The top spot for this weekend was a hotly contested affair that came right down to the wire, a struggle between a highly promoted film doing well but under-performing and a movie that is turning into a behemoth.
The two films involved? The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which has received generally poor reviews and was not expected to reach the pre-release expectations. The other is The Dark Knight, a movie whose box office take is blowing away all expectations to the point that people are saying it could reach Titanic's $600 million take, which isn't going to happen, but $500 million is not out of the question.
The Dark Knight is an absolute phenomenon. It also is a good example of what glowing reviews can do to affect box office potential. The pre-release hype surrounding the film guaranteed a strong open, but the across the board raves that the early reviews brought pushed its box office expectations into the stratosphere. These elements helped fuel that perfect storm that has pushed the movie's box office to the brink of $400 million after just three weekends in release. Watching this is something special, enjoy it while you can.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is doing well, but not living up to expectations. This sort of makes you wonder what could have happened had the film been good. Oh, wait, that already happened with The Dark Knight. Anyway, I would be lying if I said I did not find the movie entertaining, but it could have been so much better. Well, it put up a good fight, but it could not quite unseat the now three-time reigning weekend champ.
There was one other film entering wide release this weekend. Kevin Costner's Swing Vote made its way out to theaters around the country where it was greeted with a whimper. The movie is actually pretty good, but does not look like it will be spending much time at the cineplex. It is a heartwarming story that urges you to be a participant and not just a viewer. It is also pretty funny.
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