The Dark Knight has now broken yet another record. It has officially become the fastest movie to ever cross the $400M domestic box office mark. The Dark Knight was able to do so in a mere 18 days. To give you some idea of how phenomenal that is, the previous record holder was Shrek 2 which crossed the $400M mark in 43 days! The Dark Knight was able to break the record on Monday with a domestic box office take of $6.28M (or about the same as Swing Vote brought in during its entire opening weekend) which brought its cumulative total to $400.04M.
List of the Records The Dark Knight Has Broken So Far
- Largest number of opening theaters with 4,366 (beating the 4,362 theaters of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End in 2007).
- Largest number of total theaters at one time with 4,366.
- Largest midnight preview gross with $18.489M in 3,040 theaters (beating Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith which had $16.9M from 2,915 theaters in 2005).
- Largest IMAX midnight preview gross with $640,000 (this amount is included in the above record of $18.489M).
- Largest single day gross in box office history with $67.2M (beating the $58,841,919 collected by Spider-Man 3 in 2007).
- Largest opening weekend gross in box office history with $158.4M (beating the $151,116,516 collected by Spider-Man 3 in 2007).
- Largest opening weekend gross for an IMAX release in box office history with $6,214,061 in 94 theaters for a $66,107 per theater average (beating the $4.7M set by Spider-Man 3 in 2007). It’s interesting to note that IMAX showed at FULL CAPACITY on Saturday, July 19, and collected $1.9M on that day alone.
- At MovieTickets.com The Dark Knight broke the record for tickets sold by a single film in a single day on Friday, surpassing the previous mark set by Spider-Man 3 on May 4, 2007. MovieTickets.com also reports that Friday they sold the most tickets (for all movies) in a single day in their eight year history.
- Daily/Hourly/Weekend Top Ticket-Seller on Fandango - The Dark Knight broke Fandango’s daily and hourly ticket sales records on Friday, July 18. The previous record holder in both categories was Spider-Man 3. TDK broke Fandango’s 3 day weekend record on Sunday.
- Fastest Seller Ever On Fandango - The Dark Knight tickets were selling as fast as 15 tickets per second during extended periods on Friday the 18th. Spider-Man 3 held the record previously with tickets that sold as fast as 10 per second on Friday, May 4, 2007.
- Largest Friday gross in box office history with $67.2M.
- Largest Summer Season opening weekend gross in box office history with $158.4M.
- Largest July opening weekend gross in box office history with $158.4M.
- Largest PG-13 opening weekend gross in box office history with $158.4M.
- Largest Sunday gross in box office history with $43.6M.
- Fastest movie to $100M - 2 days.
- Fastest movie to $200M - 5 days.
- Fastest movie to $300M - 10 days.
- Fastest movie to $400M - 18 days.
- Largest 3 day gross in box office history with $158.4M.
- Largest 4 day gross in box office history with $182.9M.
- Largest 5 day gross in box office history with $203.8M.
- Largest 6 day gross in box office history with $222.2M.
- Largest 7 day gross in box office history with $238.6M.
- Largest 8 day gross in box office history with $261.8M.
- Largest 9 day gross in box office history with $289.9M.
- Largest 10 day gross in box office history with $314.2M.
- Largest opening week gross in box office history at $238.6M (beating the $196M grossed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest in its first seven days
- Largest second weekend gross with $75.6M (beating the $72.2M that Shrek 2 did in May of 2004).
I'll still hold to it the ONE record I would love to see it over take is titanic…. but to earn another $200 mill or so is going to be really tough, I dunno if it has enough steam to do it… unless Popcritics puts out the word to all of its readers to go see it again….
Ther are still some major markets that havent showed it yet, so I dont know if the global all time total can take down titanic or not…. but would think in the US it has to cross over the $600 mill mark to do it…
Well, common sense and basic math says it can't be done…but they said that about Titanic when it kept hitting $20M week after week as well. If The Dark Knight continues a normal path it should top out around $520M. However, anything can happen so I won't say it CAN'T break the record - I'll just say it's unlikely.
TDK hasn't opened everywhere yet, has it? I thought there were still a couple of big overseas markets left - Russia, Germany, and the like. Or am I mistaken?
No you are right there are still like 5 large markets to open…but the global total for titanic is over 1Billion.. with a B… if the lowly US hang between 400-500 mill for the movie i dont see how it can beat the global total of titanic even with those markets yet to open…its gonna have to beat the 600 million mark in the US to take down the global titanic total me thinks…
I almost think WB should announce that they're pulling TDK out of theaters in another two weeks “to give other movies a chance to succeed.” Then, bring it back with a second wave to open the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and run through December.
It's funny you say that because I was talking to my wife about movie release strategies and how they could maximize the profits from this film (yeah, we're romantic) and I suggested something similar.
Since they are getting so much Oscar talk they should definitely consider not releasing it on DVD until the nominations come out for sure. The normal run will be long done by then but it would be a perfect opportunity to rerelease the film into theaters and pick up another $100M if they get enough nominations - especially if it were to win some Oscars.
I would do a mixture of the strategies. Let it play in theaters through the summer and once it started really going down, pull it completely. Then, I'd scrape through every piece of film footage I had to try to find anything new that could be added back into the film. I know, I know - the purists will moan and groan, but if they rerelease the film in November or December with new footage (especially of The Joker), they help their Oscar chances and maybe even pass Titanic in domestic gross - rereleases count the same as if it all happened the first time around.
“I was talking to my wife about movie release strategies and how they could maximize the profits from this film (yeah, we're romantic)” That's why I married you.
Cause hes funny, right?
Yeah re-releases is what put Star Wars at #2 right?
No, because of his in depth statistical analysis of movie profits.
Yep
SCORE!
…such a nerd.
Same, TITANIC. If TDK can break that (and I believe it can with a good strategy), then everything is history and it marks a new generation of Movie Making and Acting (The Joker!!)
Do not release a DVD yet, they need to hold it back. Pull out the movie. Make people forget about it. Then re-release it with a new marketing, posters, etc. People will bite and watch it again. Perhaps add cut scenes especially of The Joker. I dunno.
Question however is, do they really want to break the record of Titanic? Coz if they don't want it, then they can just let it run until it dies out.
I wonder though what is TDK's global records. I'm from the Philippines and I'm curious with it's global standing.
I don't have a listing of the global records it's broken, but I'm not sure it's that many. It still hasn't even rolled out in about half of the major foreign markets so it still has a long way to go on the global side.
i believe TDK has the capability to break the record of titanic.This movie has given a new platform and freshness in the hollywood cinema.
I must mention the outstanding performance of Joker ( Heath Ledger).Its a performance of life time,he has left a fragrance of his personality in the entire world,People will remember him as a great actor.