The Dark Knight Rises Update

by Gitesh Pandya

Updated: July 27, 2012 at 10:35AM ET

Showing erratic behavior all week spotlighting the unpredictability of its run, The Dark Knight Rises grossed $13M on Thursday dipping only 5% from its Wednesday take. That was half the decline of The Dark Knight from four years earlier which fell by 10% on the same days during its first week in theaters.

Rises amassed a stellar $224.8M in its first seven days making it the fourth biggest opening week of all time trailing The Avengers ($270M), The Dark Knight ($238.6M), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($226.1M). That puts TDKR 6% behind the pace of TDK but its admissions were higher than the final Potter's.

It would be impossible to calculate what the first week total would have been had the terrible shooting tragedy in Colorado not happened. But Warner Bros. is hoping to reach Batman fans this weekend in the second frame trying to attract those who were not comfortable seeing the dark super hero flick last weekend. Competition from new releases should not be too much but the start of the London Olympics will create another distraction especially since the time difference is less than it was for Summer Games from Beijing or Sydney.

The zig zag week for Rises also makes it difficult to tell what trajectory the film is on. Compared to its predecessor, Monday saw a larger decline but Tuesday held up quite well. Wednesday suffered a steep fall but Thursday had almost no dip at all. But with 40 new international territories opening this weekend including key markets like Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Brazil, and Mexico, the global cume should shatter the $500M mark by Sunday.

The chart below examines the daily run of both TDKR and TDK in the first full week of release.


Daily Gross TDKR - 2012 TDK - 2008 % Chg.
1 FRI 75,754,897 67,165,092 12.8
2 SAT 44,931,966 47,650,240 -5.7
3 SUN 40,200,432 43,596,151 -7.8
4 MON 19,389,129 24,493,313 -20.8
5 TUE 17,762,472 20,868,722 -14.9
6 WED 13,770,092 18,377,288 -25.1
7 THU 13,020,000 16,464,405 -20.9
Running Cume TDKR - 2012 TDK - 2008 % Chg.
1 FRI 75,754,897 67,165,092 12.8
2 SAT 120,686,863 114,815,332 5.1
3 SUN 160,887,295 158,411,483 1.6
4 MON 180,276,424 182,904,796 -1.4
5 TUE 198,038,896 203,773,518 -2.8
6 WED 211,808,988 222,150,806 -4.7
7 THU 224,828,988 238,615,211 -5.8

Updated: July 26, 2012 at 11:50AM ET

The Dark Knight Rises collected $13.8M on Wednesday in its sixth day of release boosting the cume to $211.8M. The Tuesday-to-Wednesday drop of 25% was twice as large as the 12% for The Dark Knight from four years ago putting the new chapter 5% behind the pace of the last one as the first full week comes to an end. TDKR might end up with about $223M in the first seven days.

Updated: July 25, 2012 at 11:10AM ET

Tuesday saw a $17.7M gross for The Dark Knight Rises lifting the total to $198M. After five days of release, the new Bane film is running 3% behind the pace of 2008's The Dark Knight which had banked $203.8M at the same point in its release with the same July calendar. However, the daily hold was better as TDKR's Monday-to-Tuesday drop of 9% was lower than the 15% for TDK. At its current pace, Rises should end its first full week in the $225-230M range likely making it the third best opening week ever after The Avengers ($270M including 3D surcharges) and The Dark Knight ($238.6M).

Updated: July 24, 2012 at 12:40PM ET

Warner Bros. collected a hefty $19.5M on Monday for its summer tentpole The Dark Knight Rises raising the four-day cume up to $180.4M. At its current trajectory, the latest Batman film is on course to finish its first full week with roughly $225M which would be the fourth best showing ever after The Avengers ($270M), The Dark Knight ($238.6M), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($226.1M).

Though a muscular Monday showing, Rises is not holding up as well as its predecessor TDK did four years ago at the same time of year. The Joker pic captured a stunning $24.5M on its first Monday and a slightly larger $182.9M in its first four days in theaters. The Monday for TDKR was 20% lower and the cume is now running behind its predecessor's. Threequels tend to fade faster at the box office, but also affecting the new film's performance could be the shooting tragedy in Colorado which may be making more casual moviegoers less interested in Christopher Nolan's final chapter in his Batman trilogy.

So far, the only portion of the run of Rises that has beaten TDK was the Thursday night post-midnight debut of $30.6M which far outpaced the $18.5M of TDK. Since then, the regular component of Friday's opening day (not including the midnights) was bigger for TDK - $48.7M vs. $45.1M. TDKR was also lower than TDK on Saturday (-6%), Sunday (-8%), and Monday (-20%).

Midweek numbers will give an indication of what type of legs the film may have going into the second weekend. The Bane film witnessed a 52% Sunday-to-Monday decline which was worse than the Joker flick's 44% slide. Competition from new releases should not be too much of a factor as only two new titles enter the marketplace on Friday - the dance sequel Step Up Revolution and the R-rated comedy-action pic The Watch.

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Check the UPDATED charts for the Top Opening Weekends and Top Opening Days of All-Time.

For a review of The Dark Knight Rises visit The Chief Report.