In Contention

Tag: Box Office

  • 9/7 Oscarweb Round-up

    Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight• Peter Sciretta thinks “The Dark Knight” will eventually beat the $600 million “Titanic” domestic take with re-releases in future years.  Fair enough, but the worldwide gross is insurmountable and always will be. [/Film]

    • Tom O’Neil wonders whether Peter O’Toole has an Oscar win in store for his work in “Dean Spanley.” [Gold Derby]

    • Kevin Kelley spends some time with Brad Pitt. [Spout Blog]

    • Kim Voynar calls the newly re-edited version of Fernando Meirelles’s “Blindness” a “vast improvement” over the cut screened at Cannes. [Cinematical]

    • James Rocchi, meanwhile, talks to “Appaloosa” helmer Ed Harris. [Cinematical]

    • David Poland catches up with opinions on a few Toronto films, including “The Secret Life of Bees” from Fox Searchlight. [The Hot Blog]

  • Congrats on $500 million

    Of course, we called this long ago, but I’m glad something finally crossed this milestone again, and doubly happy it was the Bat.

  • God bless the committed…

    SinkTitanic.com

  • Amazing

    I didn’t notice this until today, but it looks like “The Dark Knight” leap-frogged “Pineapple Express” on Tuesday, the first non-weekend day it has over-earned the stoner comedy over the past week and a half.  And it’s been on top of it since.  It’s also nipping at the heels of the “Tropic Thunder” daily take at the moment.

    Stunning.

    Saturday is the day, by the way, that the film knocks “Star Wars” down a notch on the domestic chart.  Unless it can manage $6.5 million tomorrow (which is certainly possible).

  • Sasha Stone declares it for the Bat

    Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark KnightSpeaking of Batman, Sasha Stone of Awards Daily has declared that “The Dark Knight” has become “too big too ignore” in her latest “State of the Race” column. She offers a sound argument for the film’s Best Picture chances, spotlighting four aspects of the effort and its mythos that seal the deal.

    Here’s a starter regarding the stellar box office:

    To not nominate it for Best Picture at this rate would undermine the process of having a Best Picture race in the first place; if you don’t honor a film this big you really do a dishonor to those who drive the entire business: the ticket buyers.

    And the closer:

    Titanic was only half a great film. But there was just something about it that made people want to see it over and over again, just as they did Star Wars and now The Dark Knight. Maybe it really is as simple as movie magic. Maybe it is something deeper. Either way, the time has come to start taking the film seriously as a contender.

    I’m sticking to my guns here. I’m more than happy that Oscarwatchers are getting this excited and that they are seeing gold in the Bat’s future, but I expect them all to be disappointed in the end (as if that’s the most unpredictable tool in the Academy’s arsenal). But, as I’ve been saying from day one on this, I’m happy to be wrong.

    And the editor isn’t unaware of the irony…

  • Yeah…

    Top 10 domestic box office grossers of all time

    (Courtesy: Box Office Mojo)

  • Let’s all hold our breaths…

    …and pray that “The Dark knight” can manage to stay on top this weekend rather than be dethroned by the worst film of the year so far.

  • More records for ‘Dark’ dollars

    Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark Knight“The Dark Knight” raked in $20 million on Tuesday, breezing past “Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest” to claim the record for fastest to $200 million.  By the way, it destroyed the previous number by three days.

    Sitting at $203 million at the end of Tuesday, the film also seized the 5-day opening record.  The 6- and 7-day records already fell with that number, while 8, 9 and 10 will assuredly follow.

    The fastest to $300 million title will also fall over the weekend, probably on Saturday, and by a margin of nearly half the previous holder.  $400 million (and the record for fastest to that mark) is obviously within grasp by the time the summer rolls to a close, and after that, who knows?  $500 million?  Probably.

    And by the end of its run, “The Dark Knight” will likely be the #2 domestic grossing film of all time.

    Wow.

  • What will the Bat’s Monday gross be?

    Warner Bros. Pictures\' The Dark KnightI was just talking with someone who went to see “The Dark Knight” at a noon IMAX show today and was met with a sold out crowd. So I’m wondering, what will the Monday gross turn out to be, and how many more records are left for the Bat to claim?

    The 4-day total is obviously going to fall. “Spider-Man 3” raked in $10.2 million on the Monday following release on the way to a $161.4 million 4-day.

    “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” meanwhile, holds the 5-day record with $172.8 million. If “Knight” even matches Spidey’s Monday number (and it’s probably safe to say it’ll zip past it), that will already put the film within $4 million of the 5-day title.

    I’m not a whiz with box office research, but I don’t remember the last time a Friday release claimed the 5-day total. The top 10 on that front is littered with Wednesday releases.

    It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the world responds to the hoopla and, of course, the specter of Heath Ledger. Personally, I’d love to see the film threaten a billion bucks worldwide, but with a mere $166 million outside the States for “Batman Begins,” that’s obviously a long shot.

    It’ll also be interesting to see what film takes the opening weekend crown from “The Dark Knight.” Looking on the horizon, I can’t even see a pretender to that throne.

    “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?” Doubtful. The opening for the original wasn’t as big as many anticipated and nothing about that film’s quality would suggest a rush to the box offices for part two.

    “Terminator: Salvation?” Maybe. But that would take some marketing razzle-dazzle to say the least.

    No, it may take a second “Iron Man,” a fourth “Shrek” or a third “Toy Story” to even come close. ut we’re surprised each and every year, so let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride.

  • Saturday total for TDK looking like $48 million

    Warner Bros. Pictures\' The Dark KnightAt least that’s what Warner Bros. sources are telling Nikki Finke (who stays up around the clock, presumably cramming down Cheetos and Cokes, waiting on people to tell her what to write…as always).

    Of course, as she indicates, the film failed to best the $53.3 million Saturday record that “Spider-Man 3” currently holds, but second place ain’t bad on that count. HOWEVER…

    Finke’s sources also tell her that the film’s estimated total North American 3-day haul “looks to be $153M-$155M.” Gee…that sounds kinda familiar, doesn’t it?

    We’ll of course hold off on crapping ourselves until someone speaks up who doesn’t blow with the winds of studio muscled change. But I expect the figures should be close to these.

  • Oh, and putting a number to it…

    I’m gonna go with $153 million for the opening weekend haul of “The Dark Knight.” I could be grossly off the mark, but I also kind of feel like a lot of the big box office naysayers are part of some strange backlash against all the pre-sales story madness. It could just as easily land around $135 million, but I sense a record-breaker, so that’s my call.

    We’ll see. To those hitting up the late screenings, enjoy the show.

  • What will be the Bat’s final haul?

    Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark KnightI’m frankly surprised so many people seem to expect a $100-115 million opening weekend for “The Dark Knight.”  That is, admittedly, where I placed my vote, but I didn’t expect so much company.

    I’ll probably put an actual number to my guess in that light some time this week (all these stories about blasting away advance ticket sales records have me wondering if we’re underestimating the thing).  But for now, I’m curious what readers think the final box office tally of the flick will be.

    So, have your say in this week’s poll.  The final total for “Batman Begins” was right around $205 million, so I think it’s safe to say most people expect that bar to be hurdled.  But I’m including good cross-section of choices, in case some folks want to be brazen.

    And again, if you want to put an actual number to it, let us know below.

  • How much will ‘The Dark Knight’ make on opening weekend?

    How much will The Dark Knight be worth to audiences?In 2005, “Batman Begins” opened to just shy of $49 million. It’s fair to consider that a low number, because it came in behind the openings of such films as “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “8 Mile” of all things, even failing to best the $52 million mark of “Batman Forever” ten years prior.

    However, the film went on to gross over $200 million at the box office, displaying considerable legs built on word of mouth and repeat viewings.

    I think we all expect the film’s sequel, “The Dark Knight,” will open to larger numbers than that, but I’d like to get a gauge on just exactly where the readers expect this thing to drop.

    I’m on the record all over the place as thinking the film would be the biggest box office draw of the year, but I truly didn’t expect the $300 million ceiling to be crashed by “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and especially “Iron Man.” Now I’m not as sure, but I also can’t shake the feeling that there is an incredibly unknown element at work here. This thing could obviously be MASSIVE.

    So tell us in this week’s poll: how much to you expect “The Dark Knight” to rake in when it opens in the U.S. on July 18?  And if you want to be a real smarty pants and offer a specific number, tell us in the comments below.  We’ll follow this up with a poll predicting the final box office tally for the film next week.