Entertainment, Movies - Navy Times

‘Dark Knight’ box office reaching ‘Titanic’ territory

For “The Dark Knight,” box-office records continue to fall faster than Batman’s foes.

The sequel to “Batman Begins” took in $75.6 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates from Nielsen EDI. That adds up to $314.2 million in 10 days, easily making it the fastest film to gross $300 million.

Next up: $400 million. Warner Bros. predicts “Knight” will do that in 18 days. “Four hundred million is yesterday’s news,” the studio’s Dan Fellman says. “I don’t know how far beyond that we can go, but certainly $500 million seems within reach.”

If it is, “Dark Knight” would become the second-highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing the $461 million reeled in by “Star Wars.” “Titanic” remains the all-time champ with $601 million, and some forecasters are beginning to wonder whether that is in reach.

“I don’t think there was ever a time when a movie would be seriously compared to ‘Titanic,’” says Paul Dergarabedian of Media by Numbers. “But when you’re out of the gate this quickly, and keep going this strongly, you have to consider whether the impossible is suddenly possible.”

What’s probable is a third “Batman” installment, though Warner Bros. has announced no date.

“We’re all still in awe of [director] Christopher Nolan and what he has done,” Fellman sayd. “We’re certainly hoping he has a few more ideas up his sleeve, because we’re just waiting for him to call.”

To keep going strong, “Dark Knight” will have to keep ahead of the competition. This weekend’s casualty was “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” which reunited TV show stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. But a showy relaunch of the hit series wasn’t to be; the film opened at No. 4 with an anemic $10.2 million, about $7 million below most analysts’ expectations.

Comedy and romance did a little better, with “Step Brothers” enjoying a stronger-than-expected debut of $30 million and second place. It’s the second strong showing for the team of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who opened “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” to $47 million in 2006.

“Mamma Mia!” in its second weekend, held well, pulling in $17.8 million, a drop of just 36 percent. The ABBA-inspired musical with Meryl Streep has collected $62.7 million in 10 days.

“Journey to the Center of the Earth” was fifth with $9.4 million, pushing the movie to $60.2 million.

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Holy records, Batman!

Among records set by The Dark Knight so far:

Box office (in millions):

Opening weekend: $158.4

Single day/opening day/ Friday (July 18): $67.2

Sunday (July 20): $43.6

Second weekend: $75.61

Fastest to:

$100 million: 2 days

$200 million: 5 days

$300 million: 10 days

Next: $400 million.

“Shrek 2” did it in 43 days.

-- All figures are estimates. Sources: Nielsen EDI, Boxofficemojo.com