Despite a modest push back by the futuristic thriller Total Recall, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises held on to the top spot at he box office for a third consecutive weekend. Nolan’s conclusion to his critically acclaimed Batman trilogy added an estimated $36.4 million to its overall cume. The film now has earned $354.6M domestically, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2012.
The Dark Knight discussion now shifts from “will it be big?” to “how big can it possibly get?” Could Nolan’s Batman farewell reach the rarified air that is the $1 Billion Club? Very possible. In addition to the $354M domestically, the film has posted $378.4M in foreign territories. It sits at $733M worldwide.
But stiffer competition arrives this Friday in The Bourne Legacy, which has the best shot of knocking the Batman off his box office perch. Still, Rises is nothing short of a tremendous success for Warner Bros. Now we’re all anxious to see what the studio does next with our beloved Dark Knight character.
Speaking of beloved characters, the Wimpy Kids reading Jeff Kinney’s best-selling books powered the third film in the franchise – Dog Days – to a $14.7 million opening for Fox, good for a third-place finish in the weekend top 10. The bad news? This opening is far softer than the $23.7M earned by Rodrick Rules in 2011 and the $22.1M earned by the initial Wimpy Kid movie in 2010. This could be the end of the Wimpy franchise, as we know it.
Kid also couldn’t get in front of Recall, which notched a decent $26 million opening yet still couldn’t topple The Dark Knight Rises. Director Len Wiseman's top opening weekend remains his Die Hard sequel, which opened to a higher number in 2007 … but then again, that was a Die Hard sequel. Recall marks Colin Farrell’s highest-grossing opening as a lead (edging out Michael Mann’s 2006 drama Miami Vice). But Sony would have been delighted to have the film that finally knocked Batman out of the top slot. Instead, we’ll wait to see if Bourne can triumph next weekend.
Here’s the full Top 10 list for the weekend:
MOVIE / WEEKEND / TOTAL
1. The Dark Knight Rises, $36.4M, $354.6M
2. Total Recall, $26M
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, $14.7M
4. Ice Age: Continental Drift, $8.4M, $131.8M
5. The Watch, $6.3M, $25.3M
6. Ted, $5.4M, $203.4M
7. Step Up Revolution, $5.3M, $23M
8. The Amazing Spider-Man, $4.3M, $250.6M
9. Brave, $2.8M, $223.3M
10. Magic Mike, $1.3M, $110.8M
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