"The Dark Knight" ended the weekend at No. 1 again, as it broke a slew of new records, feeding fans' craving for escapism movie fare.
Probably the biggest record it broke in its second week was the largest box office take for a second weekend, generating another $76.4 million; a seemingly impossible feat. It's performing so well that it is the fastest film in history to surpass the $300 million mark. Not only that, they did it six days faster than its nearest competitor, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which held the former record of 16 days. It took The Dark Knight only ten.
The total earned for the film so far is $314.2 million. That already lands it at the No. 23 spot all time, and gives it a shot at probably landing in the top three. If it continues to have strong legs, who knows how far up it can go.
The only question that needed to be answered for Batman to reach this high level, was if it was frontloaded to the extreme, and the second weekend would plunge. Historically, the better performance on the first weekend usually results in a strong fall the second. This wasn't the case, as its drop was only at 52 percent; a great number.
Finishing in second place this weekend was "Step Brothers," which performed better-than-expected, and ended the weekend at $30 million, an average of $9,696 per venue.
This would probably have been a pretty big story if not for The Dark Knight, as it hailed the comeback of John C. Reilly and Will Farrell, who had bombed in their last several performances.
Holding strong, and finishing in a surprising third place was "Mamma Mia!" which garnered another $17.9 million, only a 36 percent drop. That brings its domestic total to $62.7 million, against production costs of $52 million. It's also earned another $80 million internationally.
In what can only be called a disaster, "X-Files: I Want To Believe" brought up the fourth-place position, only able to generate $10.2 million in sales. This isn't surprising in any way, as the film never gained any legs, and the marketing wasn't compelling.
It just seemed to be something more nostalgic and taking you back to a time that was long gone for moviegoers. I'd be surprised if there is a future attempt to revive this depleted franchise.
The top ten weekend box office:
| 1 | The Dark Knight | $75,630,000 |
| 2 | Step Brothers | $30,000,000 |
| 3 | Mamma Mia! | $17,865,000 |
| 4 | The X-Files: I Want to Believe | $10,200,000 |
| 5 | Journey to the Center of the Earth | $9,415,000 |
| 6 | Hancock | $8,200,000 |
| 7 | Wall-E | $6,349,000 |
| 8 | Hellboy II: The Golden Army | $4,934,000 |
| 9 | Space Chimps | $4,375,000 |
| 10 | Wanted | $2,727,000 |
Other Box Office Sites:
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