“The Dark Knight” was finally forced to end its impressive
four-weekend-long reign at the top of the North American box office, earning
only $16.8 million in ticket sales this weekend, and being easily surpassed by
the much controversial “Tropic Thunder,” which collected $26 million, according
to studio estimates on Sunday.
Adding up its first-weekend revenue, Ben Stiller’s heavily
discussed film industry satire from Paramount
and DreamWorks brought its five-day estimated winnings from Wednesday’s debut
to $37 million, compared to “Pineapple Express’” five-day $41.4 million
revenue.
“Tropic Thunder,” directed by Ben Stiller, who is also one
of its stars, has been fiercely criticized by groups that advocate for people
with disabilities, as they claimed the parody poked fun at the intellectually
disabled. Along with Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black, Stiller plays a
wannabe-famous mollycoddled actor whose foremost quality is far from being
intelligence. Movie within a movie “Tropic Thunder” was the third R-rated
comedy to have a big opening in recent weeks, following stoner film “Pineapple
Express” and “Step Brothers.”
On the other hand, the Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures
blockbuster Batman sequel raised its total ticket-sales earnings to $471.5
million, overtaking the original “Star Wars,” with $461 million, and claiming
the second spot on the all-time domestic charts, following only 1997’s
“Titanic,” which grossed approximately $600.8 million, according to box office
tracking service Media By Numbers.
The studio expects “The Dark Knight” to collect
approximately $530 million domestically, said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.’ head
of distribution, as reported by The Associated Press.
In spite of the fact that the hit starring Christian Bale
and the late Heath Ledger slipped one position in the box office rankings, this
was a very profitable weekend for Warner Bros., whose animated “Star Wars”
production, “The Clone Wars,” opened at No. 3 with $15.5 million. The CGI
animated film produced by George Lucas serves as an introduction to the
television series due for release this fall on Cartoon Network. According to
Dan Fellman, cited by the same source, families represented two-thirds of the
audience for “The Clone Wars,” the movie being “targeted to a specific audience
for specific reasons.”
Furthermore, the 20th Century Fox horror film “Mirrors,” a
remake of the 2003 South Korean “Into the Mirror,” starring Kiefer Sutherland,
opened at No. 4, grossing $11.1 million.
As pothead comedy “Pineapple Express,” last week’s runner-up
at the North American box office, heavily slipped to No. 5 with only $10
million, Woody Allen’s latest production, the much talked about comedy “Vicky
Cristina Barcelona,” starring Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz, debuted in
almost 700 theaters nationwide and landed on No. 10, taking in only $3.7
million.
CGI animated tale “Fly Me to the Moon,” the first animated
film to be designed, created and released exclusively in 3-D, opened in 452
theaters and collected $2 million, claiming only the twelfth spot. The production
directed by Ben Stassen tells the story of 3 houseflies who board the Apollo 11
just to get in trouble.
Domestic box office revenue this weekend stood at $126
million, down 3 percent from the same weekend a year ago, Reuters reported.
