The Dark Knight breaks midnight showings record

Posted by fanshawe

July 19, 2008

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The Dark Knight is off to a great start. The Batman sequel premiered yesterday and immediately broke its first record, the one for a 12:01 a.m. film opening. The movie earned $18,489,000 at the box office from midnight showings alone, as Warner Bros’ Domestic Distribution president Dan Fellman reports.

Better yet, it is currently rated as 94% fresh at the Tomatometer, still 1 percent ahead of this year’s other critics’ favourite superhero movie, Iron Man.

The midnight screenings record was previously held by Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, the conclusion to the franchise that first premiered on the big screens more than 30 years ago.

The Dark Knight simultaneously topped Warner Bros‘ studio record for 12:01 showings, previously held by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Fellman says: “We have been thrilled by the response to The Dark Knight, first from the critics and now from audiences. From our earliest screenings, the buzz on the film has been white hot and it hasn’t let up. Now that the opening weekend is here, we are very excited to finally share The Dark Knight with moviegoers nationwide.”

Make that worldwide. The Dark Knight opens in countries across six continents this week.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart.

Nolan directed the film from a screenplay written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. Charles Roven, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan are the producers, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull serving as executive producers.

The Batman Begins sequel is distributed worldwide in theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film has been rated PG-13 for “intense sequences of violence and some menace.”

You can find more info about the IMAX screenings here.