He just went roaring past on his scooter:
In only its 18th day in release, Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight” reached the $400 million mark in domestic sales on Monday, grossing $6.3 million for a cume of $400.1 million.
That easily beats the 43 days it took “Shrek 2” to jump the $400 million boundary.
THE DARK KNIGHT is expected to pass $500 million domestically, making it the second highest grosser of allllll tiiiiiime, right after TITANIC.
Even more exciting… it has been #1 three weeks in a row, in the middle of a competitive movie season.
If Dark Knight can last until Oscar season, AND get some serious nominations, then it might come close to Titanic. (In which case, it will generate NEW business, as older adults will see the movie for the first time.)
$403M is Spider-Man at #7. $461M is Star Wars IV at #2.
How exciting would it be if DARK KNIGHT overtook TITANIC as the biggest ever.
GEEKS, UNITE!!! What can we do to make this happen???
We gotta buzz this shizzle on up!!!
I really hate it when they throw out these numbers without allowing for what a dollar was worth then. It just ain’t the same thang.
Yeah, if The Dark Knight hits $601 million, it’ll be the #3 domestic gross for a film that wasn’t re-released. Titanic is #1 with an adjusted domestic gross of $908 million and Jurassic Park is #2 with an adjusted of $610 million.
If you count films that have enjoyed multiple releases, $600 million is chump change. Gone with the Wind‘s adjusted domestic gross is $1.43 billion. Star Wars, The Sound of Music, and E.T. are all in the Over a Billion Club too. So while The Dark Knight‘s definitely got legs, it still has a ton of running to do…
Really, these things should probably be done by ticket sales rather than talking things like domestic gross.
For what it’s worth, Box Office Mojo maintains an all-time top grossing movies list, adjusted for inflation, at http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm which puts GONE WITH THE WIND as the all time top grosser, adjusting for inflation. (GWTW, like many of the other all-time top grossing films, had multiple releases, of course, which helps aggregate the numbers.)
Also interesting from that site is that you can view an estimate of number of tickets sold. Even though that’s just an estimate, looking at things from a how-many-people-went-to-see-this-movie way rather than a how-much-money-did-this-movie-make way can be interesting too.
Exactly, The Dane. Both the cost in real dollars as well as the attendance matter. Heck, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the biggest box office hit of all time until Gone With the Wind a year or two later, but when you consider that the bulk of those sales were to kids at a nickel a piece …. well the mind boggles.
Box Office Mojo takes inflation into account in this handy chart: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
Really, this isn’t to take anything away from the Dark Knight’s popularity. The press loves to throw impressive figures around (look at their coverage of the stock market), but you really need a more realistic perspective sometimes.
It’s apple and oranges.
It can be argued that The Dark Knight is more impressive because it’s rated PG-13 and not G and therefore has a more limited audience. Or that it has to compete against other forms of media which did not exist in the past such as the Internet and video games. Or in comparison the number of movies released this year vs. 1939.
Likewise, it can be argued that The Dark Knight was released in more number of theaters in the past or that population has grown significantly.
But the fact is that The Dark Knight is doing exceptionally well and breaking new ground, and thus newsworthy.
Gah! Who cares about the real dollars! It’s about Batman being the one to take out that piece of shit Titanic movie! It’s just like when everyone thought the year 2000 was the milennium. For all intents and purposes, it was. Jenny Sparks even died.
Go see Dark Knight again! Bring your mom!
Who does everyone think would win in a fight: Batman or the iceberg?
Batman would win!
He has ice blades built into his boots, or else the $hitmaker films have taught us nothing!
I dunno Andy Khouri – my eleven year old niece asked me if I was going to see it again and I told her if the opportunity presented itself to me to see it on IMAX and then she asked me if it was ok to take her to see it with me and I told her a flat out no. Way too violent for her.
I do feel that it’s the highest grossing psychological head trip that’s guaranteed to give you mental scars afterward ever since I saw the scene in the Godfather where the guy wakes up to his horse’s head.
I’m sure the scene where the Joker performs a disappearing pencil trick will definitely freak her out.
~
Coat
“Gah! Who cares about the real dollars! It’s about Batman being the one to take out that piece of shit Titanic movie!”
Heh. I’m reminded of a stand up comedian’s joke when Titanic set all sorts of records. “Finally teenage girls have their Star Wars!”
Coat – your daughter sounds like a wimp. She can only benefit from seeing the Joker pencil trick on a 50-foot screen!
Quoth the BradyDale:
“How exciting would it be if DARK KNIGHT overtook TITANIC as the biggest ever.
GEEKS, UNITE!!! What can we do to make this happen???”
Do what a certain ex of mine did with the-other-movie-that-I-shall-not-name: go see the thing 20+ times and drag your mom and all your friends along. Seriously. And buy the replica necklace prop when it comes out. Twice.
Andy – no, my niece. I’m way too young to have kids of my own.
SHE wants to see it.
It’s me as a uncle who doesn’t want his reputation soiled. I told her to go watch the cartoon show.
~
Coat