‘Dark Knight Rises’ Trounces ‘Total Recall’ $36.4M To $26.0M; Batman #1 For Third Weekend; ‘Diary Of Wimpy Kid 3′ Soft

COMMENTS (171)

• @jake

  “How is 10.2 vs 9.5 NOT neck and neck grosses?”

  For one, TDKR is projected to outgross Total Recall $36 to $26, so the early 10.2 vs 9.5 numbers likely misrepresent how close the race is.

  Also, Total Recall’s $9.5 million incorporates the opening midnight grosses, which TDKR obviously lacks in its 3rd weekend — so the “true” Friday numbers likely have TDKR way ahead of TR.

  Comment by Blink — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 2:25am PDT  Reply to this post

• Dark Knight Rises will finish up somewhere between 430-450m. The Dark Knight made over $500m. Rises had a budget of $250m compared to The Dark Knight’s $175m. Make no mistake, it is performing disappointingly as far as Warners are Legendary are concerned.

  Comment by Anonymous — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 3:57am PDT  Reply to this post

• Poor word of mouth? Doesn’t matter either way. Bourne will crush it, then comes big opening by Expendables! Two better action films.

  Comment by Anonymous — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 4:57am PDT  Reply to this post

• Why would Warner Brothers be disappointed? It’s going to make a billion dollar world wide.

  Comment by Tim — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 5:23am PDT  Reply to this post

• It’s Because movies like Totall Recall, Terminator and The Rumning Man were brilliant, fresh concepts at the time and edgy. Of course they seem dated and silly now, but at the time, they were pushing the envelope and reaching the young male audience, which is the toughest to impact.

  Comment by T — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 7:21am PDT  Reply to this post

  • They don’t seem dated and silly now. They seem to be better than the movies that came out this year.

    Comment by Reeshoffa — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 9:57am PDT  Reply to this post

• I challenge you to name a plot-hole in TDKR.

  Comment by Challenger — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 9:32am PDT  Reply to this post

  • I agree, Challenger.

    Saw TDKR a second time this week. Lingering questions I had from my first viewing were answered with a rewatch. The film lunges forward for almost it’s entire running time, but it is well thought-out. Personally, I believe Nolan enjoys making puzzle-like, dense popcorn movies that reward repeat viewings.

    By the way: it was a midweek IMAX screening and the audience cheered at the end like it was opening night. I did not expect that almost 2 weeks into it’s run. So despite what some posters on here would have you believe, there are definitely audiences out there having a great time with this movie.

    Comment by Challenger2 — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 2:29pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Stupid plot hole:
    The entire police force of Gotham somehow being trapped underground for 3 months with no means of getting out…seriously?

    Comment by Wilbur — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 9:19pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • That’s just one of them.

      There are half a dozen. I shake my head when people call Nolan an intelligent filmmaker. Can’t WAIT to see him working without Pfisker. That’ll be revealing.

      Look, it was an ok film, it isn’t doing TDK numbers because it just isn’t as entertaining.

      Comment by marklondon — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 11:48pm PDT  Reply to this post

      • The first one was resolved for you, what were the other 5 “plot-holes”? Just curious.

        I have seen TDKR twice and the audience applauded loudly at the end both times, (and always during a particularly satifying moment just before the credits). Do you not respect an filmmaker’s ability to rouse emotion in an audience? Not an easy accomplishment for a superhero movie, (or even a high minded fall/winter Oscar-bait drama, for that matter). For me, this qualifies Nolan as intelligent, (along with his many many other obvious gifts as a director).

        I cannot answer why TDK was making more money at this point in release, but I thought this third Batman was more satisfying as a whole.

        Comment by Challenger2 — Sunday August 5, 2012 @ 1:55pm PDT  Reply to this post

    • Cops being trapped underground was at least as plausible as any of the schemes Joker pulled off in the previous film. Or the “microwave emitter” of the first film.

      And if you stumbled over Joker-tricks and microwaves, why did you even go to TDKR?

      So, NO, in the context of Nolan’s trilogy I would not call trapped cops a plot hole. TDKR played by the same rules and folded into the same world Nolan set up with Batman Begins.

      Next?

      Comment by Challenger2 — Sunday August 5, 2012 @ 12:26am PDT  Reply to this post

    • there was no police “stupid plot hole”.

      the entire police was NOT in the tunnel. some were trapped others were not. it was stated by the priest to Blake, (paraphrasing) “they are hunting cops like dogs”. thru-out the whole marshal law sequence cops have created a resistance movement. Foley is scared and in hiding until the trapped cops are saved.

      to further explain: “With police officers being ruthlessly hunted down, Gotham City under Bane’s complete control, and the nuclear bomb set to detonate in several months, Gordon and several surviving officers form a resistance, but are impeded at every chance they attempt to overthrow Bane and find the bomb. They are eventually all rounded up and sentenced into exile; forced to walk over the fragile sheet of ice over the water separating Gotham from the mainland.”

      Comment by dark rabbit — Sunday August 5, 2012 @ 7:48am PDT  Reply to this post

  • I had a problem with Bane’s motivation. What he did for that little girl, to save her life in the lion’s den, was so noble it made me want to cry.

    Then he’s exiled by Liam Neeson, but goes on to fulfill his quest for Gotham’s destruction b/c the little girl grows up to be a psycho with daddy issues?

    A bit of a stretch, no? The movie is still boss though…

    Comment by Sam — Sunday August 5, 2012 @ 1:16am PDT  Reply to this post

    • Sam.

      For me, Bane worked like this:

      One can be rejected, (or excommunicated), from an organization but continue to carry out the belief system and/or it’s goals. (This happens in the real world all the time).

      Additionally, rejection by a respected superior can motivate some like nothing else will. (The impulse to prove oneself can drive men and women to all kinds of heights and depths).

      And that’s before we factor in Bane’s loyalty to Talia.

      Comment by Challenger2 — Sunday August 5, 2012 @ 1:11pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Can I just ask: Who the hell is making decisions like spending this much money on a piece of crap remake? Colin Farrell is NOT a movie star. No one is clamoring to see him in a big budget monstrosity like this. This is a guy who dipped his wick one too many times 10 years ago and burned a lot of bridges–for god’s sake let it go. He ain’t never gonna be anything more than a decent character actor at this point.

  To paraphrase Joss Whedon: everybody’s trying to make a fortune, when they should just be trying to make a living. Was ANYONE asking for a remake of a crappy Schwarzenegger flick from 20 years ago? TR wasn’t exactly Terminator level quality–even back then it was derivative dreck. Not much has changed, either.

  These big budget films are high reward, when one hits big (I’m talking Avengers big) but how many of them truly justify the costs involved? Huge amounts of capital are tied up into one single project, starving any other pictures of funding, which then requires huge marketing budgets to try and hoodwink the public into seeing absolute shit movies, before word gets around that its the latest disappointing sci-fi action extravaganza.

  Meanwhile, more modest films like Wimpy Kid and Magic Mike are making HUGE profits off of relatively small investments. If Wimpy Kid cost $20 million in production costs, a weekend of $17 million is AWESOME! Parents will take their kids to see it, it will play all week, and in a few months when it hits on DVD, it will be picked up for Christmas presents. Does ANYONE see Total Crapall being on a Christmas list?

  The level of poor executive decision making is just unreal.

  Comment by ksb36 — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 9:47am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Well said. But I disagree about Colin Farrell. He has a lot of talent, but seems to be destined for a career like Kevin Bacon. Maybe he should try television.

    Total Recall just isn’t getting anyone’s heart pounding. It is expensive as hell to go see a movie these days. Fifty bucks for a couple if you include gas, parking, food. Why spend all that money to see ANOTHER subpar remake of something that wasn’t that good in the first place?

    Comment by Bees — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 12:23pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Arnie is an icon, so they shouldn’t remake his movies? Yet, John Wayne is way up there in icon status and they didn’t hesitate to remake one of his. Your logic is backward, they remake his movies because generally they can be done better. None of his movies are untouchable, as lets say Sound of Music, Wizard of oz, Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Scarface. This movie is terrible because of the direction not because it was some perfect movie to begin with. Same that’ll happen with Dredd im sure.

  Comment by Jonathan — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 9:56am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Yes, John Wayne is a cinematic legend, but he died in the late 1970′s, and the original True Grit came out in 1970, so you had a whole generation of people and most of another generation who had no firsthand knowledge or familiarity with his work. And 40 years is long enough time to do a reboot of a classic movie, especially one that was truer to the original novel.

    However, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still very much alive, and a lot of people were familiar with the original Total Recall, and while I thought the original was sort of cheesy but entertaining with great special effects for its time, I didn’t think the reboot would do as well. It looked better visually, but Colin Ferrell is no leading man movie star who could pull this off. He’s a fine actor, and he really shines in more art-house and supporting roles, but he’s no blockbuster movie star.

    Comment by 728huey — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 8:14pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Regarding Total Recall, wasn’t the idea of this reboot to go back to the source material, Phillip K. Dick’s novel “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale?”

  Comment by Dale — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 10:20am PDT  Reply to this post

• Anyone notice schools out?

  Comment by marcvader — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 11:31am PDT  Reply to this post

• Colin farrell is a good actor i hope he got $ 20 million for total recall.

  Comment by Betty Grable — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 11:50am PDT  Reply to this post

• Total Recall was better than Batman Rises!

  Batman had bad acting and a bloated plot! Glad the series is over! We need a new Batman that can speak and does look like an idiot every time he pops in! Bane was a joke and Catwoman was more interesting than Batman ever was! Batman Rises – F rating

  Comment by badmovie — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 12:02pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • I hope Marvader doesn’t mind me borrowing his line in reply to badmovie…anyone nothing elementary school is out?

    Comment by moviegoer — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 2:04pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • if the new total recall was anything it was bloated.

    Comment by woodrow — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 3:58pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Note to Hollywood…as you can finally see, COLIN FARREL IS NOT A STAR…not only can he not carry a movie, he can’t even carry a bucket of water… there is no star power w/ him..enough already..sincerely, Gerald Butler

  Comment by Gerald Butler — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 1:18pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • Genius.

    You nailed it.

    Comment by marklondon — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 11:50pm PDT  Reply to this post

• The original Total Recall and Bladerunner are my two favorite movies ever (saw recall 3x in the theatre as a teen), and I was completely pissed when I found out they were remaking Total Recall, especially with that Underworld director.

  I did end up seeing the new one and.. I approve.

  They really took a different tone with the new one, and I know why. It’s because they didn’t even attempt to bother with the charisma of the first one, mostly because they didn’t have Arnold, and you can’t replace Arnold. You shouldn’t even try to replace Arnold, because there is only one Arnold. Given that, any attempt to redo the first one in its original charismatic style would have had to fail, since it would only be seen as a half-hearted attempt to replace Arnold, which is impossible. (And Michael Ironsides facial expressions are irreplacable as well.. hah)

  The producers pretty much were forced to go in this new serious Bourne Identity direction, and I appreciate the deference they gave to the original by going in this super-serious direction. I really hope people don’t go in to watch the new Total Recall expecting the satire and humor of the first one. Also, the pacing & tone is actually closer to the short story.

  The new one holds up on its own because it has its own identity.

  Comment by vFunct — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 1:40pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I just saw diary of a wimpy kid 3. Greg Heffley has to learn how to be outdoors during the summer, not just stay inside and play video games all summer. He’s also learning from his mistakes.

  Comment by jpc — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 2:32pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I just saw Total Recall today. I thought it was pretty cool. Once in awhile had a hard time distinguishing between the two chicks. Only took a millisecond to realize which one was looking at though. I think they could’ve maybe chosen two that look a bit different though. Would’ve also liked to have seen a little about what happened after the character Cranston plays went bye bye (hopefully it wasn’t all for nothing kinda thing).

  Comment by uhyeahright — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 3:46pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Why the dig at Collin Farrell? Dude is a good actor. That script sucked and it was 30 minutes too long. Watching Collin Farrell was the best thing about that movie and I love me some hot chicks but those broads were not doing it for me.

  Comment by woodrow — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 3:55pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Arnold is an icon for a reason. Total Recall was an envelope pushing film for its time, and a majority of that had to do with Arnold. It worked due to him and not in spite of him. The script had been circulating for decades, and Arnold was the one to resurrect it when De Laurentis’s company was facing hardships. He was very involved in the creative process. Going as far as to spend HIS MONEY on additional fx shots. It’s a classic. The remake is a quick cash in that coattails off of the hard work put into the original. It shows. Lifeless, humorless, and monotonous. It’s not fun.

  Comment by Tanzfurmich — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 6:17pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Have you ever read any of Philip K. Dick’s novels? Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner), We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (Total Recall) both would not make for an entertaining movie. Dick’s novels and short stories are ponderous nd boring.

  Comment by Dale — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 9:00pm PDT  Reply to this post

• The Dark Knight Rises is the finest of the three.

  If you like sound design, the finest actors, score, camera work, compositions, costumes and precise action then you will see this movie at least twice this summer.

  Bane challenges body and spirit.

  Comment by LIVE IT SON — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 10:08pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • I love me some sound design, but I would not sit through TDKR again for that!

    Comment by marklondon — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 11:51pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Can you call yourself a movie star if you’re never in a hit movie? Someone ask Colin Ferrell.

  Comment by CM — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 10:15pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Colin Farrel is box office poison? True, and team him up with female box office poison Jessica Biel and its a recipe for disaster.
  I’ll gladly stare at a studio leaked still of her on the internet wearing a tight and revealing outfit that got her the gig in the first place. – but actually drive to a theater, purchase a ticket, and sit and watch her act for an hour and a half? Never done that, never will.

  Comment by Grandy P. — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 11:01pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I hate to be a hater, but I knew Total Recall wouldn’t do well when I saw Jessica Biel in the trailer. She’s hot, but any movie she’s in really sucks. And the new TR was boring. I saw it…it was very boring

  Comment by Sean — Saturday August 4, 2012 @ 11:03pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Watched Total Recall last night and thought it was okay.

  Farrell was fine and I like that the movie paid homage but also moved on from the original. I also have to say the action scenes were very well staged – the elevators sequence in particular was really well done.

  Big weakness for me was Jessica Biel. Totally bland and forgettable as she is in all her movies. Should have gone with a more interesting character actress…

  Comment by Remote Patrolled — Sunday August 5, 2012 @ 6:18am PDT  Reply to this post

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days looks like it will hold well in the coming weeks though, because of the A- CinemaScore, and because there is ni direct competition within the month and beyond (Oogieloves is looking for the 2-6 demo, while Wimpy Kid is 6-14

  Comment by MJDB — Sunday August 5, 2012 @ 6:46am PDT  Reply to this post