Wow! The Dark Knight turned in an absolutely monster weekend. Who would have thought it would climb this high? I recall visiting forums where some foolish souls predicted that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor would make more than the Bat-sequel. I know the Brendan Fraser film has not yet opened, but I think it can be safely assumed that it will not reach the Dark Knight figures. There were even those who thought it would fail to equal the take of Batman Begins; I am sure they are a little embarrassed now that it has opened with a gross of approximately 75% of the prior film's entire run gross. Care to take it back?
With $158 million already in the bank, I think it is safe to say this movie is a hit. What makes this record breaking opening taste even sweeter is that the movie is so extraordinarily good. This movie is, quite simply, jaw droppingly awesome. I sat there in rapt attention for each and every one of its 152 minutes. When it ended, my friends and I seriously thought about refusing to leave our seats until after a second screening.
Let's take a look at some of the records that The Dark Knight now owns:
- Widest opening release
- Biggest midnight open
- Biggest IMAX open
- Biggest July open
- Biggest summer open
- Biggest single day gross
- Biggest opening weekend (3-day) gross of 2008
- Biggest opening weekend (3-day) gross of all time
- Biggest PG-13 open
- Fastest to $100 million
I am sure there are more to come as it racks up the money during its first full week in release. Now, let me say that I cannot recommend this movie enough. It is certainly not the cheeriest piece of cinema out there, but it is endlessly compelling and Heath Ledger is an absolute force of nature. See this movie. Period.
The Dark Knight wasn't the only new kid on the marquee this week. Coming in a distant second place is the stage musical turned big screen film, Mamma Mia! This is a film which opened well with $27.7 million. It is a big, bright, sunny, feel good film that failed to connect with me. If you like this, you already know who you are. Unfortunately for me, it failed to deliver on the level that Hairspray did last year — now there is a toe-tapping fun time at the cinema.
The other wide release this weekend is a low-rent animated affair called Space Chimps. On the surface level of the title alone it sounds like a can't miss proposition. You have space and chimps; it can't be anything but a match made in heaven, right? Guess again. This turned out to be a poorly animated, poorly thought out, often boring time in the theater. Even the kids seemed to be bored. I would recommend checking out either Wall*E or Kung Fu Panda again.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
"'Nuff Said" was a Marvel slogan, not DC. Expect to hear from Stan Lee's attorneys in the morning