeman]

It's a good performance... But not groundbreaking. Point in case: Keaton in Beatlejuice.

[andvoodoo2]

"The Dark Knight" is doing well because it's a good movie.
I don't usually like car chase movies or comic book movies. This movie had GREAT chase scenes. (At one point, they had an 18 wheeler do a somersault. It wasn't computer generated imaging - they actually had an 18 wheeler stand on its head in downtown Chicago.) And, it wasn't your typical "comic book" movie. It was shot in Chicago (an architecturally beautiful city).
The acting was fabulous, especially Ledger's acting.
I saw the movie once and will see it again before it leaves the theaters.