Batman swings in $26 mil US weekend even a month into release
By Keith Williams
HOLLYWOOD, CA (RUSHPRNEWS) 8/12/08 – Narrowly escaping the threat of marauding mummies last week and paranoid stoners this week, The Dark Knight held tight yet again to retain its No. 1 position as most popular film in America by taking an estimated $26 million on 4025 bat screens to Pineapple Express’s $22 million in 3072 dope dens. The other major new release of the week, Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 fared less well with $10.7 million at 2707 outlets.
Having already coughed up $18 million since its opening last Wednesday, the latest from the Judd Apatow Laugh Factory seemed poised to push America’s favorite bat into second place, but come the weekend, that all changed with a less than spectacular $7.8 million on Friday. At least it’s performing better than Apatow’s last offering, the already forgotten Forgetting Sarah Marshall which opened to $18 million on its way to $62 million domestic. The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad reached the heights, Walk Hard didn’t, so it must come as some kind of relief that there’re still laffs and bucks to be had from the noughties’ answer to the Farrelly Brothers.
What’s left to be said about The Dark Knight? Dropping by only 39% from last week, it still keeps on shattering records, defying sane analysis of what makes it such a pop culture phenomenon, and gives the impression it’s ready to give even Titanic a run for its money. While the poster with its exploding building in the background seems to suggest a 9/11 link to “a world where rules no longer apply”, is it this tapping into the unhealed scar of that atrocity that bonds an America still looking for security and answers?
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 found its pants didn’t have the mileage its impressive Wednesday opening of $5.7 million also seemed to promise by being beaten into 4th place by Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In its second weekend, this surprisingly unexciting entry in the Mummy franchise dropped 60% to loot $16 million from 3778 excavations, though its opening salvo of $40 million would suggest the Mummy will no doubt return in the not-too-distant future, Yeti or no Yeti barring its way.
Step Brothers in its third weekend fell by 46% to bring in another $8.9 million on 3182 parental homes while Mamma Mia! – this year’s Hairspray in terms of musical popularity – fell by 35% to join the $100 million singing club with $8 million for the weekend. As for X Files: I Want to Believe, it became one by vanishing out of the top ten.
NEWS SOURCE HOLLYWOOD TODAY