The Dark Knight Movie Reviews, Pictures

Warner Bros. held the world premiere for The Dark Knight in New York City on July 14, 2008, screening in an IMAX theater with the film’s composers James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer playing a part of the film score live. Leading up to The Dark Knight’s commercial release, the film had drawn “overwhelmingly positive early reviews and buzz on Heath Ledger’s turn as the Joker”. The Dark Knight was commercially released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, grossing almost $2.3 million in its first day.

In the United States and Canada, The Dark Knight was distributed to 4,366 theaters, breaking the previous record for the highest number of theaters held by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007). The number of theaters also included 94 IMAX theaters, with the film estimated to be played on 9,200 screens in the United States and Canada. Online, ticketing services sold enormous numbers of tickets for approximately 3,000 midnight showtimes as well as unusually early showtimes for the film’s opening day. All IMAX theaters showing The Dark Knight were sold out for the opening weekend.

The Dark Knight set a new midnight record on the opening day of July 18, 2008 with $18.5 million, beating the $16.9 million record set by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). $640,000 of the record gross came from IMAX screenings. The Dark Knight ultimately grossed $67,165,092 on its opening day, beating the previous record of $59.8 million held by Spider-Man 3 (2007). For its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, The Dark Knight accumulated a total of $158,411,483 from 9,200 screens at 4,366 theaters, for an average of $36,283 per theater, or $17,219 per screen, topping the previous record of $151,116,516 held by Spider-Man 3, while playing in 114 more theaters but on 800 fewer screens. The Dark Knight also set a new record for opening weekend gross in IMAX theaters, accumulating $6.2 million to beat Spider-Man 3’s previous record of $4.7 million.

Besides the United States and Canada, The Dark Knight premiered in 20 other territories on 4,520 screens, grossing $41.3 million in its first weekend. The film came in second to Hancock, which was in its third weekend, screening in 71 territories. The Dark Knight’s biggest territory for the weekend was Australia, grossing $13.7 million over the weekend, the third largest Warner Bros. opening and the largest superhero film opening to date. The film also grossed $7 million from 1,433 screens in Mexico, $4.45 million from 548 screens in Brazil, and $2.12 million from 37 screens in Hong Kong.

The Dark Knight sold an estimated 22.37 million tickets with today’s average admission of $7.08, meaning the film sold more tickets than Spider-Man 3, which sold 21.96 million with the average price of $6.88 in 2007. It also broke the record for the biggest opening weekend ever. As of September 14, 2008, The Dark Knight has grossed $517,792,764 in the domestic box office, breaking the previous record of the fastest film to hit $500 million and $449,100,000 in other countries. As of September 14, 2008, its total worldwide gross stands at $966,892,764. The Dark Knight is currently the highest grossing movie of 2008 in domestic box office and worldwide. Unadjusted for inflation, it is now the second highest grossing film domestically of all time with a total of $517,792,764, behind only Titanic with $600,788,188. It was the second film in history to pass the $500 million barrier, also in the fastest time, in 43 days (compared to Titanic’s 98 days). The Dark Knight is also the highest grossing comic book movie of all time.

Warner Bros. plans on re-releasing the film in IMAX theaters in January 2009, the height of the voting for the Academy Awards, in order to further the chances of the film winning Oscars. There is no official word yet on if it will be re-released in traditional theaters.