Dark Knight's Bright Box-Office Returns

Studio Briefing's report just goes to show there is a market for dark, scary, thought-provoking superhero movies:

The Dark Knight brought a bright day to Warner Bros. today (Monday) as the studio began a final tally of weekend box-office receipts that it estimated on Sunday would reach a record of $155.3 million. If that figure holds up, the movie would exceed the previous record of $151.1 million for a three-day opening set by Spider-Man 3 last year. The movie also set a record for the biggest single-day gross for a movie ($67.9 million), the biggest midnight preview ($18.5 million), the biggest IMAX opening ($6.21 million) and the most opening theaters (4,366). Nearly overlooked was the fact that Mamma Mia!, which opened in second place with $27.5 million, also set a record for the biggest weekend gross for a musical. (The film took in an additional $26.8 million in its second week overseas.) Sliding to third place was the Will Smith starrer Hancock which earned $14 million. The overall box office itself set a record as the top 12 movies earned an estimated $249.6 million, far above the previous record of $218.4 million set at the end of the Independence Day weekend in 2006. The box office was up 70 percent over the comparable weekend a year ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers:1. The Dark Knight, $155.34 million; 2. Mamma Mia!, $27.6 million; 3. Hancock, $14 million; 4. Journey to the Center of the Earth, $11.9 million; 5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, $10 million; 6. Wall-E, $9.8 million; 7. Space Chimps, $7.4 million; 8. Wanted, $5.1 million; 9. Get Smart, $4.1 million; 10. Kung Fu Panda, $1.8 million.