Dropping only 42% in its third frame, The Dark Knight came close to breaking the $400 million mark (domestically) over the weekend.
The Mummy opened to an estimated $42.5 million to take the #2 slot over the weekend. While the film was expected to remove TDK from the top spot, Universal still has plenty of reason to celebrate. The film earned an impressive $59.5 million from the international market, easily taking the #1 spot in the international box office while also bowing bigger overseas than the previous two installments combined.
"The decision to add another installment to this global franchise paid off in spades," said Universal prexy of distribution Nikki Rocco, adding that the domestic opening number was impressive considering all the attention Dark Knight continues to attract.
The third Mummy installment owes much of its box office prowess to its ability to draw back fans of the franchise. Negative reviews hurt the film's chances of attracting new fans; hence why The Mummy 3 bowed domestically to below expectations.
Another opening release, Swing Vote, didn't see much action with an estimated $6.3 million. Considering that not even I knew the film was coming out this week, one can understand why so few people remembered to catch it.
The final two mentions go to Step Brothers, which held strong at #3, and The X-Files: I Want to Believe. While the film entered theaters with more than enough hype, its box office take continues to fizzle. After a weak opening weekend, The X-Files was only able to pick up another $3.4 million during its second bow. Fortunately for Fox, the film didn't cost all that much to make.
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