Bat swoops to save Gotham once again
By Kieth Williams
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 7/27/08 — Gliding high over 4366 batcaves, The Dark Knight raked in an estimated $72 million in final weekend estimates for its second weekend, leaving new entries Step Brothers and The X Files: I Want to Believe to scramble for $30 million and $12 million respectively in its shadow.
Following its record-shattering opening, the latest entry in the Batman franchise looks like it’s headed straight for being one of the most successful series of all, with the worldwide billion dollar club beckoning in the not-too-distant future, though it will be tough to beat the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series. And let’s not forget James Bond.
Whenever a film like this proves to be such a phenomenon (fuelled by repeat business in a short amount of time), it’s really telling you something of the psychic nerve of the country – where America is in terms of its fears and desires – something that not even Hollywood can successfully predict. In the past, similar blockbusters told us as much, with 1990′s Home Alone coinciding with the middle-class experiencing recession for the first time (if a kid can protect his house from “wolves”, so can we), and 1985′s Rambo: First Blood II with the peak of Gung-Ho Reaganism (yay, we did win after all). Even 1997′s Titanic struck a massive chord by proving romance and fairy tales were not dead after the shocking death of Princess Diana a few months earlier prior to its release. Ultimate grossers like these in their own way provide security and reassurances for audiences that everything will turn out okay, whatever problems they’re facing. What future generations will read from The Dark Knight’s astounding success is almost too scary to contemplate.
Will Ferrell’s summer offering Step Brothers did relatively well on 3094 screens, taking almost twice what his last release Semi-Pro opened at. Ferrell’s comedies now tend to be hit and miss affairs, rather than assured money-makers, dependent on whether they’re actually funny and the subject matter appeals. Largely favorable reviews helped, as did the addition of John C Reilly, who by himself doesn’t seem to have quite the same box-office clout, as witnessed by the underwhelming results for Walk Hard, but together with Ferrell proves an irrestistable attraction. Mulder and Scully’s latest entry on 3185 screens in what everyone except Fox thought to be a long-dead franchise proved to be more Ex Files than anything, suggesting its core audience has moved on and new ones didn’t even know or care what it is. Ten years is a long time for a “sequel” to its last theatrical offering, though the fact that at $35 million it cost half the budget of its 1998 predecessor should mean it will turn profitable. Still, plans for a third X Files feature in 2012 as Gillian Anderson recently revealed in The Guardian newspaper must surely now go on hold. The truth may be out there, but the audience certainly isn’t.
WEEKEND TOP 5 STUDIO ESTIMATES, JULY 25-27, 2008
Rank. Movie Title (Distributor) Weekend Gross | Theaters | Total Gross | Week #
1. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) $75.6 million | 4,366 | $314.2 million | 2
2. Step Brothers (Sony / Columbia) $30.0 million | 3,094 | $30.0 million | 1
3. Mamma Mia! (Universal) $17.9 million | 2,990 | $62.7 million | 2
4. The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Fox) $10.2 million | 3,185 | $10.2 million | 1
5. Journey to the Center of the Earth (New Line) $9.4 million | 2,688 | $60.2 million |
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