The Dark Knight Rises box office: Surpasses $1 billion worldwide

The Dark Knight Rises box office: Surpasses $1 billion worldwide

The Dark Knight Rises earned an estimated $5.88m this past weekend in North America (as per Box Office Mojo) and an estimated $46.4m at the international box office (as per The Hollywood Reporter). Note: As usual, the international "weekend" box-office figure includes weekday screenings in some countries. Anyhow, The Dark Knight Rises‘ current worldwide box-office cume stands at $1.005 billion. In other words, TDKR has passed the $1 billion milestone — and it has surpassed its predecessor at the worldwide box office. Well, if we choose to ignore inflation and currency exchange rates, that is. (More on that in the follow-up post, TDKR vs. TDK worldwide box office.) [Photo: Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle The Dark Knight Rises.]

Helping The Dark Knight Rises pass the $1 billion mark were Italy, where TDKRdebuted with $8.8m, and China, where Christopher Nolan’s third and finalBatman movie opened with an estimated $28.5m. Note: In China, The Dark Knight Rises was the no. 2 movie, behind Marc Webb / Andrew Garfield / Emma Stone’s The Amazing Spider-Man, which collected $33.3m. (Give China another decade or so, and that country will become a bigger market than the United States for Hollywood movies — and quite likely for just about everything else as well.)

The Dark Knight Rises is currently — and in all likelihood shall remain — the no. 2 2012 release, trailing only The Avengers‘ considerably heftier $1.5 billion. Here and there, Warner Bros.’ Batman movie has beaten the Disney / Marvel superhero ensemble flick: a week or so ago, The Dark Knight Rises‘ surpassedThe Avengers in the United Kingdom.

The Dark Knight Rises cast

The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne aka Batman, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman, Tom Hardy as Bane, Marion Cotillardas Miranda Tate, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Matthew Modine, and Tom Conti.

Christopher Nolan co-wrote the TDKR screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, who has stated that the film’s basic premise was inspired by Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities.

“The Dark Knight Rises Box Office: $1 Billion Worldwide" Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle picture: Ron Philips / Warner Bros.