“Dark Knight” reigns as new Imax king
Hollywood Newsroom is now Buzz Newsroom! Visit and bookmark our new site. Buzz is bigger and better, including sports, world news, gadgets and the entertainment news that you're used to. Same staff, just more stuff! Why Fark, Drudge and Huffington when you can Buzz!?The Imax-format release of Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight” has blown past “The Polar Express” as the giant-screen exhibitor’s top first-run release.
Imax also touted the Batman sequel’s having passed an average tally of $400,000 per screen on the company’s 139 worldwide screens.
“The Dark Knight has shown the power of the Imax experience when partnered with a filmmaker and a studio that get it,” Imax Filmed Entertainment chief Greg Foster said.
Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, “Dark Knight” has rung up more than $925 million worldwide including $55 million in Imax grosses. That compares to the $45 million fetched by the Imax 3-D version of Warners/Imax’s seasonal favorite “The Polar Express,” which was distributed in both conventional and Imax 3-D formats in 2004.
That first worldwide theatrical run for “Polar” capped off at about $285 million, but the Tom Hanks-starring movie has been re-released in Imax 3-D every holiday season. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, “Polar” will unspool in about two dozen Imax 3-D venues over Thanksgiving, with its four-year cumulative box office grosses in Imax 3-D approaching $70 million.
- from Reuters