Dark Knight Hauls In Record $66.4M

Batman blazes way to $155.34M opening weekend

(AP) - Batman has sent Spidey packing as king of Hollywood's box office superheroes. The Dark Knight took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, according to Warner Bros., which released the Batman Begins sequel. That figure topped Hollywood's previous best of $151.1 million, set by Spider-Man 3 in May 2007. More»

Latest 'Twilight' entry enjoys 3rd-biggest weekend ever

(NEWSER) - In the third-largest weekend debut ever, The Twilight Saga: New Moon rang up $140.7 million, riding records for a midnight opening and a single day to totals trailing only The Dark Knight and Spider-Man. Audiences were four-fifths female, with the remaining 20% mostly teen boys, USA Today reports. The Blind Side outperformed expectations, doing $34.5 million. Precious fell out of the top five but remained in the top 10, taking in $11 million. The top five: More»

Measuring a film's success in dollars is misleading

(NEWSER) - Not a year seems to go by without a film breaking a box-office records: Dark Knight a contender for biggest all-time earner! Bourne Ultimatum the top August opener! But that’s not because the films actually draw more viewers than the previous record-holders; it's because the figures are in dollars, which are subject to inflation, writes Zachary Pincus-Roth for Slate. More»

(NEWSER) - The new Transformers flick had a stellar start, raking in $60.6 million on opening day to make it the biggest Wednesday debut ever, Variety reports. For all-around opening days, the Michael Bay shoot-em-up lags just behind record-holder Dark Knight, which took in $67.2 million on a Friday last summer. Transformers 2 has a shot at eclipsing the best five-day open ever, a mark of $152.4 million set by Spider-Man 2 in 2004. More»

(AP) - Just because Batman landed in Hong Kong doesn't mean The Dark Knight will. Warner Bros. has decided not to release the film in China in part because of "cultural sensitivities," the studio said. Warner Bros. did not elaborate, but company execs are apparently concerned that the film's scenes in Hong Kong, where Batman nabs a gangster, would offend censors. Bootlegs have been available there for months. More»