Why The Dark Knight will Beat Titanic

Posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta

Box Office analysts are predicting that The Dark Knight will finish with $530-$540 million domestically, about one Forgetting Sarah Marshall away from breaking Titanic’s $600.7 million record. But I believe they are wrong - and here’s why.

I’m sure that Warner Bros will rerelease the film in theaters eventually. The film has made a record $55 million on IMAX screens alone, and IMAX Filmed Entertainment chief Greg Foster tells The Hollywood Reporter that there is “a real possibility” of an IMAX rerelease in future years. Robert Zemeckis’ The Polar Express 3-D has been rereleased in IMAX theaters every holiday season, resulting in a four year total of $70 million. “Ultimately, it’s a decision that Warner Bros. has to make, Foster says, adding: “We’d certainly support that.”

Last month, The Dark Knight overtook Star Wars to become the second highest grossing domestic film of all time. But many people forget that Star Wars spent only a fraction of the last 31 years in the top two placements. Shortly after surpassing Jaws to become the highest grossing film of all time, Star Wars was knocked off the top by E.T. Overtaken by both Jurassic Park and Forrest Gump, Star Wars dropped the #4 of all time. It wasn’t until the late 90’s rerelease of the trilogy special editions that the film reentered the top two spots.

The stage has been set, and I’m sure it will eventually happen folks. It’s just a matter of when and how. Could Warner Bros rerelease the film in a special edition with additional footage that was cut from the theatrical release? If the studio wasn’t set on releasing a DVD in time for Christmas, they probably could have attempted some kind of special edition rerelease with extra footage. But alas, home video sales will be more profitable, especially during the holiday season.

From what I understand, there were no actual scenes that were completely cut out of The Dark Knight, only trims here and there. So I’m not sure if it would be worth it. But it didn’t stop Paramount/Dreamworks, which added a couple minutes of footage for the IMAX rerelease of Michael Bay’s Transformers. I seriously doubt Warner Bros would attempt to up-convert the film to 3D as the technology just isn’t there yet. Plus the action sequences would probably make your eyes bleed. One thing is or sure, the enviable digital conversion of IMAX theater will make the distribution of such a rerelease more cost effective.

Comments

www.myspace.com/coreywilson10

I don't think it's going to beat Titanic

AJ

Not in this release, and not when you have Star Wars 3D just around the corner ready to reclaim the #2 spot, maybe even the big number one.

Brian from OR

If they do release it during the holiday season I don't see it making a whole lot of money. Since it already has made a hell of lot of money! And for new footage, if WB was smart they will not do anything like that. Since I can see Chris Nolan not returning to do a 3rd Batman movie for WB messing with his film.

Peter Sciretta

Brian: Agreed. WB wouldn't do a special edition without the involvement of Nolan. I heard Nolan's first cut of the film was 15 minutes longer (not sure where I heard this so take it with a grain). I can't imagine that he wouldn't mind that version eventually getting released, at least on dvd. Again, I heard it was just extended scenes and sequences, nothing major deleted.

Errol

Brian from OR doesn't know what he's talking about. Yes, it has made tons of money already but with special edition DVDs being the most profitable form of DVDs in the market, plus everyone who really loved Dark Knight, which is a lot of people, well buy this special edition to see how some of these amazing scenes were shot, see extra longer scenes, and audio commentary that will be sure to be heard by almost everyone who purchases it. As for people not so in love with the Dark Knight but think it's cool, they will buy this special edition for two reasons: one would be the fact that you get so much more than just the regular DVD for only 2 or 3 dollars that it's hard to resist, and the almost 100% guarantee there will be Heath Ledgers all ove the special features. Brian from OR, I say again you don't know what you're talking about. And as for they footage, Nolan would not base his 3rd movie on WB rereleasng a longer version, because most of the time the reason why directors have to cut as much as they do is because the production company makes them.

John

50 years from now there will likely be an entirely new 'top 10' films of all time anyway so why is it so important who is number 1 right now.

why so serial?

It would be smart to rerelease it a month before the 3rd film opens. A wait of 3 or 4 years in between releases and the out of this world anticipation for the 3rd film would make The Dark Knight a TON of money. I know I would want to see it again in theatres just before the next movie.

Peter Sciretta

John: Your question is akin to asking: "Why do you care who is going to win this year's superbowl? In 50 years it will be a totally different team with a completely different lineup"

Bob

yeah i don't see it happening during this release. of course it will be rereleased in the future. i can see it being released before the third Nolan Batman or if they ever have a new director doing a new batman trilogy after Nolan is done with his Batman series.

plus you are absolutely forgetting that lucas will without a doubt rerelease the star wars franchise and probably in 3D as well.

or james cameron could possibly rerelease titanic as well

bottom line: the dark knight has had a good run, but to be realistic its not going to be number one anytime soon

Hefty Lefty

I agree with Why so serial?, if they rereleased the movie a few months before the third film, it would make a shit-ton of money. I would definitely go and see it again before the new one came out.

Captain Awesome

I still think about the crazy DVD sales this thing is going to pull...

Gustavo

And after they eventually re-realease TITANIC (it will happen someday, just don't know when) it'll surpass TDK... Big deal.

Iron Matt

Let's hope this prediction is more accurate than Devin Faraci's "The Dark Knight won't break any records..." comment.

A Better Class of Criminal

Well, we could all change the tides right now.
If Everybody got together and went to see the film 1 more time this week maybe we could push it over the top.

Extended Cut? Well now I have to see it.

Superman

If it had better competition than some crappy mummy and cgi star wars sequel, this would be a different story. It was a slow summer. May next year bring lots of good movies and shit.

Justin

This isn't necessarily only a reflection on /Film but...

Goddamnit, I'm sick of The Dark Knight box office talk. If and when it breaks different records, that's newsworthy. Other than it, it devolves into a neverending shouting match with a derivative of one the following statements: "I want it to be #1 because I hate Titanic", "why do you care if it's #1?", "I've seen it [x] times!", and "with inflation, it doesn't even matter!".

Tommy Tricker

I honestly hope that it does not beat Titanic. Allthough I enjoyed TDK a hell of allot the over the top hype around it is just too much that it's making me dislike the film.

Enrique

Peter, you make a valid point with the re-release idea, one that brings a smile to my face as I'd love nothing for more TDK to have overtaken Titanic :P

But in our society, even if TDK does eventually make more than Titanic in re-release, then TDK will be known as "that movie that made more than Titanic... the second time around" LOL so it's almost lose/lose :)

viewdrix

If someone rereleases Titanic for its 15th, 20th, 25th anniversary, or what have you, this whole theory goes down the toilet.

Yay hypotheticals!

Matt

@ Tommy

me and you are the minority man. i completely agree with you. i can understand the heath ledger death but seriously this is not the best superhero film ever. iron man had the same fresh rating on rotten tomatoes last time i checked.

@ viewdrix

you are definitely correct sir

Goobity

Until I get a cut of the profits, I don't care what film is "#1". I enjoyed TDK. I got my money's worth, and that's good enough for me.

evergreen

@Matt

Yeah, because Rotten Tomatoes is incontrovertible evidence of quality.

VE

WHAT? Re-release should not really be counted in all time grosses. Any movie can do that. If Titanic was released in the years after it was released in IMAX with deleted and altered scenes it wouldve surely made more. Im not trying to justify Titanics standings but it just seems like a cheat or a loophole.

Peter Sciretta

VE: rereleases hae always counted towards the box office cume. Before home video movies would be rereleased in theaters dozens of times. The total for Star Wars if the result of something like 5 or so official releases (and many theaters replayed the film in theaters over the years unofficially)

Captain Awesome

Matt,

Why do people use Rotten Tomatoes as some sort of infallible gauge to validate "any" film? I never understood why people constantly use that website for anything other than critique tallies and box office info.

Luke

TDK is not a 600 million dollar movie. It's a good film. I think it's far from a great film. What is the big deal? Why do people hate Titanic so much and love this DK so much??

orange cinema

if they really wanna honor heath, they need to take that big fat pile of $600 mil and set it the fuck on fire.

chris

the dark knight is without a doubt the best film ever made.

Steven

Whatever happens...it's Very Very Important and not mental masturbation in any way, shape, or form.

Brian from OR

ERROL you have no idea what you are talking about. I was talking about the theather release, not DVD sales. I know its going to make a ton of money when it comes out on DVD. But there is no logic at all for them to spend the money to push the movie back out into theathers when the DVD release is out. Now if they waited a few years and do a all 3-D verison of the movie then yeah I can see it making more money and passing Titanic. ERROL again you have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to the subject on Chris Nolan and how he makes films. The cut that is out right now is his DIRECTOR'S CUT of The Dark Knight. He is not the kind of person to leave something out. Nolan has complete control over his films. WB knows this and they will not dare risk losing him has a director over a few mintues of film, after he has gotten the series back on track. Right now he is not even signed on to come back to do a 3rd one unless David Goyer, his brother Jonathan Nolan, or someone else really convinces him that they can do something new and different for a 3rd film. The man hates to repeat himself.

Rogue

This is a good speculation and analysis. I may or may not agree for I have no idea about the statistics but if indeed this prediction holds true, I would be happy about it...

dakazee

wont beat titanic because it wont be in theaters as long

Og

I think Warner Bros could break that record this year if they just adopt the old trick Pixar uses where they add some extra footage after the credits. I would totally go see it again if they gave me a few bonuses after the creds. Especially heath ledger extras. If they do that, they will bridge that gap in two weeks and be on top.

bp

i'm sick of people complaining about other peoples obsession with TDK's. waah, there's a movie people really like and enjoy talking about. why don't you stop being such a buzzkill and, i don't know, maybe enjoy a really fucking good movie that's getting the praise it deserves. batman is fucking awesome, ledger is fucking awesome, and nolan is fucking awesome. deal with it.

Ronnie

My local theatre just opened their IMAX this weekend and they playing...drum roll please...F'n Kung-Fu Panda, are you kidding me? So I saw TDK in a regular theatre again. Which for the 10pm show was about half full. More than likely would have been sold out in IMAX and at about $15 a ticket (regular price is $10). My biggest question is why does Disaster Movie stay on 2,600 screens when it's making squat but TDK drops below it on screen count by countinues to out gross it and many other movie by a wide margin. Morons. It will top out around $540-550 million before it's pulled in late November or early December.

Wallâ€¢E Plays Pong

I very much hope there is an extended cut that will be released eventually. I mean, why cut the the little clip we saw in the trailers of the Joker lurching forward in the street, back to the camera, pulling out his knife until it flicks out with his creeping advance towards a downed Batman? That little moment was fantastic in the trailer and would only support the mounting tension of that scene.

Not to mention the script has a scene of Joker escaping the fundraiser in a getaway vehicle, which would at least put to rest questions over what happened with that giant awkward scene transition.

I couldn't care less if the Dark Knight broke any sort of damn record, but I really want the cut scenes to reappear to make a more coherent and structured film, maybe even making it that much more compelling.

goozebusters

not only will this movie not beat titanic, but when adjustments are made for inflation, it's still about a hundred million short.

Kaboodle Monster

These figures are totally irrelevent without taking inflation into account, it seems people just arn't getting that. If you want to talk about how well it's done compare it to other recent movie releases. It's cool that they might re-release it in IMAX cinemas though since I didn't get a chance to see it in that format.

Captain Awesome

"but I really want the cut scenes to reappear to make a more coherent and structured film"

What??? It was coherent and structured just fine.

Anthony

I'm off to see TDK for the second time at my IMAX in London today. Each month they extend the dates. its just been extended to the middle of November and looking at the bookings they are already close to selling out the rest of september and the decent seats are going fast for October too. The film is still being shown through out the whole day and evening too.

Woody

Making it in 3D will be the only way to pass Titanic

Jiffy Jones

I think you might be on to something there.

JIff
http://www.anonymize.us.tc/

Matt

@ Captain Awesome

I loved Iron Man. That was the best superhero film in my opinion. I can understand why everyone loved the Dark Knight. I loved it until all of nonstop hype that came afterwards. I still like the movie, but Iron Man was my favorite. So excuse me for having an opinion

Also, I was just using Rotten Tomatoes as an example since that website seems to be used for everything these days, but I did not know that I was going to get this much backlash for using Rotten Tomatoes. Next time I will just use MetaCritic lol.

Albo

"One thing is or sure, the enviable digital conversion of IMAX theater will make the distribution of such a rerelease more cost effective."

I'll eat my shorts if Dark Knight looks nearly as good projected digitally as it does projected through a giant IMAX film frame.

JMoney

INFLATION

show me some comparisons that actually matter, like estimates of how many people actually saw the movie.

I love The Dark Knight, but comparing gross revenue is pointless, it didn't cost $10 to go see a movie when Titanic came out

why so serial?

@JMoney

And there also wasn't any competition either. And there was no rush or market to push it to a DVD release. It ran for 9 months as well. Do you think that ANY movie could do that now? Uhhh, I don't think so. It's different times so the "adjusted gross" comparisons aren't worth much to me. TDK is in the top 25 (I think) of adjusted gross and the rest of the top 25......Disney movies and films of the 30's and films with multiple, multiple releases and films that ran in theatres for decades. Again, all of which COULD NOT happen today. Not that any of this matters but I get the feeling that some people

why so serial?

forget how much the film industry has changed in the last 10 years.

*sorry for the cut off post*

chris

this just in: /film number one all time in dark knight related news stories!!!!!!

Errol

You people are stupid, none of you know what you're talking about. titanic has made the most money ever on some sort of weird ass fluke, The Dark Knight has set the bar for ALL future films, no matter if they're a comic movie or not, the future of how films are made is now changed forever because of the Dark Knight. Titanic just fluked. Dark Knight is one of the top 20 best films of all time and will remain that way, even in 50 years time, Citizen Kane is #1 and always will be. Brian from OR again doesn't know what he's saying but I'm not going to point out what it is, since it would just engage in stupid comment back and forth acts. As for whoever said that to honor Heath they should set the money on fire?! What the fuck are you talking about, you're a complete and utter moron who doesn't understand anything and if anyone had balls, they would hit you in the face with a tire Iron. yes, Iron Man also did extremely well, BUT Iron Man was a movie people loved, but didn't expect to, Batman was the movie people have always wanted, but never got, so it's almost not even fair to compare them, but Dark Knight is now an amazing artistic AND Technical achievement in film making. Yes, inflation changes everything, but then again we're not talking about inflation, because that would just be unfair, different times, different money, it's not fair to use inflation, because if you did, then Gone with the Wind would be the #1 movie money maker ever, because with inflation it made like 3 billion! Inflation is an unfair device that no one could ever even hope to live up to. Most of you on here are complete morons, some are just misunderstood.

Matt

@ Errol

that comment you just made was extremely stupid. we are not morons and titanic was no fluke. there are no flukes in the box office. people pay money to see movies so its their own fault if they see a good movie like the dark knight or a bad movie like disaster movie. and by the way the dark knight is not one of the twenty best movies of all time. if you are judging by imdb than thats a fluke. i can go on with those whole argument but i have better things to do than complain about your bullshit

/Film

Blogging the Reel World

Why The Dark Knight will Beat Titanic

Related Posts

Tags

/Film