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Box Office: The Dark Knight Beats The Mummy

Posted on Sunday, August 3rd, 2008 by Peter Sciretta

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor will end the weekend well behind industry expectations with $42.5 million. This means once again, The Dark Knight is #1 at the box office with $44.8M, pushing the film’s domestic total to $395.88 million. The Dark Knight currently stands as the #8 biggest grossing film of all time domestically, and on Monday it is expected to overtake Spider-Man to become the biggest comic book movie adaptation of all time.

Steve Mason predicts a $480 million lifetime gross for the film, which would put it shy of Titanic’s $600 million record. But $480 million would be enough to overtake Star Wars for the #2 spot. To give you an idea, it took Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace 8 weeks to earn the same as The Dark Knight did in three. Other comparisons: It took Spider-Man 9 weeks, E.T. more than 52 weeks, and The Dark Knight has already outgrossed Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Comments

orange cinema

@ cekma

i had the exact same idea as you, how do you compare when prices are so different? the true test would be to add up the number of tickets sold - though i know that's not an easy or feasible thing to do. the bottom line is that entertainment and pop culture are worlds away from what they use to be. marketing, comercials, advertising nowadays are an art form of their own - and a force to be reckoned with. anybody being truly honest would admit TDK's overwhelming advantage over films of previous generations.

@ j'osh

ironman is good, but it's a very safe film - little or no risks at all were taken with that story.

cekma

In fairness to Titanic, if you use a chart based off today's ticket prices Titanic would have made 900 million. I love the Dark Knight, but damn if that's not impressive. Let's give credit where credit is due.

razor1000

ok so i figured out how nolan could beat the dark knight out in the sequel to it but it probably never going to happen or get made by him.

I see a third sequel where batman finally runs into someone he cant stop, and then halfway through the movie lo and behold the super secret shows up for the finest 2nd act you have ever seen.

are you fllowing me yet?

well in case you didn't i'd make a super secret batman 3 with superman coming into the story during the second act

J'osh

Titanic was this movie that 70 year old women left their homes to see. It was, for my grandmother, the first movie she had seen in a theatre since "The Ten Commandments". Our mall actually bussed in old folks from nursing homes for showings.

Titanic took Star Wars' crown and it smarts for fanboys even still. But that movie will remain at the top of the heap forever. Every great Geek-flick that comes along we hope that it will beat it. But with all the changes to watching movies and studio expectations that day will not come.

As far as TDK v. Iron Man. TDK is greater then Iron Man but really it's like saying I'll take the steak instead of the lobster. Now I'll be so bold as to state that Iron Man is greater then Batman Begins. So Iron Man 2 has some real potential.

790

LOL.,, Captain Awesome, Costners been a joke ever since he abused his co-producer statis on Waterworld. He put his own money into that film as well.

The guys a tool.
And one stupid mofo, if you ever meet him.
He's got the brains of his character in Swing Vote,,, folks that's the real Costner.

Captain Awesome

The funny part about Swing Vote is Costner put something like 20 mill of his own money to finish it.

790

Swing Vote made 6.3 mil for the weekend,,, hahahahahahaha.
Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers are laughing at you Costner. Hahahaaaa.

Hack job!

790

What ,,MeyhemStudios said,,,,, ;-)

You say the shooting script says Dent's dead, another report says he's signed on for 2 films. ???? What do I do ???? Who do I trust ????

790

Since nobody cares about mummy 3 and were talking dvds, the Iron Man and Incredible Hulk dvds will also be out around late October / November.
Awesome !!! !!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure the TDK dvd will also come out in a 3 disc mega collection. With all kinds of cool stuff.
And also the bare bones dvd with just the movie only. ;-)

mayhemstudios

You can't really compare Iron Man to The Dark Knight. They are totally different type of movies. They are both equally great.

When The dark Knight dvd hits. It's going to be like opening night again. lol

Pentarix

How so? Iron Man is my second favorite movie of the year but it doesn't come close to TDK IMO. And yes, TDK will break records; I'm purchasing a plasma tv and PS3 just so I can watch the Blu-ray version on repeat. :)

Also the shooting script for TDK said that Dent's neck was broken and that he was dead. http://unlimi-ted.com/2008/08/02/the-dark-knigh...

gah

4 months ago, would any of you have guessed that Iron Man and the DK would outgross Indiana Jones domestically?

790

"Iron Man doesn't hold a candle to TDK///"
Come on Pentarix, that's absurd.

790

Yeah DarkMatter, the dvd will allmost likey give us confirmation on Twoface, with commentaries and deleated scenes we should get the answer if he's dead or ????

The TDK,,Dvd is sooooo gonna break dvd sales,, its not even funny.

starscream9289

**other**
hehe sorry, sugar rush lol

starscream9289

**move on**
hehe sorry

starscream9289

I have seen TDK and I enjoyed every second of it, but now it's time to time on and enjoy ither great upcoming movies like Pineapple Express. haha I can't wait for wednesday :D

Kip Mooney

I could foresee Dark Knight being #1 for the rest of the summer. Now that it beat the Mummy, I think it's only competition is Tropic Thunder. And if that doesn't beat it, who knows how long it could reign?

beakmans balls

Would have made even more if it had nipples on the suit.

Chicklets

I don't know why it's a shock that TDK did better than the Mummy. I was a fan of the original and the sequel but this just looked like garbage. Also although I liked the first Spiderman i can't see why it grossed so much, compared to recent comic book movies it seems alot less appealing. I seem to think that it was so popular because of the severe lack of any decent comic book movies. Don't get me wrong i think it was a good movie, the 2nd and 3rd were garbage though. I just think it doesn't hold up to other recent movies.

DarkMatter

Probably December, I just found this article at LatinoReview with the date but its not fact yet

http://www.latinoreview.com/news/santa-brings-t...

Im hoping for a Directors Cut, and deleting and altered scenes. Some scenes from trailers seemed to be cut, and the scene were the joker says "kill the batman" in the trailer is different from the actual movie. My Batman Begins dvd has nothing really special so hopefully Nolan releases a longer more awesome Directors cut with cut scenes (and some better editing)

790

The way this films going I would expect a mid December dvd release.

Its making too much money for a November release.
If it had bombed it would be out in October.

mayhemstudios

@Captain I say mid November dvd release in time for Christmas gifts. WB will make a killing.

Captain Awesome

DarkMatter,

Me too. But seeing how well its doing. WB will do their best to keep advertising it and pushing more theatre numbers.

I predict a Christmas DVD release? Am I being too hopeful? :D

mayhemstudios

@gah Hong Kong Police type movies made in HK show them corrupt all the time. I don't see why they would have any problems with TDK.

Jon

Dark Knight Daily Box Office:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily...

Titanic Daily Box Office:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily...

If the Dark Knight trends like the Titanic, it could easily make a BILLION dollars domestic.

DarkMatter

Man I want this on DVD or BluRay already.

Zinc

Are those websites that are reporting that TDK needs to make $900 million to pass Titanic taking in the fact that TITANIC WAS IN THE THEATERS FOR NINE FREAKING MONTHS!?

YoungZe

I meant Heath Ledger's performance. -_-

gah

Since China is now censoring American films (Kung Fu Panda, Mummy), the Internet, and the Olympics, what did they think about TDK since they had a key scene in Hong Kong that implied the police force was corrupt?

YoungZe

I still haven't got the chance to see it! God Damn! Why do i have to wait till it's released here?! I want to hear the original, i don't think the voice-actor can beat Jokers performance. At least i have the soundtrack and i love it.

790

Suck on that Jet Li, Brendon Fraiser, and China !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brandon

I'm not clear as to why we do not yet track or have available number of seats sold vs gross dollar amounts. I made a short film last week, i charged myself 1 billion dollars to see it. The check has not yet cleared, however the ticket was purchased. I assume my film is not the top movie of all time by the movie industries logic.

Pentarix

Iron Man doesn't hold a candle to TDK and whether Heath died or not, the movie would still have destroyed the OW record, without a doubt. It may not have made as much money in it's entire run, but I think you under estimate just how big Batman is. 4 of the 6 Batman movies have set box office records upon release, that's proof enough. Look it up yourself: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/

krackajap

Everyone should buy tickets for Dark Knight no matter what movie they are planning to see just so it beats Titanic.

gah

There are so many layers that TDK just gets increasingly better with each viewing. Okay, it's not the Godfather, but it is probably the greatest "comic book", "action", "genre", "summer", "popcorn" film ever made. No doubt.

maremagnum

The market is not only bigger, but it has more competition for your entertainment buck. You don't just have more movies in theaters simultaneously, but you also have more options in the DVD market, free video and music downloads for your computer, movies on pay-per-view, and so forth. I think what TDK is accomplishing is phenomenal.

Dan

I plan on seeing TDK for the second time tonight.

It took E.T. over 52 weeks? Wait... so that movie was in theaters for more than a year?

Anomaly

@Captain Awesome
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/0...

'Even if it edged past that mark, "The Dark Knight" would lag behind "Titanic" in terms of actual tickets sold. Admission prices are up more than 50 percent since "Titanic" came out in 1997, according to Media By Numbers. "The Dark Knight" would have to take in about $900 million to match the number of tickets that "Titanic" sold.'

How is that stupid?

JAPPO

By the way Peter, what's the point of the gravatar icons to the left if it doesn't work? I know I have a gravatar but it never shows here.

JAPPO

TDK was better than Iron Man, no question...

IronMan

Two proper nouns...Heath Ledger.

If Heath was still alive, his role as the Joker would be adored by TDK fans and maybe some bad-boy loving teenie boppers, but definitely not as an Academy Award hopeful. He was entertaining and quirky, but a joker nontheless. Nolan did a great job with TDK...very Bourne Ultimatum looking and the science/high-tech stuff was great.

BUT...without Heath's passing, TDK would statistically be right around where Iron Man was at the same time (post opening)...both are great movies, but Iron Man was better.

Oh, and The Godfather should NEVER be used in the same breath as TDK. You can't compare apples to trees.

Charles D.

Well remember Titanic was #1 for 15 straight weeks, it took it like 12 weeks to gross less than $20 million in a weekend..Thats what was crazy about that movie, plus adjusted Titanic would have made like $930 million..Dark Knight will make more than 480, they love to undershoot....Remember after the huge opening they kept "estimating" it would make 420...

evanz

The other thing going against TDK - the 800 pound gorilla in the room - that nobody is talking about is the advent of DVD and much more widespread adoption of home theater. Sure, it's great to see TDK in the movie theater, but many people will see it in DVD. Of course, the flip side is that TDK will make buckets of cash when it comes out on DVD.

Rosario

@Gary and Peter

I was just over at yahoo news and they were talking about TDK and Titanic and they said that even if TDK passes the $600 million mark Titanic would still hold the record for amount of tickets sold. Supposedly in order for TDK to get the amount of tickets Titanic sold it would need to reach the $900 million mark, which i think insane. But either way, I think just reaching the $600 million mark is an accomplishment in itself.

Captain Awesome

Anomaly,

That's the dumbest thing I've heard all week. Well that, and Chen's liking for Mummy 3.

Anomaly

CNN is reporting that due to the ticket price increases, The Dark Knight would have to make $900 million domestically in order to match the amount of people who went to Titanic.

So even if it beats Titanic's gross, it really can't beat the sheer amount of people who went to Titanic.

Phillip

'adjusting for inflation' isn't an exact science, fyi. Sure, tickets did cost less in '97 and even less in '77... but, was gas $4/gallon? Was a can of spaghetti o's 2 bucks? TDK is selling tremendous amounts of tickets at $7-10 a pop when people can't even afford to fill their tanks to drive to the theatres in the first place. That is trule amazing.

A Better Class of Criminal

I agree with Carg0... For the Children!

I'm seriously shocked it stayed in the #1 spot this week, but then again... as is regularly mentioned in the film itself... everybody hates Mummys.

carg0

we've been embarrassed long enough watching Titanic sit at the number 1 spot for this long. the Dark Knight must not fail! see it again.

do it for the children!

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