Did Batman Dethrone Iron Man?

So far everyone has been unable to tell if Batman beat Iron Man (Avengers) at the box office with Warner Bros respectfully declining to release the final weekend box office gross for The Dark Knight Rises  following Friday’s tragedy in Aurora. Quite rightly too, since trivial things like numbers matter little to a world still reeling in shock. Today, however, for those of us interested, Warners has unveiled where the final part of Nolan’s Batman trilogy has landed on the all-time box office scoreboards. I present to you the results below.

First the big question: Did Batman manage to take out The Avengers? Did The Dark Knight Rises gross more? It seems the answer is no. But with a clause. The Avengers grossed just over $225 million in 4 days and The Dark Knight Rises fell short with just $180 million (just?) in the same period of time. This puts Batman at #3 for all-time opening weekends, just behind the final Harry Potter and Iron Man and Co in The Avengers.

By no means is this a score to be sniffed at. Third biggest weekend of all time? That’s massive, and it could still topple Avatar and Titanic for most money ever made if there’s good word of mouth. I personally can’t shake the feeling that there are a few more factors influencing the score here. The two movies that beat Nolan’s blockbuster at the top-spot had a distinct advantage over The Bat: that advantage being a pair of 3D glasses. That’s right; both Harry Potter and The Avengers were 3D movies, meaning an inflated ticket price. You can complain at me all you want, but the fact is you paid around $18 for a ticket to The Avengers, but you only paid $12-13 for one to see The Dark Knight Rises. Those extra bucks help a lot.

Secondly, there are the possible repercussions of what happened on Friday. Reports of people staying in their homes, fearing copycats or just superstition, people not leaving their houses as a mark of respect or just not feeling like it because of such a horrendous tragedy — those could all contribute to comparatively fewer people coming out to the theaters. I’m not 100% sure of this one, but it MUST be a factor in some way. It’s too big to not be.

So that’s the battle. Iron Man took down the Bat. Fair or unfair? Just or unjust? Are The Avengers the winners we deserve or just the ones we need right now?

See movie times for The Dark Knight Rises in Victoria by clicking here