TARA BRADYon the idiosyncrasies of the Irish box office
LAST WEDNESDAY, jollied along by untold hype and huge expectation, box-office pundits waited for the Batman trilogy to bow out with a record- breaking weekend US take. Cautious estimates ventured something north of $170 million. More optimistic commentators suggested that despite being hampered by its 2D ceiling,
The Dark Knight Rises might even top The Avengers’ boffo $207.4 million debut.
In the end, the film finished behind the $169.2 million opening scored by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with an estimated $160.9 million. It’s a new record for 2D but well shy of expectations. Beyond US borders, the same title managed a solid if unspectacular $88 million.
The low Rest of World turnout was expected. The franchise’s financial success was always domestic heavy; a whopping 53.2 per cent of The Dark Knight’s overall take was from North America.
More accurately, to date, the trilogy is a peculiarly Anglophone phenomenon. Sure enough, denizens of the Republic of Ireland turned out for the caped crusader to the tune of €1,525,736 from 70 locations, bringing the UK/ROI total to $22.5 million. That figure is all the more impressive when one considers last weekend’s balmy weather and that The Lorax debuted in the No 2 slot with a comparatively paltry ROI take of €127,323.
We know the numbers now. But we didn’t on Sunday. In the wake of the shootings at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado, Warner Bros and other major studios refused to report official figures over the weekend.
You can see the logic: Hollywood wanted to show respect by not crowing over cash. Sadly, the logic is flawed. Time and again, mental-health professionals have pleaded for toned-down coverage in the aftermath of killing sprees. The correct response, they argue, is business as usual and minimal reporting.
If we really wish to respect the victims of the Aurora shootings, then we won’t give some anonymous loser the privilege of overshadowing the movie. Let’s not think or say things like “Batman killings” or “Joker killer” or “Real Life Bane”. Let’s just send our condolences to the surviving families and ignore the attention- seeking suspect.
If only. By Monday, many box- office watchers had convinced themselves that ticket sales for The Dark Knight Rises were doomed. Cinemas are the new dark alleys, they cried, citing forgotten, non-fatal scuffles at screenings of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Avatar, Notorious and Shutter Island. Others recalled the unprecedented drop in ticket sales in the wake of 9/11, when Hardball topped the chart with a measly €9.3 million. “It’s happening again,” they wailed. We suspect otherwise.
It’s worth noting that The Dark Knight Rises is getting a slower overseas rollout than either The Avengers or The Amazing Spider-Man. Back on US soil, meanwhile, the film dipped a mere 11 per cent in sales between Saturday and Sunday. A full box- office recovery seems imminent.
Nothing, apparently, is bigger than Batman.
