A dozen people were killed and nearly sixty injured in Aurora, Colorado, in the early hours of 20 July, when a well-armed man walked in through an emergency exit and started shooting during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. In response, Warner Bros. canceled the opening-night festivities in Paris, and reports of ticket sales on the movie have been embargoed, to keep the focus on the victims.
Variety reports the top movies, in terms of box office take, for the week of 13-19 July 2012. The newest animated sequel in the franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift, opened at the top of the charts, melting $68.4 million. The Amazing Spider-Man slipped from #1 to #2, spinning up $51.9 million, for a two-week total of $217.7 million. Ted slipped from #2 to #3, bearing up $33.6 million, for a three-week total of $170.4 million. Brave slipped from #3 to #4, earning $17.8 million, for a four-week total of $202.7 million. Madagascar 3 fell from #7 to #9, making $6.0 million, for a six-week total of $206.3 million.
The Avengers held steady at #12, earning $2.2 million, for an eleven-week total of $614.4 million. Snow White and the Huntsman climbed from #15 to #13, charming up $1.6 million, for a seven-week total of $152.2 million. Prometheus held steady at #14, thrilling up $1.5 million, for a six-week total of $124.8 million. Men in Black 3 climbed from #16 to #15, neuralizing $1.3 million, for an eight-week total of $175.2 million. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter fell from #13 to #18, freeing $1.2 million, for a four-week total of $36.3 million. The Hunger Games fell from #22 to #25, fighting up $450 thousand, for a seventeen-week total of $405.0 million.
Falling out of the top 25 this week were:
Dark Shadows (last week’s #24) in its tenth week in release (box office total: $77.4 million)
Battleship (last week’s #25) in its ninth week in release (box office total: $64.9 million)