Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight won its third straight weekend at the North American box office, narrowly beating Universal’s vfx-driven adventure sequel The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Christopher Nolan’s second turn at the Batman franchise took in an estimated $43.8 million to bring its domestic draw closer to the $400 million mark. The most expensive of the three films, the latest Mummy movie had the weakest opening with roughly $42.4 million.
Foreign distribution is proving to be the saving grace for Dragon Emperor, which tops the overseas box office with around $60 million for the weekend. Worldwide, the supernatural thrill ride made more than $100 million in its opening weekend, which may be enough to keep the franchise going, at least on DVD, despite abysmal reviews. To date, the trilogy has earned nearly a billion dollars at the box office worldwide.
Dark Knight is up to roughly $579 million worldwide. The two-and-a-half-hour-long superhero flick continued to sell out shows in its third weekend, especially at IMAX venues. Another film that’s still drawing crowds at IMAX theaters is Warner Bros.’ Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D, which holds onto the No. 5 spot in its fourth week. Made for around $60 million, the adventure pic starring Brendan Fraser has $84 million worldwide and should enjoy a fairly long run in the IMAX format.
The Sony comedy Step Brothers took in an estimated $16.3 million over the weekend to occupy the No. 3 spot. Universal’s musical Mamma Mia! is fourth with just over $13 million. Featuring songs by ’70s super group ABBA, the adaptation of the Broadway hit has been especially popular overseas, where receipts have added up to more than $140 million to push the worldwide gross beyond $228 million.
The only film opening alongside The Mummy was the Kevin Costner political comedy Swing Vote, which didn’t get much support at the box office. The film took in approximately $6.3 million from 2,846 theaters to debut in the No. 6 spot. At No. 8, Disney/Pixar’s WALL’E has crossed the $200 million mark in its sixth week.
