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SUNDAY AM: Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight continues to power drive the North American box office and grossed a whopping $23.2 million Friday and $28.2 million Saturday from 4,366 theaters. That’s down only 65% and 41% respectively from its record-smashing debut a week ago. With a $75.6 million weekend, down only 52% from the best-ever Fri-Sat-Sun, the Christian Bale-Heath Ledger actioner directed by Chris Nolan broke the record not just for the best first week of all time, but also the biggest 2nd weekend of all time. The PG-13 pic will make $314.2M in just 10 days, the fastest ever (beating Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest which did it is 16 days). All anybody can do at the studios is keep repeating the word, “Amazing”. And it is. There are even whispers starting whether Dark Knight can beat the incredible worldwide numbers posted by the all-time $1.8 billion benchmark of Titanic. ”It can be the first movie that has a real shot,” one rival studio bigwig told me cautiously. Because not only do people like the movie, but it’s getting incredible repeat business. Even occasional moviegoers are curious to see what all the fuss is about.
Once again Sony Pictures is able to open a low-brow comedy big at the box office – this time the Judd Apatow-produced Step Brothers from the Talledega Nights team. The Adam McKay-directed reunion of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly made $11.9 million Friday and $10 million Saturday in 3,094 venues for 2nd place and a serious $30M this weekend. The opening weekend audience was 54% male/46% female and 66% was under 25. The film, financed by Relativity Media, was made for about $65M.
No. 3 was Universal’s Mamma Mia! which only fell 44% from its debut a week ago to earn $5.5M Friday and $6.5M Saturday from 2,989 runs. With $17.8M FSS, down just 36% from its opener, it had one of the best second week (non-expansion) holds for the summer after Memorial Day weekend. Its new cume is now $62.7M.
It was surprising that this TV series-based sequel, The X-Files 2: I Want To Believe, was made a decade since the first installment came out. Especially after all that litigation. Still, rival studios thought the pic could make high teens/low 20s since the gangs all there: Chris Carter, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson. Instead, the 4th place sci-fi pic underperformed by a wide margin after opening to only $4 million Friday and $3.4 million Saturday from 3,185 plays and only a $10.2 million weekend. (Fox claims the negative cost on the film is $30 mil. “Movie was made for a price and will be more than profitable with overseas b.o.,” one of the filmmakes emails me.)
No. 5 was close behind: Warner Bros’ Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D made $2.7M Friday and $3.6M Saturday from 2,688 theaters and finished the weekend with $9.4M and a new cume of $60.1M. In 6th place, Sony’s Will Smith starrer Hancock will pass the major $206.3M mark after an $8.2M weekend from 2,550 dates and surge past $500M worldwide by August 1st. Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E is in the 7th spot and just days away from its $200M cume after earning a $6.3M weekend from 3,044 plays. The toon will end up the #5 film of the summer behind Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, and Hancock. No. 8 is Universal’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which eked out another $4.9M weekend from 3,018 dates for a new $65.8M cume.
At #9, Starz/Fox’s Space Chimps squeezed out a $4.3M Fri-Sat-Sun (-39%) from 2,538 theaters and a $16M new cume. And rounding out the Top 10 is Universal’s Wanted in 1,754 venues: it had a $2.7M weekend and new cume of $128.6M.
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Firstly Batman movies have always done well if not better overseas, espiecally within the UK. But i also agree i would love to see it over take Titanic, although i very much doubt it will, although for a movie costing £145 million and promotion was proberly at least 20 mill you can still say its an amazing result. Thats not even including TV rights and DVD sales in the future hindsight….
Having read now dozens of box office analyses of the X-Files 2 debacle, it’s clear that the line the studio is pushing is that the production cost was “under $30 million.” Over and over and over again. This is clearly an outright lie. It’s possible that the physical production cost was $30M, but if you include the salaries for Carter, Duchovny and Anderson et al, it would probably be closer to $50M, and that’s probably still on the low side. The film is a BOMB.
Hey, Yosemite…
I wish I was close enough to tell you exactly what I think of you trying to associate Batman with that pinhead of a president.
Go to Hell. Go directly yo Hell. Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200.
I think it’s silly to get all caught up in the Titanic debate. As if any one of us will make any money off of TDK! As far as I see it, it’s a fair film (2 out of 4 stars) and people are entertained by it. Great, but this crazy obsession with box office is ridiculous! As if it’s going to open the door for new and emerging talent to bring their vision’s to the screen, very very doubtful…
I would hope that a majority of the profits help put art, writing and music back in LA schools. But that will never happen with today’s money grubbin’ climate…
Isn’t it typically American to try to make a competition where thiere isn’t one. TDK vs. Titanic is the header.Why? Appreciate them both for the enormous profit$ that we have given the corporations that have created them. Our desultory meanderings about “which will take more of our money” will make them very happy. Probably, there will be some of you out there who will spend more money going to see TDK just to help it become “the biggest money maker of all time!” So. Will that make anyone’s life more worthwhile or better?. Sooner or later, some movie will bring in more money than Titanic and then what? On to the silly conversation about what movie will break that movie BO. Get lives people!
I really don’t see all this Fox bashing here (I’m not a Fox supporter, just an X-Files fan) and complaining about them being cheapskates, etc. Carter and co. wanted to shoot the sequel in Vancouver like the first 5 seasons of the show were. Plus, there is news that both Carter, Duchovny, and Anderson signed on for mimumum pay (plus backend percentages from the film’s total gross). Plus, the cast and crew were lucky to get a chance to do another film (unlike Universal which killed any potential for sequels after Joss Whedon’s “Serenity” grossed $25 million domestically).
And it’s only the opening weekend. Who knows, XF-2 could have legs if it has good word-of-mouth. But I am genuinely surprised at just how well “The Dark Knight” is. It’s very good, but it has no shot in hell to beat “Titanic”‘s top spot, in international or domestic ticket sales.
X-Files is a good, though not great film. It’s unfortunate that Fox released it when it did–October would have been perfect. And the critics need to cut the movie some slack. It’s pretty good–and it manages to tell a good story with great acting–all without explosions and CGI. Go see it. And pray for a final, third X-Files film so we can find out what happens in the final invasion!
The only reason why Titanic made so much money was due to gossipy housewives. Get them to watch TDK 5-15 times like they did a decade ago and we might have a new #1.
Just saw Xfiles this evening and must say I am really disappointed. Honestly, after this much time they really could have come up with a more satisfying storyline.
It may grow on me – but I am disappointed nevertheless.
I feel a lot of wasted potential here and seriously doubt developing a 3rd film would be a good move.
Anyway – the theater was 2/3rds full and the viewers reactions were indiferent .
What I want to ask – is there really some post-credits footage of mulder and scully after the end credits roll ?
And second – wikipedia refers to the development hell that this movie project went through.
Does anyone here care to write a few lines about it , or provide a link to some information on this ?
And yet David Duchovny will still be treated like a star (just like his no-talent wife) and continue to get offered movie roles when he should stick to that dreadful cable “comedy series” of his. No idea why all involved thought the public could give two shits about another X Files movie when the first one didn’t exactly set the world on fire.
Hey RonS, I posted it because I couldn’t beleive someone could even make that compairison. I thought it was the funnest thing I ever read. Ever since ol’ Rupert took over the WSJ that is the type of shit they put out.
FYI I am a die-hard Union Democrat.
Ah, I am heading over to see XFiles today, right now if it has an approval rating equal to George W. Bush. This means the movie is right on and must be good to excellent. Its seem nowadays Presidents who do a Great job and movies that are good get negative response from critics which means critics don’t know their butt from their brain. Anyway, The frenzy surrounding TDK at the boxoffice is just that. I was over at Universal Studios theater friday and all I saw lining up to see TDK were teens who act and behave if they are attending a concert or a social gathering more so than a movie if you get the drift. But in the end its just more mulla in dollars for WB.
Yeah, I checked out The X-Files as well and was pretty “meh” about the whole experience. While it was great to see Mulder and Scully back in action, the nostalgia wore off after about 45 minutes and then i just got bored. And it’s not that i “didn’t get it” or anything, it’s just a really boring movie.
And yes, there is a post credits sequence that has Mulder and Scully riding in a row boat towards a island and as the camera flies over them, they look up and wave.
I liked the X-Files movie. Nothing earth-shaking but it was an entertaining film. I enjoyed catching up with those characters. I’m sorry that its bombing but hopefully with that small budget it will turn enough of a profit to get another sequel in a couple of years.
X FILES ROCKS!!!
Wow, I saw “Dark Knight” today and it was spectacular. I understand the hype on this one. And Heath Ledger is incredible as the joker. Posthumously, he deserves an Oscar for that performance. If he were still alive, he would deserve the same. He was just amazing and his role is absolutely memorable. It was the subtleties of his mannerisms that were jarring. I really wish he were still amongst us. What a great artist and likeable person. He was the icing on a very entertaining flick.
X-files might have the approval rating of Bush, but it’s not nearly as low as the approval rating of the Democrat Congress.
Have not seen TDK yet. I will when the crowds thin out. This film would have been a mega-hit anyways, but is more so because of Heath Ledger. And that the only reason why (I am not comfortable with the type of violence described in the film)I will see the movie.
The reason Titanic was so successful was of the teenaged girls. Leo was the heart throb at that time….and it was a very tragic love story.
Netposter08, since you live in an alternate universe where everything GWB is good, some mental health treatment might do you some good.
I LOVED MAMA MIA…no blood, no guts, no crashing cars, no awful aliens, no dead people, no villains, just pure fun and joy. I am glad it is still hanging in there. The audience I was with were laughing and singing and having a great time. That is why movies used to work….they were fun and escape….not scary, creepy junk. Thank you Meryl Streep and Company, it was a real blast!
titanic is a piece of garbage, I watched it once and threw up in my mouth.
I saw the dark Knight Monday, its good but not like alltime good, had movies been charging what they do now, Star Wars would always be number 1
Give me a movie like X-files: IWTB over a silly, special effects orgasma any day of the week. It’s amazing how much of the old “monster-of-the-week” type epside feel they were able to capture, from the bleak and beautiful environment (it’s snowing almost the entire movie), to the nicely encapsulated story that doesn’t leave a lot of loose ends (unlike the alien mytharc storylines), and the two leads give endearing performances. It’s a different kind of chemistry though, this time, you can tell the characters have aged and matured (as well as the actors), there’s more conflict than a typical TV episode of the XF might have had, but it plays out beautifully. If you’re looking for a fairly unique (but not too out there) thriller plot with overall solid performances and a great atmosphere, check it out. It reminded me a little bit of the movie Fargo, but with an element of romantic-tragedy that film did not have, to go with the thriller/crime-drama.
Very sad to see that X-Files 2 isn’t getting the love it deserves. It’s a great, chilling, little thriller.
This reminds me of when Universal decided to release The Thing just as E.T. came out.
It’s really a shame…
Adjust all numbers for inflation and “Gone With The Wind” is still the all time Big Dog ……
I saw both TDK and Mama Mia. TDK was solid. Performance by all actors were strong although I would have preferred to see Katie Holmes as Rachel. Will go see in IMAX next week. Don’t think will pass Titantic… who cares?
Mama Mia was a different story. The theatre was small and very few were in attendance and NO ONE enjoyed the movie. My teenage daughter was not impressed and would have walked out of the theatre…definitely not a DWP movie which we have seen many times. Who ever thought James Bond would be in a musical…UGH.
Do want to see XF-2 even though it sounds bad, just won’t rush to the theatre.
My girlfriend and her mother saw X-Files last night and they both loved it. I wasn’t too interested in seeing it before, but now I’m curious. I haven’t read any reviews of it, but the word of mouth thats gotten to me has so far all been quite good.