( 4UMF NEWS ) Dark Knight Number One Again:
The Dark Knight Rises took first place at theaters this weekend, righting a listing box office and giving it the No. 1 spot for the third consecutive weekend.
The third installment of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy did $36.4 million, according to studio estimates by box office trackers Hollywood.com.
The film has done $354.6 million since its release July 20, when a gunman shot and killed 12 people and wounded 58 at Rises’ midnight premiere in Aurora, Colo.
The shooting marred the debut, and some analysts speculated after last weekend’s 60% drop from Rises’ opening whether the film would be overshadowed by real tragedy.
But this weekend marked just a 41% drop from last week, a sign that word of mouth is gaining traction.
Tim Briody of Boxofficeprophets.com called the third week performance “a good rebound from last weekend’s drop.”
“It has righted the ship somewhat, though it continues to fall further behind the pace of The Dark Knight,” he said of Nolan’s second Batman movie, which did $533 million.
