Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight" held its No. 1 spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $75.6 million from 4,366 domestic screens, and has taken in $312.4 million in its 10 days of release. The film is on track to break the $400 million mark.
Even with the strong run of “The Dark Knight,” Variety reports the weekend’s box office was still slightly behind the same time in 2007 – which benefited from Fox's "The Simpsons Movie" $74 million opening. The “Batman Begins” sequel cost $180 million to bring to the screen and was co-financed by Warners and Legendary Pictures.
Warners Bros. are enjoying the benefits of the Batman sequel with more than $1 billion in ticket sales so far in 2008. The studio is confident the sequel will make it past $500 million domestically. If it makes it, the film will be the second movie in history to reach that level - behind "Titanic" which took in $600.8 million in North America.
In Variety, Warners prexy of distribution Dan Fellman stated: "We're on target to reach $400 million in 18 days. The current winner in terms of the race to $400 million is held by 'Shrek 2,' which reached it in 43 days. People love this movie. Plus, there is terrific repeat business."
Imax has also benefited from the release of Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” with a $4.6 million weekend from 94 theaters.
Sony's Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly comedy "Step Brothers" showed the duo could bring in the fans with a $30 million opening weekend from 3,094 screens and claimed the No. 2 spot.
Sony is reportedly satisfied with the film’s opening and credited the success to the chemistry of the reunited Ferrell and Reilly – which burned up the screen on "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
The film was directed by Adam McKay who also wrote the screenplay with Ferrell. “Talladega Nights” opened at $47.5 million in August 2006.
In Variety, Sony prexy of distribution Rory Bruer stated: "Considering that a lot of the film's audience is the 'Dark Knight' crowd, we're in a very good position. People love the chemistry."
The comedy was produced by Judd Apatow, Jimmy Miller and Gary Sanchez Pictures - the production company run by Ferrell and McKay. It cost $65 million to bring to the screen and was co-financed by Sony and Relativity Media.
Universal’s musical "Mamma Mia!" took the No. 3 spot in its second weekend with $17.9 million from 2,990 screens. The film dropped 36% in its second weekend and has made $62.7 million since its release.
20th Century Fox's "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" had a somewhat disappointing opening with an estimated $10.2 million debut from 3,185 screens. The big screen sequel to the cult favorite television series opened at No. 4.
"The X-Files: I Want to Believe" hit theaters six years after the television series ended and 10 years after the first feature film arrived on the big screen. The movie’s opening demonstrated it appealed mainly to series’ fans.
In Variety, Fox senior VP of distribution Chris Aronson stated: "The movie was made for a great price. When including our international box office, 'I Want to Believe' will be very profitable. Film was made for the fans, and they have turned out," said.
Warner Bros. also saw success with the New Line and Walden Media's 3-D action-adventure release "Journey to the Center of the Earth." The film made the No. 5 spot on the weekend box office with an estimated $9.4 million from 2,688 screens. The film has made $60.2 million in its third week of release.
Sony's “Hancock” with Will Smith made it past the $200 million mark domestically, and took the No. 6 spot on the weekend box office with $8.2 million. Disney-Pixar's "Wall-E" landed at the No. 7 spot with an estimated $6.3 million. It has earned $195.2 million since its release.
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