Movies! Movies! Movies! (Non-Japanese)

'Dark Knight' stays on top with $26M

Sunday August 10 5:27 PM ET

Batman was higher than Hollywood's newest pot heads.

"The Dark Knight" took in $26 million to finish as the No. 1 movie for the fourth straight weekend, beating the stoner comedy "Pineapple Express," which opened in second place with $22.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The weekend haul lifted the Warner Bros. Batman sequel to No. 3 on the all-time domestic box-office charts with $441.5 million, behind only "Titanic" ($600.8 million) and the original "Star Wars" ($461 million).

The last movie to remain No. 1 for four consecutive weekends was "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in late 2003 and 2004, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. That movie did it during a much slower time of year, with nowhere near the competition "The Dark Knight" has faced during Hollywood's busy summer season.

"It's almost unheard of. Summer doesn't usually afford films that much of a wide-open playing field," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

"The Dark Knight" should surpass "Star Wars" to become No. 2 on the revenue chart by this coming weekend.

However, the numbers reflect today's higher admission prices, and "The Dark Knight" will not approach "Star Wars" or "Titanic" in terms of actual number of tickets sold. Taking inflation into account, "The Dark Knight" would need to pull in about $900 million to match the number of tickets sold for "Titanic" and about $1.2 billion to equal "Star Wars."

Even so, "The Dark Knight" has far outdone even its studio's expectations. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., said he would have been happy if the movie simply exceeded the $205 million domestic total of its predecessor, "Batman Begins."

It should top out at $510 million to $520 million, Fellman said.

On DVD September 30:

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just Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse : Death Proof and Planet Terror


perfection!!!


Q. Tarantino is the film god. :beaten: i know, i'm biased. but he's daymn good at making movies.

monta wrote:Q. Tarantino is the film god. :beaten: i know, i'm biased. but he's daymn good at making movies.

Guess you haven't seen Kill Bill. :bleh:

bmwracer wrote:
Guess you haven't seen Kill Bill. :bleh:

:lol:

kenjilina wrote: :lol:

Heh.

I didn't like it at all: Tarantino tried way too hard to make it stylish and cool... :bleh:

bmwracer wrote:
Heh.

I didn't like it at all: Tarantino tried way too hard to make it stylish and cool... :bleh:

Wow.. I loved it. I think it has some absolutely amazing scenes - it's not the story or action that make it special for me - it's the special way the pieces fit together.

The visual and story transitions that are seamlessly integrated into the presentation are nothing short of masterful. When O-Ren Ishi and Beatrice walk from the club outside into the snowy garden makes me shiver every time I see it. Also when Beatrice is standing in the chapel in El Paso and is looking out at the desertscape appreciating the beauty and you hear the flute music and then you realize it isn't just background music is utterly genius. I'm not a huge fan of his other works.. but those two scenes alone (and about a dozen others like them) make the movies so watchable and enjoyable, I could never complain.

phlargo wrote:Wow.. I loved it. I think it has some absolutely amazing scenes - it's not the story or action that make it special for me - it's the special way the pieces fit together.

The visual and story transitions that are seamlessly integrated into the presentation are nothing short of masterful. When O-Ren Ishi and Beatrice walk from the club outside into the snowy garden makes me shiver every time I see it. Also when Beatrice is standing in the chapel in El Paso and is looking out at the desertscape appreciating the beauty and you hear the flute music and then you realize it isn't just background music is utterly genius. I'm not a huge fan of his other works.. but those two scenes alone (and about a dozen others like them) make the movies so watchable and enjoyable, I could never complain.

But wasn't most of that imagery copped from other movies... Kill Bill was almost a homage to other films, from the opening of the movie with the Shaw Brothers logo to the Niagara Falls bloodletting. :beaten:

It was a noble attempt, but stumbled upon execution. :sweat:

Add me to the list of those who enjoyed Kill Bill. :victory: Nothing original or groundbreaking, but I thought it was put together well. Tarantino seems to have a knack for choosing music that somehow just fits with a scene.

If only Vol. 1 and 2 can be put together to make one awesome action flick that would be nice. I think that was the original plan, since the original trailer for the film has some scenes I didn't see in the movie.

deseipher wrote:since the original trailer for the film has some scenes I didn't see in the movie.

That's typical for trailers. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
That's typical for trailers. :sweat:

I'm sure you're right about it, though I found it surprising that Tarantino would completely cut out Michael Jai White's character from the movie. I can only assume that his character really has no significance but he's there in the trailer I wouldn't mind seeing what he does in some extended version of the movie sometime (I'm a sucker for deleted scenes and extended versions of movies :sweat: )

deseipher wrote:(I'm a sucker for deleted scenes and extended versions of movies :sweat: )

Same here: I love director's cuts and the like... T2 is a prime example. :victory:

bmwracer wrote:
Heh.

I didn't like it at all: Tarantino tried way too hard to make it stylish and cool... :bleh:

i thought it was ok but i can live without tarantino.

bmwracer wrote:
Same here: I love director's cuts and the like... T2 is a prime example. :victory:

Although it's been a while since I've seen either, but I've watch both the theatrical and director's version of T2. I don't recall much difference between the two. :headscratch:

BTW, T2 should've been the last of that series .... cause it's only been downhill since. :banghead:

deseipher wrote:Add me to the list of those who enjoyed Kill Bill. :victory: Nothing original or groundbreaking, but I thought it was put together well.

I liked Kill Bill as well, more so Vol 2. However, I felt it was semi-original cause not many action flicks are that over-the-top and stylized (perhaps too much), plus with a heroine lead.

If only Vol. 1 and 2 can be put together to make one awesome action flick that would be nice. I think that was the original plan, since the original trailer for the film has some scenes I didn't see in the movie.

It was supposed to be one movie, but it would've been almost 5 hrs I think.

adub2adub wrote:Although it's been a while since I've seen either, but I've watch both the theatrical and director's version of T2. I don't recall much difference between the two.

There typically isn't that much of a difference, but some have a change in tone like the director's cuts of Blade Runner and The Natural.

And then there's Apocalypse Now which has a zillion different cuts. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
Guess you haven't seen Kill Bill. :bleh:

i have
.
.
.
.
.
and I LOVE IT!! :beaten: and i thought it was stylish and definitely cool


phlargo,
yeah the snow duel was awsome! and when she crashed in and shouted "O-ren Ishiiii......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and then the duel with Gogo Yubari... priceless!!

have you seen Death Proof? you should watch it. the last scene is breathtaking! seriously, it'll make you lean back and hold tight.

^ Not surprised, since you liked Speed Racer. :rolleyes:

bmwracer wrote:^ Not surprised, since you liked Speed Racer. :rolleyes:

When I found out George Bush was playing Chim Chim I thought it would be too realistic and not as enjoyable as the original cartoon.

Tu_triky wrote:When I found out George Bush was playing Chim Chim I thought it would be too realistic and not as enjoyable as the original cartoon.

Now that's what I call great casting...! :victory: :rofl: