By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Knight of Long Shadows
The Dark Knight Rises debuted this weekend to a reported $160.9 million. Industry pundits had predicted that the final chapter in this incarnation of Batman would open to between $180 and $190 million.
But then the tragedy occurred in Aurora, Colorado at a Thursday Midnight screening.
I’m not going to rehash past shootings and stabbings that have taken place in movie theaters dating back to the silent era. They only underline that murder is not site-specific. Still there’s never been as savage an act as took place in Aurora—not at a multiplex or ball park or rock concert.
And because such a vile, senseless and brutal incident happened at a venue that we wouldn’t ordinarily perceive as dangerous, it shook us all to the quick. Personally I didn’t feel much like going out to the movies this past weekend. I suspect from the Dark Knight Rises box office as well as the other high-profile pictures in the marketplace that a significant part of the audience felt the same way.
Now is a time of sorrow. We all pray that this is a horrific anomaly. It could not be predicted nor likely averted. It would be sad indeed if the pleasure of the movie going experience were sucked dry with security measures more befitting a state visit.
There are countless negatives that can be lobbed at the film industry that run the gamut from what’s being made to how movies are marketed. Additionally the folks who run movie theaters are far from blameless for what’s wrong. It’s not surprising that we’re all a bit more reflective when the environment is marked by stunned silence. Hopefully that meditative mood will breed some constructive thought and discussion that will allow us all to move on … progressively.
| July 13 – 15, 2012 | ||||||
| Title | Distrib | Weekend | % Change* | Theaters | Cume | Wks |
| The Dark Knight Rises | WB | 160,887,295 | 4404 | 160,887,295 | 1 | |
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | Fox | 20,416,978 | -56% | 2886 | 88,840,284 | 2 |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | Sony | 10,887,111 | -69% | 3753 | 228,611,425 | 3 |
| Ted | Uni | 10,011,610 | -55% | 3214 | 180,431,425 | 4 |
| Brave | BV | 6,024,987 | -46% | 2899 | 208,774,173 | 5 |
| Magic Mike | WB | 4,291,432 | -52% | 2606 | 101,966,459 | 4 |
| Savages | Uni | 3,398,880 | -64% | 2336 | 40,055,075 | 3 |
| Madea’s Witness Protection | Lions Gate | 2,253,074 | -60% | 1540 | 60,289,622 | 4 |
| Moonrise Kingdom | Focus | 1,831,471 | -51% | 895 | 36,087,959 | 9 |
| To Rome with Love | Sony Classics | 1,420,891 | -42% | 552 | 11,107,993 | 5 |
| Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted | Par | 1,350,946 | -63% | 1261 | 207,626,201 | 7 |
| Dark Shadows | WB | 1,253,306 | 452% | 411 | 78,664,466 | 11 |
| Katy Perry: Part of Me | Par | 1,148,494 | -70% | 1123 | 22,612,706 | 3 |
| Beasts of the Southern Wild | Fox Searchlight | 763,443 | -3% | 129 | 2,855,142 | 4 |
| The Avengers | BV | 620,411 | -56% | 495 | 615,058,425 | 12 |
| Snow White and the Huntsman | Uni | 427,405 | -58% | 409 | 152,589,315 | 8 |
| The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Fox Searchlight | 416,791 | -36% | 288 | 43,852,771 | 12 |
| Intouchables | Alliance/Weinstein | 361,964 | -13% | 115 | 7,270,788 | 15 |
| Prometheus | Fox | 310,395 | -68% | 312 | 125,113,489 | 7 |
| Rock of Ages | WB | 282,945 | 4% | 322 | 37,966,435 | 1 |
| Men in Black III | Sony | 260,264 | -70% | 266 | 175,476,727 | 9 |
| Omerta | Alliance | 242,049 | -45% | 82 | 1,295,896 | 2 |
| To the Arctic | WB | 238,297 | 15% | 52 | 6,019,587 | 14 |
| Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter | Fox | 184,370 | -76% | 266 | 36,485,391 | 5 |
| The Hunger Games | Lions Gate | 182,237 | -35% | 190 | 405,227,711 | 18 |
