As expected, The Dark Knight Rises held on to the #1 spot, but it did take a sizable hit, down 61% to $62.1 million, for a per-theater average of a still-strong $14,101 from 4,404 theaters. Currently, the threequel has earned a huge $287.1 million in 10 days. That was a larger stumble than the original Dark Knight, which was down 53% in its' second weekend and was also a worse decline than what The Avengers and The Amazing Spider Man experienced in their second weekends. As of now, Rises is over $20 million behind its' predecessor, and its' probably too late for it to make up lost ground. Its' second weekend drop was similar to The Hunger Games, which was down 62% to $58.5 million in its' second weekend, though that film had $248 million through its' tenth day. Total Recall will serve as competition next weekend, though positive word-of-mouth should help Dark Knight Rises to continue playing for the rest of the summer movie season.Overseas, The Dark Knight Rises opened in 40 markets and earned a huge $126.2 million, topping the international chart for the second-straight week, bringing its' two-week worldwide total to a huge $538 million. At its' current pace and still some markets left to open, the finale in Christopher Nolan's trilogy is well-positioned to either come close or surpass the $1 billion mark worldwide.
The mediocre performance of the new releases allowed Ice Age: Continental Drift to hold the second spot in its' third weekend. The animated fourquel did recover a bit, down 35% to $13.35 million, for a good, but not great $114.9 million gross in 17 days. Although Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3 will pose as a minor threat next weekend, the film should still continue to stabilize.
Debuting with weak results in third place was R-rated ensemble comedy The Watch, which rallied $12.75 million, for a per-theater average of a weak $4,025 around 4,100 screens at 3,168 theaters. That was way lower than what analysts were expecting, who had forecasted a debut of at least $20 million. It also marked major step-backs for stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Jonah Hill, in which the former two aren't as popular as they used to be. It seemed like the film looked like good counter-programming material against Dark Knight Rises, but, it seems like audience hesitation, plus negative reviews made this not a must-see. A "C+" CinemaScore signals that the film won't be in theaters for very long. Distributor 20th Century Fox produced the film for $70 million, and were expecting a debut in the high-teens millions.
The other new release, Step Up Revolution, fared better than The Watch, but saw a front-loaded opening weekend in fourth place. Earning $11.7 million, the dance fourquel averaged a mild $4,570 from around 4,600 screens at 2,567 theaters. That's easily the lowest start in the franchise, falling below Step Up 3-D's $15.7 million start. But the reason why a fourth film was greenlit was because of more than $100 million the previous installment earned overseas, and it would make sense if this one did similar business. Audiences did give it positive remarks, with a "B+" CinemaScore, despite negative critical reception. Distributor Summit Entertainment (the other three were distributed by Disney) was expecting a low-to-mid teens millions debut, and produced it for a modest $33 million.
Despite more competition, Ted was unharmed. Rounding out the Top 5, the only major R-rated hit this summer eased just 27% to $7.35 million, for a one-month tally of a strong $193.6 million. It will likely pass the $200 million mark next weekend, and should finish in the $210-$215 million range. Following a huge drop last weekend, The Amazing Spider-Man did rebound somewhat, easing 38% to $6.7 million in its' fourth weekend. The superhero reboot has earned $241.9 million in 27 days.
With no new competition, Brave eased just 29% to $4.3 million, for a solid $217.3 million gross in 37 days. The animated hit will pass WALL-E's final gross within the next week or so. Magic Mike was down 39% to $2.6 million, for a $107.6 million, and is Channing Tatum's third $100+ million hit of 2012. Savages was down 46% to $1.8 million, for a 24-day tally of a not-bad $44 million. Rounding out the Top 10 was limited hit Moonrise Kingdom, which was down a Top 10-best 22% to $1.4 million, for a 10-week total of $38.6 million, and will likely close just shy of $45 million.
Internationally, we already know The Dark Knight Rises was on top with $126.2 million, while Ice Age: Continental Drift was second with another $50.4 million, bringing its' international tally to a huge $516 million stateside and $630 million worldwide. Foreign independent release The Thieves registered in third place with a strong $18.1 million over its' five-day start in South Korea. The Amazing Spider-Man was fourth with $12.9 million, for $415 million overseas thus far, and over $650 million worldwide. Brave continued its' international roll-out with another $9.6 million, for a foreign gross approaching $100 million (and only representing just over one third of the international market). Not including foreign-only releases, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted rounded out the Top 5 with another $6.9 million, and propelling its' worldwide gross past $500 million...
