'Dark Knight' Passes $500M, 'Thunder' Wins Weekend

LOS ANGELES — Batman's rich alter-ego Bruce Wayne has added half a billion dollars to his riches. "The Dark Knight" on Sunday became the second movie in Hollywood history to top $500 million at the domestic box office, raising its total to $502.4 million, according to estimates from distributor Warner Bros.

The film hit that mark in just over six weeks, half the time it took "Titanic," which reached $500 million in a little more than three months. "Titanic," the biggest modern blockbuster, remains No. 1 on the domestic charts with $600.8 million.

Despite its brisk pace, "The Dark Knight" is not expected to approach the total for "Titanic," which put up smaller numbers week after week but lingered at the top of the box office for months.

Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., said he expects "The Dark Knight" to finish at about $530 million, though it could reach $550 million if business persists as strongly as it has.

"I keep raising the number because it just keeps holding better than expected," Fellman said.

"The Dark Knight" will climb to about $505 million by Labor Day, the conclusion of Hollywood's busy summer season. That amounts to nearly one-eighth of Hollywood's overall summer revenue of $4.2 billion, which edges the previous summer record of $4.18 billion set last year, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Factoring in today's higher admission prices, "The Dark Knight" would need to take in about $900 million to match the number of tickets sold by "Titanic."

Labor Day weekend was generally sleepy at theaters, with a rush of new movies failing to find much favor with audiences. Through Sunday, Paramount's comedy "Tropic Thunder" remained No. 1 for the third straight weekend with $11.5 million.

The 20th Century Fox sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." with Vin Diesel debuted in second place with $9.7 million, while Overture Films' espionage drama "Traitor," starring Don Cheadle, opened at No. 5 with $7.9 million.

Premiering at No. 7 was Lionsgate's spoof flick "Disaster Movie" with $6.2 million. MGM's campus comedy "College" opened well outside the top 10 with $2.1 million.

The top 12 movies took in $75.2 million, down 23 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Halloween" opened with $26.4 million.

"This is kind of an inauspicious end to a really incredible summer," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. "We limped past the finish line."

Comments

[walk0nwalls]

Anyone know if it's still in iMAX?

Holy crap why am I doing that with IMAX, it's not an apple product.

-_-

[Longwire]

way to go...a fun flick, the perfect summer movie

[SoonerThought]

Loved "The Dark Knight," but the X-Files movie, "I Want to Believe" was also quite good. Sadly it was poorly marketed and released a week after "Dark Night" bowed. Just killed it. The flick would've had far more business in an October release. X-Files did $60 million box office worldwide--which has easily made back its modest $30 million production budget, but man, it could've done so much more if marketed and released properly. Sad! Catch it on DVD if you can.

[tlgeiger62]

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[StephenJK]

This movie is MUCH more deserving of the top stop over Titanic. Where is the netroots movement to ensure it takes the top spot? I'm going to see it for a 3rd time this week. Hopefully in IMAX again. If you haven't seen it in an IMAX theater you HAVE TO! About 40% of it was shot with IMAX cameras and the full screen is totally amazing. The bank heist scene is probably the best intro scene I've witnessed. The whole movie is rooted in the diabolical madman; The Joker. Everything revolves around him.

Let's keep going to watch this movie while we still can. It's worth a 2nd, 3rd or even 10th viewing in the theaters. Lets all make sure it sinks the Titanic for a 2nd time.

[Mustang Sally]

We saw the movie for the first time this weekend - we were blown away!!

(You're welcome. Mr. Wayne)