Box Office Update 8/8-8/10: The Dark Knight Fends Off the Express

What can I say other than "Wow!" For the fourth straight weekend The Dark Knight held strong at the top spot. When the third Mummy film failed to take the top spot last week, there was little chance anything would be able to unseat it this weekend. The monster of a movie slipped less than 40% from last week, something nearly unheard of from a summer blockbuster type of film. Not only that, the movie has moved past Shrek 2 to become the third highest grossing domestic film. It now has its eyes set on Star Wars and ultimately a take north of $500 million, a number that has only been surpassed once before, that being the undisputed champ Titanic.

When you talk box office it is inevitable that the topics of actual ticket sales and adjust gross will come up. All of these arguments, both for and against, are valid; however, they are not the whole story. I like to think of these numbers as being a little bit fluid. Yes, numbers are a pretty solid, but you have to factor in things like inflation and population growth, the numbers can be argued any number of ways. For example, The Dark Knight may be the third highest grossing domestic film, when you adjust for inflation it barely cracks the top 50, and nothing is likely to touch the adjusted gross of Gone with the Wind. So, even with all of the arguments, what cannot be denied is the surprise that The Dark Knight has become. It is a phenomenon that no one saw coming.

In addition to Batman continuing to control the box office, two films did enter the fray this weekend. The first of them is Pineapple Express, the latest release from the Apatow comedy machine. This is a buddy/stoner/action/comedy written by the duo of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as a followup to Superbad. This also marks the comedy debut for indie director David Gordon Green, who appears to be up to the task. The film is funny and has a surprising level of action. It is not the best from this group, but it is definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

The second new release is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Going in against all reason, I actually did go and see this movie. Guess what? I liked it. It is sweet and features strong performances from all involved. It is nothing groundbreaking, but it doesn't have to be. It knows what it wants to do and it does it in fine fashion.

Among the returning films, The Dark Knight led the pack, but it was hardly the only one doing solid repeat business. Journey to the Middle of the Earth continues to do solid business, while Hancock, Wall*E, and Mamma Mia! continue to be strong draws.

Next week will see new competition from Tropic Thunder, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Mirrors entering wide release.

Two movies dropped off the top ten this week: Space Chimps (11) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (13).

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	1	The Dark Knight	$26,117,030	$441,628,497	4
2	N	Pineapple Express	$23,245,025	$41,318,736	1
3	2	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	$16,490,970	$71,048,920	2
4	N	The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2	$10,678,430	$19,620,128	1
5	3	Step Brothers	$9,128,662	$81,132,136	3
6	4	Mamma Mia!	$8,208,580	$104,144,505	4
7	5	Journey to the Center of the Earth	$4,871,478	$81,775,323	5
8	7	Hancock	$3,317,450	$221,726,791	6
9	8	Wall*E	$3,140,083	$210,206,582	7
10	6	Swing Vote	$3,125,290	$12,020,828	2

Box Office Predictions Recap
So close and yet so far. As I matched up this week's positions with my predictions, I felt good. When I got the first five placed right, I thought that this could turn into a perfect week, then disaster struck. Swing Vote failed to hold back Wall*E as it fell to tenth place. Still, I cannot be too disappointed, I did get The Dark Knight back at the top, right? Who would have guessed that it would hold onto the top spot for four straight weeks, much less become the monster that it has.

Here is how the field matched up:

Actual	Prediction	Title	Wknd Gross	Prediction
	1	The Dark Knight	$26,117,030	$28 million
2	2	Pineapple Express	$23,245,025	$26 million
3	3	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	$16,490,970	$22 million
4	4	Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2	$10,678,430	$15 million
5	5	Step Brothers	$9,128,662	$8 million
6	6	Mamma Mia!	$8,208,580	$6.5 million
7	7	Journey to the Center of the Earth	$4,871,478	$4.5 million
8	8	Hancock	$3,317,450	$3.5 million
10	9	Swing Vote	$3,125,290	$3 million
9	10	Wall*E	$3,140,083	$2.8 million