Box Office Results 7/18/08-7/20/08 And Some Observations
Well, no surprise - The Dark Knight, which I saw twice this weekend by the way, opened BIG, beating out Spiderman 3 as the new all-time opening-weekend box office record holder, pulling in an estimated $155,340,000! The previous record was just over $151,000,000. Good show... good show :o)
I already posted my brief thoughts on the film which you can read HERE.
One thing I did find somewhat humorous is that the character Batman, a man some would call a quintessential American super hero, is portrayed in a film that's full of non-American talent both infront and behind the camera, as was the case even more so with director Christopher Nolan's initial attempt, Batman Begins, 3 years ago. The fellow who doubles as Bruce Wayne by the day and the masked crusader at night, is played by an English actor, specifically Welsh, in Christian Bale; the star villain, the Joker, is portrayed by the late Heath Ledger, an Australian; Batman's man on the inside of Gotham's police force, Commissioner Gordon, is characterized by none other than Gary Oldman, also an English actor; Cillian Murphy plays the Scarecrow, and he's Irish. Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler and sole confidant, is played by another English man in Michael Caine, and of course, the man behind the camera, director Christopher Nolan, is also a Brit!
There are a handful of others from the Batman Begins, like Tom Wilkinson (English man), Liam Neeson (Irish), and Rutger Hauer (Dutch). What's humorous is that, except for Alfred the Butler, they all play Americans in both films, and do an excellent job doing so! It's rare that I find an American actor portraying a non-American character as convincingly.
The Dark Knight could easily maintain its box office dominance over the next 2 to 3 weeks, because I don't see any upcoming films threatening its number one spot for some time. Sure, The X-Files sequel, in theatres this Friday, has its built in audience, but I don't know if they are large enough to trump the mass appeal of The Dark Knight. And the 3rd installment of the Mummy series, which will be released widely the following weekend will attract those fans who made the last 2 extremely successful (obviously, otherwise there wouldn't be a third); but, I'd take a guess and say that the novelty of the series has worn off, and The Mummy 3 won't be as attractive to movie-goers, even previous fans of the series. But, if The Dark Knight is indeed knocked off its throne in the next 2 weeks, The Mummy has the best shot of the 2.
Here are the numbers:
1 The Dark Knight - $155,340,000
2 Mamma Mia! - $27,605,000
3 Hancock - $14,000,000
4 Journey to the Center of the Earth - $11,910,000
5 Hellboy II: The Golden Army - $10,038,000
6 Wall-E - $9,813,000
7 Space Chimps - $7,350,000
8 Wanted - $5,097,000
9 Get Smart - $4,085,000
10 Kung Fu Panda - $1,750,000
One thing I'd like to know is who actually saw Space Chimps :o)
Also, word on the street is that a sequel to Wanted is in the works (boooooooh)
I already posted my brief thoughts on the film which you can read HERE.
One thing I did find somewhat humorous is that the character Batman, a man some would call a quintessential American super hero, is portrayed in a film that's full of non-American talent both infront and behind the camera, as was the case even more so with director Christopher Nolan's initial attempt, Batman Begins, 3 years ago. The fellow who doubles as Bruce Wayne by the day and the masked crusader at night, is played by an English actor, specifically Welsh, in Christian Bale; the star villain, the Joker, is portrayed by the late Heath Ledger, an Australian; Batman's man on the inside of Gotham's police force, Commissioner Gordon, is characterized by none other than Gary Oldman, also an English actor; Cillian Murphy plays the Scarecrow, and he's Irish. Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler and sole confidant, is played by another English man in Michael Caine, and of course, the man behind the camera, director Christopher Nolan, is also a Brit!
There are a handful of others from the Batman Begins, like Tom Wilkinson (English man), Liam Neeson (Irish), and Rutger Hauer (Dutch). What's humorous is that, except for Alfred the Butler, they all play Americans in both films, and do an excellent job doing so! It's rare that I find an American actor portraying a non-American character as convincingly.
The Dark Knight could easily maintain its box office dominance over the next 2 to 3 weeks, because I don't see any upcoming films threatening its number one spot for some time. Sure, The X-Files sequel, in theatres this Friday, has its built in audience, but I don't know if they are large enough to trump the mass appeal of The Dark Knight. And the 3rd installment of the Mummy series, which will be released widely the following weekend will attract those fans who made the last 2 extremely successful (obviously, otherwise there wouldn't be a third); but, I'd take a guess and say that the novelty of the series has worn off, and The Mummy 3 won't be as attractive to movie-goers, even previous fans of the series. But, if The Dark Knight is indeed knocked off its throne in the next 2 weeks, The Mummy has the best shot of the 2.
Here are the numbers:
1 The Dark Knight - $155,340,000
2 Mamma Mia! - $27,605,000
3 Hancock - $14,000,000
4 Journey to the Center of the Earth - $11,910,000
5 Hellboy II: The Golden Army - $10,038,000
6 Wall-E - $9,813,000
7 Space Chimps - $7,350,000
8 Wanted - $5,097,000
9 Get Smart - $4,085,000
10 Kung Fu Panda - $1,750,000
One thing I'd like to know is who actually saw Space Chimps :o)
Also, word on the street is that a sequel to Wanted is in the works (boooooooh)
Hi Tambay! Hope all is good witcha.
I didn't read your comments about Batman cuz I didn't know if the post contained spoilers. I didn't see the flic yet but will very soon.
Your observations about the foreign talent in the film was interesting. I didn't realize that.
Er... people actually care about and want to see Mamma Mia?! I'm just askin'. LMAO.
OK, small point...
"The fellow who doubles as Bruce Wayne by the day and the masked crusader at night, is played by an English actor, specifically Welsh, in Christian Bale"
If you knew any Welsh people, you'd know that you can only call them English if your gonads are big as bagpipes AND you can run like the clappers.
Unless his parents are one of each, he's either English or Welsh - he can't be both. He can be British and either, but never English, specifically Welsh...
English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish folk are all British, but not vice-versa.
So I think you meant that the masked crusader is played by a British actor, specifically Welsh.
OK. Class over.
:D