'Dark Knight' Still On Top With $26M

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Batman was higher than Hollywood's newest pot heads.

"The Dark Knight" took in $26 million to finish as the No. 1 movie for the fourth straight weekend, beating the stoner comedy "Pineapple Express," which opened in second place with $22.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The weekend haul lifted the Warner Bros. Batman sequel to No. 3 on the all-time domestic box-office charts with $441.5 million, behind only "Titanic" ($600.8 million) and the original "Star Wars" ($461 million).

The last movie to remain No. 1 for four consecutive weekends was "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in late 2003 and 2004, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. That movie did it during a much slower time of year, with nowhere near the competition "The Dark Knight" has faced during Hollywood's busy summer season.

"It's almost unheard of. Summer doesn't usually afford films that much of a wide-open playing field," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

"The Dark Knight" should surpass "Star Wars" to become No. 2 on the revenue chart by this coming weekend.

However, the numbers reflect today's higher admission prices, and "The Dark Knight" will not approach "Star Wars" or "Titanic" in terms of actual number of tickets sold. Taking inflation into account, "The Dark Knight" would need to pull in about $900 million to match the number of tickets sold for "Titanic" and about $1.2 billion to equal "Star Wars."

Even so, "The Dark Knight" has far outdone even its studio's expectations. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., said he would have been happy if the movie simply exceeded the $205 million domestic total of its predecessor, "Batman Begins."

It should top out at $510 million to $520 million, Fellman said.

"It has taken on a life of its own, and in doing so got so much positive press and word of mouth that older audiences who normally don't rush out to see movies or maybe only see two, three movies a year are coming out in large numbers," Fellman said. "It's a question of `We've been reading about this for three, four weeks now. Let's go see what it's all about.'"

Since opening Wednesday, Sony's "Pineapple Express" had taken in $40.5 million. The action comedy stars Seth Rogen as a pot smoker on the run from crooks after he witnesses a murder, with his lovably clueless dealer (James Franco) in tow.

While "Pineapple Express" was unable to dislodge "The Dark Knight," Sony executives were happy with a strong No. 2 finish given the juggernaut the Batman flick has become.

"Quite frankly, it's nice to know that everything else is still kind of doing some business," said Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution. "We're so very satisfied to be at $40 million-plus after five days. You couldn't ask for more."

The weekend's other wide release, the Warner Bros. sequel "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," opened at No. 4 with $10.8 million, raising its total to $19.7 million since debuting Wednesday.

The movie reunites gal pals America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively as the foursome whose friendship is reinforced by the worn pair of pants they share.

Weekend Box Office Estimates (U.S.)
This Wk Last Wk Title Dist. Weekend Gross Cumulative
Gross Rlse
Wks # of
Theaters
1 1 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $26,030,000 $441,541,000 4 4025
2 - Pineapple Express Sony Pictures Releasing $22,400,000 $40,474,000 1 3072
3 2 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Universal Pictures Distribution $16,113,000 $70,671,000 2 3778
4 - The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $10,770,000 $19,712,000 1 2707
5 3 Step Brothers Sony Pictures Releasing $8,900,000 $80,903,000 3 3182
6 4 Mamma Mia! Universal Pictures Distribution $8,081,000 $104,017,000 4 3194
7 5 Journey to the Center of the Earth New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution $4,855,000 $81,759,000 5 1970
8 7 Hancock Sony Pictures Releasing $3,300,000 $221,709,000 6 2258
9 6 Swing Vote Walt Disney Pictures $3,106,000 $12,002,000 2 2213
10 8 WALL-E Buena Vista Pictures Distribution $3,045,000 $210,112,000 7 2144
11 10 Space Chimps 20th Century Fox Distribution $1,650,000 $25,447,000 4 1631
12 11 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Universal Pictures Distribution $1,254,000 $73,538,000 5 1015

[BullpupDFWM]

Christ, $1.2 billion? Do they seriously think anything is ever going to make that kind of money ever again?

[KayaYautja]

Originally Posted by BullpupDFWM

Christ, $1.2 billion? Do they seriously think anything is ever going to make that kind of money ever again?

Not unless Bale dies after the third one is made.

[CtrlAltDel]

i saw stepbrothers this weekend, hilarious

[Cpl._Badass]

Originally Posted by KayaYautja

Not unless Bale dies after the third one is made.

I think Ledger's death will ultimatly be a hinderance to this movie, because now it will never stand on it's own feet, for people will just believe that instead of being a good movie it's just been successful because Heaths demise. I called it when ledger passed.

[CtrlAltDel]

especially when they put a new joker in the next movie and hes nowhere near as good as ledger

[magistyk]

Nah, they will not try another joker in this series. Joker is done and over with Ledge's death. Now, they just need to make the next one badass with new villians and much more interaction with Batman and his life to top this one off.

[KayaYautja]

Originally Posted by Cpl._Badass

I think Ledger's death will ultimatly be a hinderance to this movie, because now it will never stand on it's own feet, for people will just believe that instead of being a good movie it's just been successful because Heaths demise. I called it when ledger passed.

It's an amazing film in my opinion...but you cannot deny that Ledger dying isn't playing a major role in the amount of money it's making.

[Damien Stryker]

This is true. Funny little thing I noticed with every repeat viewing, however: I saw the movie more for Aaron Eckhart. Fuck, I love his Two-Face.

[space]

Originally Posted by Damien Stryker

This is true. Funny little thing I noticed with every repeat viewing, however: I saw the movie more for Aaron Eckhart. Fuck, I love his Two-Face.

His Two-Face was pretty impressive and I'd like him to return in the next movie.

[spike_gta]

Proof that no other movie should exist. Ever.