Weekend Box Office Estimates 07/18-07/20

(Stats and Links courtesy of http://www.boxofficemojo.com/)

1 N The Dark Knight WB $158,411,000
2 N Mamma Mia! Uni. $27,605,000
3 2 Hancock Sony $14,000,000
4 3 Journey to the Center of the Earth NL $11,910,000
5 1 Hellboy II: The Golden Army Uni. $10,038,000
6 4 Wall-E BV $9,813,000
7 N Space Chimps Fox $7,350,000
8 5 Wanted Uni. $5,097,000
9 6 Get Smart WB $4,085,000
10 8 Kung Fu Panda P/DW $1,750,000

There was no doubt that The Dark Knight would break all sorts of records, let alone the all time opening weekend record, formerly held by Spider-Man 3. When your first single day take (midnight showing included) is a whopping $67 million, you know that greatness is on the horizon. Will Dark Knight make $400 million, $500 million or possibly even $600 million and top Titanic as the all time top grossing film of all time? Quite possibly. How or why Titanic made so much is still being pondered by statisticians and philosophers alike. Realistically, Dark Knight's second weekend should not be nearly as large (probably about half). Although with it going up against the premieres of X-Files: I Want To Believe and Step Brothers, I can't imagine that it isn't going to be the first choice for many yet gain. I'm seeing it a second time and I've only done that once in my lifetime. The DVD cannot come out soon enough.

A major shock and a "how did that happen?!?" moment, Mama Mia! actually made money this weekend. It brought in an estimated $27 million. How did this film do so well with The Dark Knight taking in so much money and selling so many tickets? Are there really that many ABBA fans? One would be that many film goers intending on seeing The Dark Knight were forced to shed a tear and resort to seeing Mama Mia! when they came upon that 'Sold Out' sign. Needless to say, the team studying Titanic's success will be mulling this one over during lunch breaks.


Hancock did quite well in it's third week with a take of $14 million, for a grand total of $191 million so far. This is Will Smith's fourth film to open on the July 4th weekend, and they have all been blockbusters. This film is no different, even though not being so well received by movie goers and reviewers alike. Which only goes to show that even a halfway decent Will Smith film will pack them in like sardines.

Lastly, Space Chimps grabbed the 7th spot with $7 million. Studio Execs will be hoping for DVD sales to help bring some profit to this film, as it should disappear completely in the next 2-3 weeks. Expect the DVD to be out in record time, as well as a speedy journey to cable stations and premium movie channels in fire sale fashion.