It’s been more than a week since the tragedy in Aurora, Colo., turned the movie industry upside-down. But while we’ll be likely discussing the horror and its aftermath for months or years to come, that didn’t keep folks away from the movies this weekend.
The Dark Knight Rises triumphed again at the box office, flapping to an estimated $64.1 million take—sort of a good-news, bad-news business weekend for Gotham’s favorite multi-billionaire bat. On the up side, the second-week tally gives Rises a 10-day collective gross of $289.1 million—enough to put it in third place for the year already. And if you add the equally impressive overseas haul ($248.2 million), it’s got a good chance to become just the fourth movie in cinematic history to crack $1 billion in worldwide earnings. As Richard Corliss wrote in Time, “That’s not bad for a movie that a lot of people were supposedly afraid to see.”
But for those hoping for an epic Dark Knight/Avengers showdown for the 2012 box office crown should brace for disappointment. Rises is well behind the pace set by The Avengers this May (Marvel’s superhero mashup earned about $373.1 million after 10 days and has made $616 million thus far), nor does it look likely to surpass its own predecessor, The Dark Knight. The events in Aurora or it going head-to-head with the Olympics this weekend certainly haven’t helped the bottom line. But let’s also acknowledge that Rises is just a grittier, gloomier movie than the primary-colored Avengers. For audiences looking for just a bit of fun at the theaters this summer, The Avengers fills the bill a bit more effectively than Rises.
Batman’s domination at the box office didn’t bode well for two new releases. The Watch, an R-rated comedy fronted by Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, watched its own returns trickle: It made just $13 million—not even enough to upend Ice Age: Continental Drift for second place. (The animated film made $13.1 million.) Step Up Revolution fared no better, sashaying its way to an $11.8 million weekend.
Ted, another R-rated comedy, nailed down fifth place with $7.4 million, creeping closer to going over the $200 million mark for its run.
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