Variety reports the top movies, in terms of box office take, for the week of 18-24 July 2008. The Dark Knight broke all kinds of opening day and opening week records, taking in more than $238.6 million in its first week in release. New release Mamma Mia! clocked in at #2 with a comparatively paltry $44.8 million (and how often can you say that about forty-four million dollars?). Hancock fell from #2 to #3, grossing nearly $20.7 million for a three-week total of $198.2 million. Journey to the Center of the Earth dropped from #3 to #4, grossing $19.6 million for a two-week total of $50.8 million. WALL-E was also down, from #4 to #5, bringing in $16.2 million for a four-week total of $188.9 million. Hellboy II: The Golden Army was the big loser this week, falling from #1 to #6 while earning only $14.6 million, for a two-week total of nearly $61 million. New release Space Chimps opened in the #7 slot, with a box office gross of $11.6 million. Wanted fell from #5 to #8, taking in $7.6 million for a four-week total of $125.9 million. Get Smart was down from #6 to #9, taking in $6.4 million for a five-week total of $121.9 million. Kung Fu Panda fell from #8 to #10, bringing in $3.2 million for a seven-week total of $207.9 million.
Meet Dave was down from #7 to #11, grossing $2.7 million for a two-week total of $10.5 million. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fell from #11 to #13, bringing in $1.5 million for a nine-week total of $313.1 million. The Incredible Hulk fell faster, from #10 to #15, grossing just under $1 million for a six-week total of $132.1 million. Iron Man fell from #14 to #16, taking in $700 thousand for a twelve-week total of $314.6 million. The Happening was down from #17 to #23, grossing $250 thousand for a six-week total of $63.8 million. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was down from #18 to #24, bringing in nearly $250 thousand for a ten-week total of $139.7 million.
The Strangers fell from #24 out of the top 25 in its eighth week in release, and Speed Racer dropped out from the #25 slot in its eleventh week in the theatres.
In addition to its domestic take, Variety notes that The Dark Knight was equally impressive outside the US. In its first 12 days in release, they report that The Dark Knight has grossed $126.3 million overseas, for a worldwide gross of $440 million. Its overseas weekend total take exceeded the combined grosses of the next four movies: Hancock, Kung Fu Panda, Mamma Mia!, and X-Files: I Want to Believe. And all this, despite the fact that Warner Brothers hasn’t even released the Batman Begins sequel in key markets like France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and Spain (where it will open in August).