2008 Box Office

[spidermonkey]

Voorhees, I believe Titanic did $600 million domestically. I would like to think that the DK could pull it off but I don't know.

 

[tomandshell]

Does anyone know what Titanic grossed domestically?

$600,788,188 domestically. It was number one its opening weekend in December, and continued to hold on to the number one spot for fifteen consecutive weeks. The Dark Knight isn't going to do that.

However, it took eleven weeks for Titanic to get to where TDK got in less than four. But I think TDK will end up with more success up front, whereas Titanic was a steam locomotive that built up momentum and was having weekends bigger than its opening weekend gross for six weeks, with people going back to see it again a month or two after their first viewing. TDK is shrinking slowly, not picking up momentum. Most of the fans that will end up seeing it multiple times have already done so.

 

[KrisSolo]

Titanic needs to sink hard like the giant turd it is. Terrible, terrible movie IMO.

 

[King Darkness]

$600,788,188 domestically. It was number one its opening weekend in December, and continued to hold on to the number one spot for fifteen consecutive weeks. The Dark Knight isn't going to do that.

However, it took eleven weeks for Titanic to get to where TDK got in less than four. But I think TDK will end up with more success up front, whereas Titanic was a steam locomotive that built up momentum and was having weekends bigger than its opening weekend gross for six weeks, with people going back to see it again a month or two after their first viewing. TDK is shrinking slowly, not picking up momentum. Most of the fans that will end up seeing it multiple times have already done so.

Also, the 600 million that Titanic made is not representative of the inflation of movie tickets today. At current price for movie tickets Titanic would have made a little over $900 million, so TDK would have to make over 900 million to beat Titanic, which will never happen.

Titanic is a good movie, I dont care how uncool it is to say that

 

[MaulFan]

Here's were we stand,
1.The Dark Knight
$393,751,065
2.Iron Man
$315,687,768
3.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
$314,331,661
4.Hancock
$215,883,222
5.Kung Fu Panda
$210,480,901
6.WALL-E
$204,078,076
7.Dr. Suess' Horton Hears A Who
$154,444,322
8.Sex And The City
$151,441,438
9.The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
$140,693,781
10.The Incredible Hulk
$133,283,170

I must say, looking at those numbers, I'm astonished at the success of Indy. I don't think it was a bad movie, but compared to what I hear about Iron Man and my own thoughts on TDK, to be that close to those movies is impressive.

 

[MaulFan]

Titanic is a good movie, I dont care how uncool it is to say that

I think anyone mature enough can admit, that film was the perfect formula, and it's release period was perfect. Titanic came out before DVD, when home video didn't mean much to folks and a trip to the movies didn't become a budget concern. Couple that with it being a story that folks from age 12 to 100 could see and enjoy and it was just a perfect mix for huge box office success.

TDK is a movie that's as much for a great home theater experience as it is for the big screen, and it has a much narrower audience and it's out in a time where people are less inclined to go out to the theater a few times or at all when a great DVD release is innevitable. Under the circumstances of it's release, TDK may be one of the all-time great successes. Sure it's numbers aren't up at Titanic levels, but within it's own genre of film, audience type and everything, it really is doing very well for itself.

 

[UTtoyfan]

I think anyone mature enough can admit, that film was the perfect formula, and it's release period was perfect. Titanic came out before DVD, when home video didn't mean much to folks and a trip to the movies didn't become a budget concern. Couple that with it being a story that folks from age 12 to 100 could see and enjoy and it was just a perfect mix for huge box office success.

TDK is a movie that's as much for a great home theater experience as it is for the big screen, and it has a much narrower audience and it's out in a time where people are less inclined to go out to the theater a few times or at all when a great DVD release is innevitable. Under the circumstances of it's release, TDK may be one of the all-time great successes. Sure it's numbers aren't up at Titanic levels, but within it's own genre of film, audience type and everything, it really is doing very well for itself.

Totally agree! It is already the best selling comic book adaptation ever, and if it even reaches $500 million not counting inflation it will be #2 behind Titanic. I do believe that Titanic is at least the "unsinkable ship" when referring to the box office.

 

[tomandshell]

I think anyone mature enough can admit, that film was the perfect formula, and it's release period was perfect. Titanic came out before DVD, when home video didn't mean much to folks and a trip to the movies didn't become a budget concern. Couple that with it being a story that folks from age 12 to 100 could see and enjoy and it was just a perfect mix for huge box office success.

TDK is a movie that's as much for a great home theater experience as it is for the big screen, and it has a much narrower audience and it's out in a time where people are less inclined to go out to the theater a few times or at all when a great DVD release is innevitable. Under the circumstances of it's release, TDK may be one of the all-time great successes. Sure it's numbers aren't up at Titanic levels, but within it's own genre of film, audience type and everything, it really is doing very well for itself.

I totally agree--people today know that a popular movie will be available on DVD or Blu-ray after a wait of only about four months, potentially looking and sounding better than in their local theater. Ten years ago, that wasn't the case. The thought of waiting nine months to see a pan & scan VHS tape on their 18" TV at home drove more people to the theater for return trips. In the age of surround sound, high definition and giant widescreen TVs in the homes of more and more average Joes, it's getting harder and harder to justify return trips to see those big epic movies that you can only experience on the big screen--because the quality of the home video experience has increased exponentially, and at a price that makes it much more accessible than ever before.

 

[Agent23]

I never got to see the new Narnia movie. Was it that bad?

I think part of it's problem, it opened against some serious competition right?

How does it look for the 3rd one now?

 

[tomandshell]

I personally enjoyed it much more than the first, but it was up against Iron Man, Indiana Jones and Speed Racer (!) and then on into June, and it just didn't have enough time to establish itself. This summer was so insanely crowded that most movies had a few weeks to make their money, and by then there were already four or five new ones out there competing for audience dollars. Had they put it out at Christmas, it would have done far better. They probably learned their lesson, and the next one won't go up against the big summer movies but will be a traditional holiday family film. The third one is already in production, so it should be safe. But they probably won't greenlight number four until they see improved box office results for film three.

 

[NASEDO]

This was a great summer of movies, next summer looks really weak. TDK has made 441mil, but I dont see it beating Titanic. Hard to believe Titanic made that much money, and with a 3hr run time. But I'll wait to all these movies on DVD I hate the theaters.

 

[barbelith]

I must say, looking at those numbers, I'm astonished at the success of Indy. I don't think it was a bad movie, but compared to what I hear about Iron Man and my own thoughts on TDK, to be that close to those movies is impressive.

Don't forget the Internet is basically an echo chamber. Snakes on a Plane was going to be huge because of the Internet ... or so everyone thought. The average person on the street thought Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was just fine and either told their friends to go see it or saw it twice. Iron Man racked up more or less the same box office for the same reasons, but it's trendy in media and Internet circles to bash Lucas while nobody saw Iron Man coming, so there was a pair of manufactured stories there.

In short, never trust that "what I hear online" has any bearing on reality whatsoever. This is the place that insists The X-Files is a bomb after all even though it's already made a handy profit and guaranteed another sequel!

 

[screamingmetal]

Back in April the anti talents at Entertainment Weekly gave their predictions for the summer. Their list went as so...

1.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
$355.9 million
2.The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
$310.8 million
3.Hancock
$280.4 million
4. WALL-E
$280.3 million
5. Iron Man
$262.7 million
6. The Dark Knight
$255.0 million
7. Kung Fu Panda
$224.6 million
8. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
$176.5 million
9. The Incredible Hulk
$147.2 million
10. Tropic Thunder
$142.6 million


Here's were we stand,
1.The Dark Knight
$393,751,065
2.Iron Man
$315,687,768
3.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
$314,331,661
4.Hancock
$215,883,222
5.Kung Fu Panda
$210,480,901
6.WALL-E
$204,078,076
7.Dr. Suess' Horton Hears A Who
$154,444,322
8.Sex And The City
$151,441,438
9.The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
$140,693,781
10.The Incredible Hulk
$133,283,170

Yes, Tropic Thunder hasn't come out yet, but I don't see the list changing much.This goes to show you why I really don't pay much attention to what they say.

Man, The Incredible Hulk deserves to be higher up on that list. It's a far better movie then Indiana Jones KOTCS at least (haven't seen most of the others though).

 

[barbelith]

Man, The Incredible Hulk deserves to be higher up on that list. It's a far better movie then Indiana Jones KOTCS at least (haven't seen most of the others though).

At least Indiana Jones told a story and had characters who changed and grew...

 

[CelticPredator]

So did Hulk. However, it was edited by the studio.

 

[tomandshell]

How could anyone say that Bruce Banner didn't change and grow? That's the whole premise!!

 

[RJMacReady16]

Are these numbers adjusted for inflation?

Titanic came out in what? 1997? 1998?

A ten year gap is huge. You also have to factor in the cost of marketing/advertising. And how things can be marketed/advertised now versus 10 years ago. This has all changed since the advent of the Internet era.

A raw box office total doesn't really tell us much. If it costs twice as much to buy a ticket, pay the actors, produce the movie and advertise, is that telling us the whole story?

GG

Here you go:

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

 

[tomandshell]

Here you go:

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

I'm confused:

5 The Ten Commandments Par. $927,480,000 $65,500,000 1956

20 Fantasia Dis. $587,947,800 $76,408,097 1941^

44 Around the World in 80 Days UA $457,476,900 $42,000,000 1956

45 Bambi RKO $451,084,100 $102,247,150 1942^


Not quite sure how the adjustment is working.

 

[RJMacReady16]

I'm confused:

5 The Ten Commandments Par. $927,480,000 $65,500,000 1956

20 Fantasia Dis. $587,947,800 $76,408,097 1941^

44 Around the World in 80 Days UA $457,476,900 $42,000,000 1956

45 Bambi RKO $451,084,100 $102,247,150 1942^


Not quite sure how the adjustment is working.

Here are the semantics:

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/about/adjuster.htm

 

[Les Walker]

DK is number three now, right behind Star Wars and Titanic. Not bad. But yeah, seems inflation must be counted in. Seems too off somehow.