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The Dark Knight beat Spider-Man for biggest opening weekend ever.
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| MacDaddy, July 22, 2008 |
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The Dark Knight (BATM2) returned $158.4 million to break the box office record for the highest opening weekend ever. The previous mark of $151.1 million was set just last year by Spider-Man 3. The sequel to Batman Begins broke industry assumptions that the market could not expand this much during the crowded month of July. The PG-13 rated film also played on 94 IMAX screens and sold out every seat for the whole weekend. Director Christopher Nolan (CNOLA) created a story grounded in the real world that was driven by the characters rather than special effects. Christian Bale (CBALE) led the stellar cast that included Heath Ledger as the Joker and Aaron Eckhart (AECKH) as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Warner Bros. (WBROX) also built up unprecedented buzz with a long marketing campaign. With phenomenal word of mouth, Batman will overshadow the box office for weeks to come.
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| FILM |
SECURITY |
WEEKEND GROSS |
TOTAL GROSS |
| 1. The Dark Knight |
(BATM2) |
$158,411,483 |
$158,411,483 |
| 2. Mamma Mia! |
(MAMIA) |
$27,751,240 |
$27,751,240 |
| 3. Hancock |
(HANCK) |
$14,040,178 |
$191,543,979 |
| 4. Journey to the Center of the Earth |
(JCNTR) |
$12,340,435 |
$43,504,712 |
| 5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army |
(HELB2) |
$10,117,815 |
$56,526,885 |
| 6. Wall-E |
Cashed Out |
$10,070,096 |
$181,732,709 |
| 7. Space Chimps |
(SPCHM) |
$7,181,374 |
$7,181,374 |
| 8. Wanted |
Cashed Out |
$5,072,805 |
$123,322,635 |
| 9. Get Smart |
Cashed Out |
$4,125,021 |
$119,608,695 |
| 10. Kung Fu Panda |
Cashed Out |
$1,860,854 |
$206,616,381 |
| Box office provided by Exhibitor Relations Company |
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Mamma Mia! (MAMIA) broke a record of its own debuting in second with $27.8 million, which topped Hairspray’s $27.5 million for best opening weekend ever by a musical. The feature adaptation of the popular stage musical starred Meryl Streep (MSTRE), Pierce Brosnan (PBROS), Stellan Skarsgard (SSKAR) and Colin Firth (CFIRT). The Universal (UNIVX) release reached its target audience of older women, as the demographics broke down 75% female and 64% over age 25. The crowd-pleasing ABBA musical should hold up nicely against the more male-centric films.
Hancock (HANCK) nabbed third place bringing in $14.0 million. The Will Smith (WSMIT) superhero film has now banked $191.5 million.
Journey to the Center of the Earth (JCNTR) arrived fourth at $12.3 million. The 3-D action film was off a respectable 41% from its maiden session to bring its current total to $43.5 million.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (HELB2) was no match for The Dark Knight. Last weekend’s top film dropped all the way to the fifth spot with $10.1 million, a 71% plummet from its opening. The sequel now stands at $56.5 million.
The weekend’s third new wide release Space Chimps (SPCHM) landed in seventh place with $7.2 million. The G-rated animated space adventure drew mainly families with young children.
This weekend, Will Ferrell (WFERR) and John C. Reilly (JCREI) reunite as Step Brothers (STEPB) while agents Mulder and Scully reteam for The X-Files: I Want to Believe (XFIL2).
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