Weekend Wrap-Up
Dark Knight Biggest Opener Ever
By John Hamann
July 20, 2008
Fourth spot goes to Journey to the Center of the Earth, New Line's attempt at the 3-D genre. Journey earned $11.9 million and was also down 43%, but was again propped up somewhat by 3-D showings at about 900 venues. So far, the $45 million film has already earned $43.1 million.
Plunging from the number one spot last weekend all the way down to fifth this weekend is Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Despite an 87% fresh rating at RottenTomatoes, Hellboy lost all his fan boys to The Dark Knight and the gross got hammered. After debuting to $34.5 million last weekend, the Guillermo del Toro flick could only manage a gross of $10 million, giving it an ugly percentage drop of 71%. Hellboy II now has a total of $56.4 million and is suddenly in danger of not reaching its $85 million production figure at the domestic box office.
Sixth spot goes to Pixar's WALL-E, as the computer animated kids flick got competition from not only Batman, but also Space Chimps this weekend. WALL-E earned $9.8 million and falls 48% compared to last weekend. WALL-E has seen some of the biggest drops in Pixar history, and has a current total so far of $182.5 million.
Fox's Space Chimps is our number seven flick this weekend. Looking like it was made on my Commodore 64, audiences caught on, and Space Chimps debuted to a meager $7.4 million. Fox was smart and put this one out to only 2,511 venues.
The also-rans fill out the last three spots on the chart. They include at number eight, Wanted, which earned $5.1 million and has a running total of $123.3 million; at number nine, Get Smart, which found $4.1 million and has a total of $119.6 million; and at number ten, Kung Fu Panda, which earned $1.8 million and moves its total up to $206.5 million.
Overall this weekend, we are again into record breaking territory. The top 12 films at the box office, thanks almost completely to The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia!, earned a massive $249,593,011, a new record by a country mile. This is up over last year's total of $146,739,263 by 70%. The previous record was held by the July 7, 2006 weekend (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest), when the top 12 films earned $208 million. That total has been annihilated by 20%.
1 |
The Dark Knight |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$155,340,000 |
$158,411,483 |
New |
$158,411,483 |
2 |
Mamma Mia! |
Universal |
$27,605,376 |
$27,751,240 |
New |
$27,751,240 |
3 |
Hancock |
Sony/Columbia |
$14,000,000 |
$14,040,178 |
- 56.2% |
$191,543,979 |
4 |
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$11,910,000 |
$12,340,435 |
- 41.3% |
$43,504,712 |
5 |
Hellboy II: The Golden Army |
Universal Pictures |
$10,037,500 |
$10,117,815 |
- 70.7% |
$56,526,885 |
6 |
WALL•E |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$9,813,000 |
$10,070,396 |
- 46.4% |
$182,732,709 |
7 |
Space Chimps |
20th Century Fox |
$7,350,000 |
$7,181,374 |
New |
$7,181,374 |
8 |
Wanted |
Universal |
$5,097,135 |
$5,072,805 |
- 57.7% |
$123,322,635 |
9 |
Get Smart |
Warner Bros. |
$4,085,000 |
$4,125,021 |
- 42.7% |
$119,608,695 |
10 |
Kung Fu Panda |
DreamWorks |
$1,750,000 |
$1,860,854 |
- 57.8% |
$206,616,381 |
11 |
Meet Dave |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$1,635,000 |
$1,659,424 |
- 68.4% |
$9,398,409 |
12 |
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull |
Paramount |
$970,000 |
$955,846 |
- 57.7% |
$312,569,461 |
|
Also Opening/Notables |
|
Kismat Konnection |
Utv |
N/A |
$282,122 |
New |
$282,122 |
|
Transsiberian |
First Look Studios |
$35,216 |
$34,615 |
New |
$34,615 |
|
Before i Forget |
Strand |
N/A |
$9,676 |
New |
$9,676 |
Click here for all weekend data
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|