Dark Knight Dawns at #2 of All-Time Box Office Takings

NVDL: Fascinating article. World audience attendence has slumped 5% on last year's numbers, but this year's hits are bigger than ever. Which reminds me. South Africa needs to produce a movie to be released during 2010. Are there any projects underway or do I have to do it myself?

MSNBC: Considering that the $7.16 today’s average moviegoer paid to see “The Dark Knight” could have bought three tickets to “Star Wars” in 1977, what does that box office gross number say about a movie’s popularity?

Dergarabedian said moviegoers are also attracted to box office gross because it allows them to feel invested in a film’s success, especially if a movie they like breaks a record, as “The Dark Knight” did in its opening weekend.

This year, the trends are different, he said. At least 21 films already have grossed between $50 million and $100 million, compared with 23 in all of 2007.

“We have a broader range of films that are attracting audiences,” he said. “That’s an extremely healthy thing.”

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com A dozen films — including “Iron Man,” “Hancock” and “Wall-E” — each have made $100 million or more in ticket sales. “The Dark Knight” has raked in almost $518 million, surpassing “Star Wars” as No. 2 on the list of all-time box office leaders and fueling speculation it could beat 1997’s “Titanic” to become all-time champion. Industrywide, box office receipts totaled almost $6.9 billion as of last weekend, only slightly behind the same point last year, when movies went on to take in a record $9.7 billion, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media by Numbers. What studios don’t talk about is how many people actually show up in the theaters — a number Hollywood may see good reason not to track.