'The Dark Knight' Grabs Biggest Opening Ever!
Filed under: Action, Drama, Box Office, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Holy cow, Batman! We knew it would be big, but The Dark Knight blew away all expectations, posting the biggest box office opening ever over the weekend. The film gobbled up more than $155 million, overtaking Spider-Man 3 for the crown, according to The Associated Press. The total is estimated to be $155.34 million, besting the previous high water mark of $151.1 million established by last year's web-spinning superhero yarn.
The Dark Knight also broke Spider-Man 3's IMAX record. The caped crusader already set a record for its opening day haul. One inflationary note was sounded by box office tracker Media By Numbers, which pointed out that ticket prices have risen from last year's average of $6.88 to $7.08 this summer, so Spider-Man 3 may still have actually sold more tickets.
My personal anecdote to add is that when I ventured out to a multiplex to see another movie on Saturday morning, the first showing for The Dark Knight was already sold out by the time the box office opened at 9:30 a.m. When was the last time that happened? Feel free to share box office horror stories below. To talk about the movie itself, be sure to participate in the poll Erik set up last night.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-20-2008 @ 7:34PM
akaison said...
I find this post ironic. We are now living in the age of hype and made-up reality. You say the biggest opening ever in your title (with an exclaimation point no less). However, in your actual post, you admit that your title may not be true in real dollar or number of people attended terms. I am going to go see the movie in next week or two. I m waiting for the fanboys to move onto their next thing (because you always do) so that I can enjoy the actual movie over the hype. We live in the age of foreward motion. Nothing stands still longer than a second before moving on to the next thing. More than that, we celebrate being sheep and being dumb down. I think the movie looks like it will be really good. The hype, including this post, not so much. It takes away from what I am hoping will be a really enjoyable cinematic experience.
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7-20-2008 @ 8:32PM
Cole said...
Don't try to act like you are better than everyone else on here. You read Cinematical too.
7-20-2008 @ 8:35PM
bob said...
cynics be damned. fanboys rejoice! congrats to the dark knight for all its accolades and achievements. some people just need to lighten up. there's nothing wrong with a shared feeling of excitement amongst the film community. and sure, inflation may be ignored like a neglected child at times like these, but one must remember we're not dealing with world politics. just box office and pop culture.
bring on the next one already (my rabid, insatiable hunger for the next best thing has already gotten the best of me)! they haven't even started casting yet, but i know it's gonna be the best movie evaaaar!
7-20-2008 @ 9:09PM
Josh said...
Why so serious?
7-20-2008 @ 7:56PM
mezzanine said...
Dehhhh surprise?
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7-20-2008 @ 9:26PM
Gregory Rubinstein said...
hey akaison, don't insult the author of the article you pretentious ass
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7-20-2008 @ 9:45PM
Jay said...
I will say that what surprised me the most in the two times I went to go see this movie is that very few kids were in the auditoriums when I went to go see this.
And I really checked the second time I went just to make sure it wasn't an odd coincidence.
It appears that readers did take reviewers advice about the violence and adult material in this film.
So for TDK to barely eek out Spiderman 3's records, without the humongous kid audience, is quite impressive.
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7-20-2008 @ 10:13PM
Kasey Johnson said...
The craziest thing I saw for DK was the movie theater at the mall here, had eight midnight showings, and two more that started at 12:30 am. I've never heard of such things.
Also, I loved the film.
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7-20-2008 @ 10:21PM
Jawmuncher said...
Craziest thing for me was seeing the movie on saturday and hearing all showings for it were sold out until 11:00
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7-20-2008 @ 10:54PM
Rafael Montilla said...
I just viewed Dark Night, I give a lots of credits to the Director and the Script writer specially the part of the Joker "How everyone sees live, what everyone expect from everyone and what the live game is".
http://www.mercadeoporinternet.com
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7-20-2008 @ 11:00PM
Batzarro said...
Horror Story? I'll humor you. I have to wait until wednesday, and seemingly I can't look at anything because everyone is all spoilery and stuff. Hell, the movie is probably already availabe in the web, isn't it?
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7-20-2008 @ 11:04PM
Batzarro said...
See, like the post above my previous post. I almost read that crap! THAT'S IT! I'll...w-a-i-t...
7-21-2008 @ 12:05AM
akaison said...
Various responses:
The ironic award goes to: "why so serious." I find it ironic that you are quoting a villain who is about chaos and anarchy when you are actually just sheep following along without so much as a thought about the logic of what you are reading.
I am not acting like I am better than you because I don't know you. Unless "better than you" is pointing out a post is silly. In which case, it doesn't apparently take much to be better than you than for your own insecurities to flare up.
Finally, I am not a cynic. I am actually looking forward to seeing the movie. I am over hype. This site isn't all about hype, which is why I bother to read it. If I wanted pure fanboydom I could go to other sites like ain't it cool.
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7-21-2008 @ 12:34AM
Mr. R said...
Whaaa!
7-21-2008 @ 1:29AM
PST said...
Considering the incredible level of hype and advertizing and the sheer number of theaters the film is open in, it would have been amazing if it hadn't opened this massively.
I realize that the name of the game is to have a huge opening weekend so you can have that mentioned throughout the press on Monday morning and make the studio look great, but I really have no idea how this film will ever make back its advertising budget. Most tentpole films, even the ones that make huge box office, have trouble doing so, and this seems to be the largest amount of advertising and hyping yet.
But I guess that at least they got what they spent all that money for: the biggest opening weekend until next summer (maybe even the summer after that). At least the movie's probably great (I haven't had a free two+ hours at the right time of day yet).
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7-21-2008 @ 1:56AM
Alex said...
If I'm a sheep.... then your a f****** Jackass. If your going to criticize movie-goers for a character they grew up loving as a kid, and are excited to finale see a GREAT interpretation. then you obviously have no soul, nor the place to bash.
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7-21-2008 @ 3:09AM
dagonet said...
I can't believe it made 18 million at the midnight showing. That just blows my mind.
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7-21-2008 @ 9:26AM
Sam said...
My horror story comes from the Union Square Theatre in Manhattan. Friday showings were available at 4 a.m., 5 a.m., 6 a.m., and 7:30 a.m.
From what I understand, all were sold out.
I'm surprised the film made only $155 million.
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7-21-2008 @ 12:02PM
James said...
I just watched the movie and it was excellent. The Joker was awesome, oscar worthy performance no doubt about it. This was the best super heroe movie ever made.
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7-21-2008 @ 7:01PM
Annie said...
I saw this at The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz location. Arriving there 2 hours before the movie, we were still not the first in line; we were about 20th. Luckily, the bar was located right next to the line—they just started selling liquor at this location, and they had a special Dark Knight margarita for the occasion. Lets just say that was the most fun I've had standing in line for a movie.
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