Can ‘The Dark Knight’ Sink ‘Titanic’?

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The Dark Knight ??? – 2008

Now the question on everyone’s minds remains: “Can The Dark Knight sink Titanic?” Warner Bros. is hoping the answer is a definitive yes, but they’re not the only ones. Millions of Bat-fans, including myself, would like nothing more than to see Titanic finally suffer the same fate as the ship did.

As of Tuesday, August 6, The Dark Knight has earned a healthy $405.7 million. It needs $195 million more to top Titanic. If the weekend drops continue to flatten out like they have been for the past couple of weekends, then I believe, eventually, the Caped crusader can do it. In Batman’s favor is a lucrative IMAX run, which is posting minimal drops week after week. The large screen format offers an experience well beyond that of a normal theater, and it’s an experience that can not be duplicated on a home theater system. Because of that, IMAX has been responsible for a large portion of the repeat business for Knight and should continue to be for several months. There isn’t another film that is to be released in IMAX until Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in November, and it will likely have to share many of its IMAX screens with the Bat.

If all of that fails to push The Dark Knight over the top, then a likely posthumous Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger in January may be enough to renew interest in moviegoers buying more tickets for it, even though the film will likely already have been released on DVD / Blu-ray at the time.

If The Dark Knight ultimately does top out over $600 million, it could be looked at as a more impressive achievement compared to when Titanic achieved the milestone. Knight would become the first sequel in history to stand atop the all time chart. A $600 million final gross would also be a staggering triple that of Batman Begins. That kind of sequel growth is nearly unheard of.

Only time will tell. Until then, all we can do is sit and wait. And wait. And wait.

What do you think The Dark Knight‘s chances are?

Related articles:

• ‘The Dark Knight’ Soars Above ‘Spider-Man’
• ‘Dark Knight’ Tops $400M on Monday
• Prospects for ‘The Dark Knight’ Part II
• Prospects for ‘The Dark Knight’

Box Office Data Sources: The Numbers and Box Office Mojo

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