The Dark Knight Rises cooled to $45.6 million Saturday, down 39% from $75.1 million late-Thursday/Friday. (In 2008, The Dark Knight dropped 29% on Saturday from Thursday/Friday, $47.7 million from $67.2 million.) The opening weekend is now looking like an unofficial $161 million. This would be the #3 opening all-time (behind #1 Marvel’s The Avengers at $207.4 million and #2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at $169.2 million and just ahead of #4 2008’s The Dark Knight at $158.4 million). Based on this opening, we are projecting a $490 million domestic total for Dark Knight Rises.
The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like $224 million for the weekend, still up substantially from comparable weekends in previous years but not as strong as it looked yesterday.
The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Final estimates for films opening wide this weekend: The Dark Knight Rises ($490 million).
Second week films: Ice Age: Continental Drift ($138 million, down significantly from last week’s initial estimate).
Third week films: The Amazing Spider-Man ($285 million, back down to the initial estimate), Savages ($53 million, even with last week) and Katy Perry: Part of Me ($29 million, down only $1 million from last week’s estimate).
Fourth week films: Ted ($221 million, similar to last week), Magic Mike ($117 million, similar to last week), and Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection ($65 million, even with last week).
Fifth week films: Brave ($232 million, down only $2 million from last week’s estimate).
| Weekend 29: July 20-22, 2012 | ($ millions) | ||||
| vs Last Wknd | Wknd Studio Proj. | Showbuzz Domestic Final | |||
| Dark Knight Rises | WB | 161 | 490 | ||
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | -56% | 20.7 | 138 | |
| Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | -69% | 10.7 | 285 | |
| Ted | Uni | -55% | 10.1 | 221 | |
| Brave | Dis | -47% | 5.9 | 232 | |
| Magic Mike | WB | -51% | 4.4 | 117 | |
| Savages | Uni | -65% | 3.3 | 53 | |
| TP’s Madea’s Witness Protection | LG | -58% | 2.3 | 65 | |
| Moonrise Kingdom | Foc Uni | -50% | 1.8 | 46 | |
| To Rome with Love | Sony | -40% | 1.5 | 16 | |
| Madagascar 3 | Par DW | -63% | 1.4 | 217 | |
| Katy Perry: Part of Me | Par | -70% | 1.1 | 29 | |
| BATMAN TRACKWarner Brothers | ($ millions) | ||||||
| Critics Positive | Opening Weekend | Domestic Total | Overseas Total | Worldwide Total | |||
| The Dark Knight Rises |
7.20.2012 | 87% | 161-est | 490-est | n/a | n/a | |
| The Dark Knight | 7.18.2008 | 94% | 158.4 | 533.3 | 468.6 | 1,001.9 | |
| Batman Begins | 6.15.2005 | 85% | 48.7 | 205.3 | 167.4 | 372.7 | |
| The Pre-Nolan Years | |||||||
| Batman and Robin | 6.20.1997 | 13% | 42.9 | 107.3 | 130.9 | 238.2 | |
| Batman Forever | 6.16.1995 | 43% | 52.8 | 184.0 | 152.5 | 336.5 | |
| Batman Returns | 6.19.1992 | 78% | 45.7 | 162.8 | 104.0 | 266.8 | |
| Batman | 6.23.1989 | 71% | 40.5 | 251.2 | 160.1 | 411.3 | |
Total Box Office Volume
The Top 12 Films this weekend are now looking like $224 million total Friday-Sunday, up 23% from the same calendar weekend last year and up 37% from the average for this weekend the past four years.
| ($ millions) | |||
| WEEKEND #29 | Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend | |
| 2012 | $224 | Dark Knight Rises $161 | |
| 2011 | $181 | Captain America $65, Friends with Benefits $19 | |
| 2010 | $155 | Salt $36, Ramona and Beezus $8 | |
| 2009 | $142 | G-Force $32, The Ugly Truth $28, Orphan $13 | |
| 2008 | $174 | Step Brothers $31, X-Files: I Want to Believe $10 | |
| Avg 2008-11 | $163 | ||
Next Weekend
Opening wide next weekend are The Watch from 20th Century Fox and Step Up Revolution from Summit. These films will be compared to the following openers from the same weekend last year: Cowboys & Aliens ($36.4 million opening weekend), The Smurfs ($35.6 million) and Crazy Stupid Love ($19.1 million).
International grosses will probably be available tomorrow, a day later than usual.
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