14 DAY TRIAL // Warner Bros. has lifted the ban on the box office results for the opening weekend for “The Dark Knight Rises” and, as anticipated, it is officially the biggest 2D digital opening of all times, MovieFone reports.
We noted the other day that, in memory of those who have lost their lives in the Aurora, Colorado shootings on Friday, the movie studio would hold back from announcing box office figures all throughout the weekend.
Warners also shut down the European promotion of the film altogether by pulling its stars from Paris, France, where they were supposed to do media interviews and red carpet events.
The “dark” weekend ended in the early hours of Monday. The first official figures indicate that, indeed, “The Dark Knight Rises” is the biggest movie of the year – and not only.
“The official figures for 'The Dark Knight Rises' show that the film earned $160,887,295 million [approx. €132.8 million] during its weekend release. This figure puts it at the highest opening of any non-3D film of all time,” MovieFone writes.
Earlier estimates indicated that the film, the conclusion to Chris Nolan's Batman epic, would make at least $160 million (€131.9 million) and as much as $173 million (€142.7 million).
Even so – and despite the fact that TDKR literally shattered all records for a 2D release – word has it that the first weekend results are far below what Warner Bros. had hoped it would make.
Industry insiders claim that movie studio bosses were actually hoping TDKR would net in at least $207 million (€170.7 million) in its opening weekend in the US, which is the box office tally of “The Avengers.”
Nevertheless, comparing the two is rather ridiculous, because TDKR did not benefit from the premium price ticket as “The Avengers,” as we also noted on a previous occasion.
At the same time, it also runs longer by 20 minutes, which means fewer screenings per day, which instantly translates into fewer tickets sold daily.
In other words, in terms of box office gross, “The Dark Knight Rises” was the underdog to Marvel's 3D “The Avengers” from the get-go – but it still got pretty close to be a real threat.