Ticket sales for “The Dark Knight” for the weekend ending August 3 continued to break records at the movie box office, raking in an estimated $43.8 million for its third weekend in release. The second installment of the new Batman franchise, and the sixth Batman movie since the late 1980s, may soon become the second-biggest film of all time, following “Titanic.”
“The Dark Knight,” featuring the posthumous performance of Heath Ledger that is being praised as Oscar-worthy, ruled over the premiere of “Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which opened at $42.5 million. The second sequel of the Mummy series stars Brendan Fraser and Jet Li and has received only tepid reviews.
Will Ferrell’s sophomoric comedy “Step Brothers” was third with $16.3 million, followed by “Mamma Mia!” with $13.1 million, bringing the musical’s total tally to date at $88 million. “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” Fraser’s second movie in release this summer, rounded out the top five, generating $6.9 million in ticket sales.
Among the other notables, Kevin Costner’s election-year comedy “Swing Vote” pulled in a disappointing $6.3 million in its first weekend of release, and the “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” has also been a bit of a dud this summer. The latest X-Files film only generated $3.4 million in its second weekend.
Box Office Grosses
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| Rank | Title | Weekend | Total Gross |
| 1 | The Dark Knight (2008) | $43.8M | $395M |
| 2 | The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) | $42.5M | $42.5M |
| 3 | Step Brothers (2008) | $16.3M | $63M |
| 4 | Mamma Mia! (2008) | $13.1M | $88M |
| 5 | Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) | $6.88M | $73.1M |
| 6 | Swing Vote (2008) | $6.3M | $6.3M |
| 7 | Hancock (2008) | $5.2M | $216M |
| 8 | WALL·E (2008) | $4.75M | $204M |
| 9 | The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008) | $3.42M | $17.1M |
| 10 | Space Chimps (2008) | $2.84M | $22.1M |
Source: IMDB.com
