'Dark Knight Rises' earns $160.9M in wake of Aurora theater shooting

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- "The Dark Knight Rises" took top spot at the weekend box office, earning $160.9 million. It was the biggest 2-D opening ever. The film took top spot despite a mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., early Friday morning at a premiere showing.

Warner Bros. said Monday that the final installment of director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy earned $160,887,295. The debut puts "Dark Knight Rises" slightly below box office expectations going into the weekend, which ranged from $170 million to $200 million.

Sony, Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Lionsgate joined "Dark Knight Rises" distributor Warner Bros. in publicly withholding their usual revenue reports this weekend until Monday. They did so out of respect for the victims and their families after the mass shooting that left 12 dead and 58 wounded at a midnight screening of the movie in Aurora.

Following behind "Dark Knight Rises" in the No. 2 spot was "Ice Age: Continental Drift," the animated Fox film which dropped 56 percent in its second weekend to $20.4 million, and the Sony superhero reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man," which earned $10.9 million during its third weekend at the box office, in the No. 3 position.

The top 10 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Dark Knight Rises," Warner Bros., $160,887,295, 4,404 locations, $36,532 average, $160,887,295, one week.

2. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," Fox, $20,416,978, 3,886 locations, $5,254 average, $88,840,284, two weeks.

3. "The Amazing Spider Man," Sony, $10,887,111, 3,753 locations, $2,901 average, $228,611,425, three weeks.

4. "Ted," Universal, $10,011,310, 3,214 locations, $3,115 average, $180,431,425, four weeks.

5. "Brave," Disney, $6,024,987, 2,899 locations, $2,078 average, $208,774,173, five weeks.

6. "Magic Mike," Warner Bros., $4,291,432, 2,606 locations, $1,647 average, $101,966,459, four weeks.

7. "Savages," Universal, $3,398,880, 2,336 locations, $1,455 average, $40,055,075, three weeks.

8. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection," Lionsgate, $2,253,074, 1,540 locations, $1,463 average, $60,289,622, four weeks.

9. "Moonrise Kingdom," Focus Features, $1,831,471, 895 locations, $2,046 average, $36,087,959, nine weeks.

10. "To Rome With Love," Sony, $1,420,891, 552 locations, $2,574 average, $11,107,993, five weeks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Get more Entertainment »

movie news, entertainment

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•