“Dark Knight Rises” Likely Set Opening Weekend 2D Record

The mass shooting at a midnight Colorado screening of the latest Batman movie appears to have somewhat decreased the appetite for the highly anticipated film. But The Dark Night Rises still easily won the weekend box office and likely broke a record, according to unofficial estimates. Official weekend estimates weren’t made available Sunday because all major Hollywood studios followed Warner Bros. in announcing they would not release revenue figures until Monday out of respect for the victims.

The Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Reporter hear that The Dark Knight Rises grossed around $160 million. Deadline Hollywood puts its estimate at $161.1 million while the New York Times reports around $162 million. The totals are lower than the $180 million to $200 million the studio was expecting, but, if accurate, was enough to displace 2008’s The Dark Knight as the third-biggest opening domestically, behind two 3D movies, The Avengers and the last Harry Potter.

The Los Angeles Times emphasizes that it’s difficult to estimate the movie's success considering there is no information on overseas ticket sales, which will provide “the true indication of the movie’s ultimate financial success.” Warner Bros. canceled red carpet events in Paris, Mexico City and Tokyo following the Aurora shooting. Still, the strong domestic box office surprised studio executives throughout the weekend, points out the New York Times.

“For this film to still be in the rarified air of the top-three openings of all time is phenomenal, given the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the release of this film,” an analyst for Hollywood.com tells the Associated Press.

Significant drops in ticket sales were seen in family films that experienced “bigger-than-usual drops” on Saturday, points out the Hollywood Reporter. Ice Age 4, for example, seems to have made around $20.2 million, according to Deadline’s estimates, a 57 percent drop from its opening weekend.