User blog:Ceauntay/Steep Drop? THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Box Office

'''The Dark Knight Rises box office plummets on second weekend? (Photo: Bane Tom Hardy.)'''

Back in July 2008, Christopher Nolan’s "Batman 2" movie, The Dark Knight, was down -52.5% on its second weekend, collecting $75.16m. On its second weekend out, The Dark Knight Rises is expected to earn around $66-67m, down -58%. Why the sharp drop? The Aurora, Colorado, massacre? As per Deadline.com‘s early, rough estimates, The Dark Knight Rises grossed $18.1m on Friday, July 27. That’s a steep drop compared to the previous Friday’s $75.75m — until you remember that last week’s Friday figures included about $30.6m from Thursday midnight screenings — a record for a 2D movie. (The Dark Knight earned a much more modest $18.1m.) Excluding the midnight shows, The Dark Knight Rises would be down a not unacceptable -54.5% (in case this weekend’s early estimates are indeed accurate). [See also: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES midnight box-office record.] The Dark Knight Rises $300m milestone on Monday And if Deadline’s estimates are on target, The Dark Knight Rises will pass the $300m milestone at the domestic box office only on Monday, Day 11. The Avengers, with the assistance of 3D surcharges, reached that milestone in nine days; The Dark Knight, at fewer (costlier) IMAX theaters and not taking inflation into account, reached that mark in ten days. [See also: The Dark Knight Rises Box Office: $200m After Six Days.] Last weekend, The Dark Knight Rises grossed $160.88m at 4,404 North American theaters, officially breaking the record for the biggest opening weekend for a 2D release. But when it comes to ticket sales, TDKR clearly trailed The Dark Knight, which scored $158.41m in summer 2008 — or approximately $174.7m today. Undeniably, The Dark Knight Rises‘ weekend box-office take fell short of expectations because of the Colorado shooting. At a Friday midnight screening in the Denver suburb of Aurora, a deranged gunman killed 12 people and injured nearly 60 others. This weekend, however, I believe it would be precipitated to claim that the shooting was the reason — or even the chief reason — for the box-office drop. I could be wrong, of course, as there are reports that some moviegoers are reluctant to return to movie theaters. [See also: Christopher Nolan statement on behalf of The Dark Knight Rises' cast and crew, and Christian Bale statement and Anne Hathaway statement regarding the shooting.] The Dark Knight Rises reportedly cost a whopping $250m. The Dark Knight‘s price tag was reportedly $185m. Neither amount includes marketing / distribution expenses. The Dark Knight Rises cast Directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle / Catwoman, Tom Hardy as Bane, and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate, in addition to Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine, and Tom Conti. Also, Josh Pence, Juno Temple, Daniel Sunjata, Nestor Carbonell, Joey King, Brett Cullen, Chris Ellis, Adam Rodriguez, Josh Stewart, Christopher Judge, and Aidan Gillen. Jonathan Nolan co-wrote the Dark Knight Rises screenplay, which he has explained was inspired by Charles Dickens’ classic novel of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities. Box office: iCarly: The Sequel soars, while Step Up Revolution, The Watch disappoint

Opening this weekend: Paramount's iCarly: The Sequel should ended up with $35.5m after collecting $18.5m. Scott Speer’s 'Step Up Revolution should end up with a so-so $13.2m for the weekend after collecting $5.5m on Friday. That isn’t exactly great news for the Summit/Lionsgate release that cost a reported $33m. Faring only a notch better overall, but much worse in terms of budget/box-office ratio is Akiva Schaffer’s The Watch. The $68m comedy starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn is expected to score $14m by Sunday evening after earnings of $4.8m on Friday. Thus, The Watch will become the second major box-office disappointment in a row for both Stiller and Vaughn: Stiller’s previous underperformer was Brett Ratner’s Tower Heist; Vaughn’s was Ron Howard’s The Dilemma.

"THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Box Office Plummets?" / Bane Tom Hardy picture: Ron Phillips / Warner Bros.