The Dark Knight Rises has handily won the US box office race for a third week running, taking $36 million for a very good take so far of $354 million. Batman beat out newcomer Total Recall, which took $26 million. That was at the lower end of expectations, and with suggestions it’s not going down well with audiences, it’s unlikely to keep its grosses up in the coming weeks. It may now be hard for Sony to make back the $125 million is spent on the 2012 makeover of Recall.
The only other new entry in the top 10 is Diary Of A Wimpy Kids: Dog Days, which placed third with $14.7 million. That’s less than the opening gross of the two previous Wimpy Kid movies, but as it only cost $22 million to make, the studio isn’t likely to be worrying too much, especially as the franchise has done very well on DVD.
Ted also had reason to celebrate, as it broke the $200 million mark over the weekend, which certainly isn’t bad for a movie that few people had that many expectations of just a month ago. Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 3rd-5th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | The Dark Knight Rises | $36.4 | $354.6 |
| 2 | Total Recall | $26.0 | $26.0 |
| 3 | Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | $14.7 | $14.7 |
| 4 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | $8.4 | $131.8 |
| 5 | The Watch | $6.3 | $25.3 |
| 6 | Ted | $5.4 | $203.4 |
| 7 | Step Up Revolution | $5.3 | $23.0 |
| 8 | The Amazing Spider-man | $4.3 | $250.6 |
| 9 | Brave | $2.8 | $223.3 |
| 10 | Magic Mike | $1.3 | $110.8 |
Going into this weekend, there was a lot of debate over whether the US public was still put off going to the cinema by the terrible events in Colorado. In the end, while there probably was still a bit of a knock on effect, it wasn’t as bad as some had predicted. The Dark Knight Rises handily won the weekend, taking another $60 million for a 10 day total of $289 million, just behind the $313 million The Dark Knight had taken at this stage.
This weekend’s box office numbers were understandably delayed out of respect for the victims of last week’s Colorado shooting. However now they’ve been released, with The Dark Knight Rises taking a massive $160 million, the third biggest opening weekend ever after The Avengers and Deathly Hallows Part 2, and the biggest ever for a 2D release.
It was a good weekend for R-rated movies at the US box office, with both Ted and Magic Mike beating out predictions with great opening weekend numbers. Seth MacFarlane’s feature film directorial debut, Ted, came out on top with a superb $54.1 million, the highest number ever for an original R-rated comedy (although behind The Hangover II and Sex And the City if you count established comedy franchises). People obviously liked the idea of a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear.
Brave has continued Pixar’s impressive box office run, becoming the studio’s 13th straight movie to debut at number one on the box office chart. The film took $66.7 million in its first three days, ahead of expectations, which had suggested it would open in the $55-$60 million range. It’s great news for the studio, especially after slightly disappointing box office for last year’s Cars 2.
