Best midnight, opening day and weekend all likely

Well, instead of jumping the gun and publishing several articles based on the box-office records The Dark Knight was sure to break I held off and bring you my traditional Friday recap with the help of Steve Mason from Fantasy Moguls.

I could have written an article when Warner Bros. sent me a press release telling me, "Just past the stroke of midnight, Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark Knight broke the record for a 12:01 a.m. film opening, earning an unprecedented $18,489,000 at the box office... That total does not include the grosses from the subsequent 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. showings."

But I didn't...

I could have written an article around 5:30 PM on Friday when Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood wrote, "Warner Bros sources tell me The Dark Knight is opening to a humongous $60M today."

But I didn't...

Instead I held off and can now tell you it looks like The Dark Knight did not only break the midnight release record with $18.4 million, but it also broke the opening day record with an estimated $66 million, passing Spider-Man 3's previous record of $59.84 million. This is an early estimate number so it could change, but it will remain a record.

The next record in its path is the all-time opening weekend record also set by Spider-Man 3 last year of $151.11 million. Mason reports tonight that The Dark Knight will not only break that record, but considering the loft of the numbers it will smash the record earning an early estimate of $157 million. Our Box-Office Oracle was one of the lone (if not the only) box-office prognosticators to predict Knight would break the record as he predicted it would take in $152.1 million. He was modest with that number, if not timid, but it proved to be the right call.

It's nice to see a good film at the top of those record books as opposed to the overhyped crap pile that was Spider-Man 3.

However, crap still floats as Universal's awful musical Mamma Mia! also performed well in the counter-programming slot with an estimated $10.5 million for Friday and it is expected to hit $28 million for the weekend. Not bad numbers considering the poor reviews, but I expect word-of-mouth to flush that crap quickly.

Hellboy 2 fell to fourth on Friday behind Hancock and will likely slide to fifth for the frame with an estimated $3.3 million on Friday and $10.3 million for the weekend. Plenty of folks are going to blame the fall on Dark Knight, which is true, but something has to be said for a film so highly praised by many critics when it can't even beat Hancock in its third weekend after the Will Smith film was critically panned. Perhaps one day, maybe a year from now, critics will finally realize admit how bad Hellboy 2 really is and not simply give it a pass because it is a Del Toro film and it looks pretty. It's okay guys, you don't have to say something just because you think that's what people expect you to say.

The only other new release to hit the top ten this weekend was Fox's ignored Space Chimps, which earned $2.5 million on Friday and is expected to reach the $8 million mark for the weekend.

The big news, as Mason points out, is that not only will three records be broken this weekend by one film, the record for the best box-office weekend ever is likely to take place as the top 12 films could hit $250 million together making it bigger than the top 12 for any 4-day Memorial Day weekend in history. Of course, when a film does the numbers Dark Knight is doing that isn't a huge surprise, but the films behind it, such as Mamma Mia!, definitely deserve credit. However, I don't think it is "great news for the industry" as Mason puts it, since it is only one movie causing the majority of the noise.

However, one thing Mason points out that is very interesting is when he says, "If Academy Awards voters are interested in keeping their show relevant, they would do well to recognize not just Heath Ledger, who deserves to win Best Supporting Actor for what I think is a landmark performance, but also nominate The Dark Knight for Best Picture." Remember when Return of the King took the top prize at the Oscars? Well the biggest audience in the last five years, an estimated 43.5 million, according to Nielsen Media Research, watched in 2004 when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was crowned best picture . Sounds to me like a "For Your Consideration" pitch all by itself.

Below is the complete top ten early estimates for Friday from Fantasy Moguls and Laremy will be here on Sunday afternoon for a complete recap. I will update this article should any of the numbers change (which they likely will).

1. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) - $66 million
2. Mamma Mia! (Universal) - $10.5 million
3. Hancock (Sony) - $4.4 million
4. Hellboy II (Universal) - $3.3 million
5. WALL-E (Disney) - $3.26 million
6. Journey To the Center of the Earth (Warner Bros) - $3 million
7. Space Chimps (Fox) - $2.5 million
8. Wanted (Universal) - $2.05 million
9. Get Smart (Warner Bros) - $1.16 million
10. Meet Dave (Fox) - $760,000
    
    http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/numbers_show_dark_knight_will_smash_several_box_office_records
    
    edit : title should actually be 'might'
    

Awesome. I love it that The Dark Knight surpassed Spider-man 3. I really didn´t like that movie.

And The Dark Knight is amazing. And Heath Ledger was amazing. He should at least be nominated.

awsum... wth spiderman 3 did that well!!!??? thats ridiculous, the dark night shits on that movie

...one more thread! ok and i might see this movie!

I'm going to see it in 3 hours (had to work)! I'm so excited!!

Sorry, it's rated PG-13. Maybe next year :)

Deserves it much more than Spiderman. I hope it can make a billion worldwide when all is said and done.
This movie has elevated Heath Ledger to legendary actor status. Further proof that Australians are awesome.

I HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!!

IM CRANKY! SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEY! LOLOLOLAFDSCGHFA

Just a question: How can this film star an actor that's been dead for over half a year? Or is part of his role being done by someone else?