Dark Knight Doesn’t Rise As Predicted

The new Batman film 'The Dark Knight Rises' made $160m (£103m) at the US and Canadian box offices in its opening weekend, but has fallen short of industry predictions, reveals the BBC.
While the blockbuster’s success is a record for a non 3-D film, the takings were below industry forecasts made before the tragic shooting attack in Colorado last Friday.
Projected figures suggested the film would make approximately $173m (£111m), based on Friday receipts.
The top two highest-ever openings were both 3-D films - The Avengers with $207m (£133m) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $169m (£109m).
Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst for Hollywood.com commented: "For this film (TCKR) to still be in the rarefied air of the top-three openings of all time is phenomenal, given the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the release of this film."
The news comes after studios including Sony, Fox, Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros publicly withdrew their usual official revenue reports out of respect for the victims and their families, but sources gave details of the takings to media outlets.
The third and final film in director Christopher Nolan's Batman series , starring A-Listers Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway cost Warner Bros $250m (£161m) to make and is expected to dominate the box office despite the opening figures.
(HMc)