LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" reigned over the North American box office for the fourth week in a row, according to industry projections Sunday, with its record-smashing haul topping 441 million dollars.
Box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations estimated the hit film, which stars Christian Bale as Batman and the late Heath Ledger in a widely acclaimed turn as the villainous Joker, took in another 26 million dollars on the Friday-Sunday period.
Over its first four weeks the Warner Brothers film has broken a slew of records including best opening and second weekends, at 158.4 million dollars and 75.2 million dollars respectively.
"Dark Knight" left stoner comedy "Pineapple Express" to be satisfied with second place in its opening weekend.
The Seth Rogen-starring film of a pothead who witnesses a murder -- but leaves a bit of his identifiable stash at the scene, giving a lead to the bad guys -- earned 22.4 million for the period, according to estimates.
In third place for the weekend, another hopeful summer blockbuster, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," earned 16.1 million dollars, taking its two-week total to 70.7 million.
Another debuting film, chick-flick sequel "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" was fourth with a 10.8 million dollar take, followed by "Step Brothers" with 8.9 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were: "Mamma Mia! (8.1 million dollars), "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D" (4.9 million), "Hancock" (3.3 million), "Swing Vote (3.1 million), and "Wall-E (3.0 million).
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
