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'Batman' to Drink Box Office's Milkshake

Reuters

posted: 38 DAYS 16 HOURS AGO

comments: 0

filed under: Movie News

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LOS ANGELES (July 18) - Batman movie "The Dark Knight" should soar into the box office stratosphere with its U.S. debut in a record number of theaters Friday that could propel it past the $100 million mark on its opening weekend, industry watchers said.

Topping that blockbuster figure would push "Dark Knight" into rare air seen by only 10 other wide-release movies, including "Spider-Man 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

Already, advance ticket sales have resulted in the sell-out of nearly 1,000 showtimes, online ticket seller Fandango said. "It's been a true phenomenon for us, we started to see interest as early as last year for this film," said Rick Butler, chief operating officer for Fandango.

Warner Bros., the unit of Time Warner Inc that is releasing "Dark Knight," said it will debut in 4,366 theaters, edging out the record of 4,362 theaters set by "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" with its 2007 opening. That movie raked in about $115 million on its debut weekend. "Dark Knight" will hope to beat the record debut of Sony Pictures Entertainment's "Spider-Man 3" in 2007, which reached $151 million. Sony Pictures is part of Japanese electronics company Sony Corp.

In the No. 2 spot is the $135.6 million debut for 2006's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," released by the film division of The Walt Disney Co.

"Certainly a $100-plus million opening weekend is in the cards," said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads box office tracker Media by Numbers. "I cannot imagine a movie that has been more highly anticipated than this one, at least in recent memory."

Generally speaking, fans and critics who have seen the film in advance are giving it rave reviews especially for the performance of Heath Ledger as the deranged villain, the Joker.

The Dark Knight' Reviews

With 'The Dark Knight' poised to descend upon theaters everywhere on July 18, the reviews have arrived -- and they are (for the most part) nothing short of rapturous. See why critics are calling Heath Ledger's final performance "mad-crazy-blazing brilliant" and referring to this sequel to 'Batman Begins' as a "full symphony." We have the scoop in our roundup of 'Dark Knight' reviews.

Warner Bros.

"In 'The Dark Knight,' Christopher Nolan's ominously labyrinthine and exciting sequel to 'Batman Begins,' good and evil aren't just separate forces -- at times, they're a whisper away from each other -- and the movie exudes a predatory glamour that makes the comic-book films that have come before it look all the more like kid stuff." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Warner Bros.

''I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker. Miles from Jack Nicholson's broadly funny take on the role in Tim Burton's 1989 'Batman,' Ledger takes the role to the shadows, where even what's comic is hardly a relief ... If there's a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976's Network, sign me up." -- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Warner Bros.

"Bale again brilliantly personifies all the deep traumas and misgivings of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. A bit of Hamlet is in this Batman. Ledger's performance is a beauty. His Joker has a slow cadence of speech, as if weighing words for maximum mischief and contempt." -- Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

Warner Bros.

"[Heath Ledger's is] a stupendously creepy performance, wild but never over the top. He cuts a figure so dangerous that you wonder if Batman is up to the task -- or if our hero himself will have to become as ruthless as his foe." -- David Ansen, Newsweek

Warner Bros.

"In brief, Warner Bros. has continued to drain the poetry, fantasy, and comedy out of Tim Burton's original conception for 'Batman' (1989), completing the job of coarsening the material into hyperviolent summer action spectacle." -- David Denby, The New Yorker

Warner Bros.

"Ledger's take on this iconic creature is mesmerizing. With his stooped gait, darting tongue and a flat Midwestern sneerrrrr in his voice, he creeps in doing a danse macabre and gives the movie the jitters. No joke: For Ledger, it's the role of a lifetime in the movie of the summer." -- Kyle Smith, New York Post

Warner Bros.

"'Batman' isn't a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about. That's because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production." -- Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times

Warner Bros.

"With little humor to break the tension, 'The Dark Knight' is beyond dark. It's as black -- and teeming and toxic -- as the mind of the Joker. 'Batman Begins,' the 2005 film that launched Nolan's series, was a mere five-finger exercise. This is the full symphony." -- Richard Corliss, Time

Warner Bros.

"What's telling about 'The Dark Knight,' though, is how risky it is -- how it's bold and brave and truly exciting, full of rich and strong performances and some real ideas along the way." -- James Rocchi, Cinematical

Warner Bros.

On rottentomatoes.com, which aggregates reviews, "Dark Knight" has received a 91 percent positive rating.

Critics say the latest movie in the Batman series is a thrilling depiction of good versus evil, picking up where 2005's "Batman Begins" left off.

That film was a smash hit with a worldwide gross of just about $372 million, after opening to roughly $49 million in the United States and Canada.

"Batman Begins" reshaped the series of films by going back to the character's origins, after the critical failure of 1997's "Batman & Robin," the fourth installment in a series that began with director Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman."

"The Dark Knight" stars Christian Bale as Batman, and was directed by Christopher Nolan who made "Batman Begins."

2008-07-18 07:35:09

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