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I was at that 9:20 @ the Grove this morning and by the time it started, the thing was about 85% full (in that big Theater 01).

When they opened the doors at 9, everybody raced inside and divided themselves between the machines and the ticket guy. The great thing was, the ticket guy looked at the assembled few dozen people and said, "So, you're all here for 'Space Chimps?'"

I was going to wait until Monday because I believed all the news stories that the showings were sold out. I drove by my little town's only cineplex right before time for the first showing and saw only 4 cars in the parking lot. I was the first person at the box office. When the ads/previews started, there were only about 40 people in the auditorium. When the movie actually started, there were only about 70 people in a 400-seat auditorium. I'm afraid all of this hype about sold-out shows has scared people away because they don't think they can get tickets. (The preview for Step Brothers received hearty laughter, Tropic Thunder...nothing.)

So three cheers for Warner Bros.

Great job promoting this movie guys. Lord know this isn't because the first movie was particularly good but, heck, you sold them on that idea too.

Well done, we'll see how long it will take you and IF YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REPEAT THE SAME HAT trick in other parts of the world.

If this movie makes over $140 million in three days I will eat my keyboard.

Just to chime in, from Phoenix, I got up this morning sans tickets to go see The Dark Knight IMAX Experience at one of the two theatres in town showing it, and when I got up at 6AM, the internet showed no sell outs, all day, but by the time I got to the theatre an hour later, every showtime from the 9:30AM (which I had planned on seeing) through the end of the day was sold out, plus at least one showing tomorrow.

I went down the road to the only theatre in town with 100% digital projection, and while I didn't have trouble getting tickets 2.5hrs before the earliest showtime on a weekday, by the time the trailers started, the theatre was about 3/4 full.

Good observation, DP.

Through all this talk of a potential record opening, the reasons listed have been a) fanbase, b) quality, c) hype, and d) presold tickets.

When the main reason (though some of the above could contribute) is the marketing. WB has sold this thing quite well. That has been lost in this as well. I think that when you add excellant marketing to the above, it's a good mix.

Heck, Day after Tomorrow had none of those a-d and it opened quite well.

What fucking "hard" questions would the media ask? Why do you have it in for this flick?

I get a little smile out of DP mentioning the Majestic in Milwaukee because that's where I saw it last night. They initially had only two midnight screens planned, but they must have sold out well in advance because they added at least two more this week.

I'm not surprised that the Majestic would be the popular ticket in town, as their screens really are awesome. One of the auditoriums is projecting in 4K Digital.

Day After Tomorrow had marketing and an easy hook going for it, so it didn't just drop out of nowhere.

Ew ew ew, the nerdy fanboys over at imdb already has The Dark Knight as the #3 movie of all time. Bitches please!

Kris... can you really say, honestly, that this movie hasn't had a fucking coronation in the media, even before the critics saw it?

Honestly.

I know you love the last one and I like both films and Nolan a whole lot. But much as I ask for reasonable perspective when the media gangs up on a movie, I ask the same when they get out the knee pads and ride the wave that expected popularity offers.

Don't you think it might be just a little responsible of someone in the media to offer perspective on the film... not to endlessly repeat "Heath for Oscar" (God Bless Terry Gilliam, who actually gets it and whose comments went little reported.)... and EVERY SHOW IS SOLD OUT... and it's not the same comic book movie so it's the bestest movie ever... and that the third $100 million opening of this summer and the eighth in the last three summers is equal to the discovery of the wheel... over and over?

Why do I have to have it out for the movie to ask for sanity when I know full well that this cycle, like all others, will end quickly.

If you disliked the movie, would I have it out for it or just be reserved? Is my recommendation of the movie and focus on the movie not enough? Do I have to lick it from one end to the other to make you feel that I am being even-handed?

Frankly, the movie deserves better than all this. Too much praise is a set up for a fall... as we both have seen over and over and over again.

Terry Gilliam's comments were embarrassing for him, and disgraceful. But he has a history of studio troubles stuck in his side, so of course he'd go there. (He attacked WB for capitalizing on Ledger's death, not the media. He doesn't get to be your white knight.)

You ask for sanity, but you don't label these "hard" questions you demand. Do you, firstly, expect every outlet to phone up Mil-fucking-waukee? My guess is you're answer will be yes, that's their job. But where exactly in your loads of number crunching have you "gotten" Fandango and the like? Shows are selling out. Seems to be the only real statements coming from those outlets, and if you denied the record-breaking early sales claims, then you're seemingly proven wrong (though not absolutely) by the already record-breaking midnight showings.

So, again, what "hard" questions?

It has nothing to do with my liking the first film (and loving "The Dark Knight" -- with similar reservations that you had). But you make yourself obvious when you write the review you did, then post a follow-up saying a second viewing shows the seams, and then open fire on the media for jumping on board for the ride.

I know you claim neutrality, but I somehow don't think there would be a flood of similar posts if the poles were switched over to "Hancock." And I don't need you to lick the film up and down, but the willful nature of these posts and the dizzying nature of trying to find your point has me scratching my head.

And actually, no, I honestly can't say the media coronation happened before Travers' review landed. After that week, the lovefest began. Prior, it was all murmurs and buzz about a potential Oscar-caliber performance.

I think I'm the one who mentioned Star Wars having a bigger fanbase (or at least one of them), and I stand by that comment: If you look at Star Wars from 1977-2008, and its impact in the collective consciousness of America, I don't think there's any question it's been larger (for better or worse). This isn't a knock against Batman or any other major franchise -- Star Wars is, and has always been, the big game in town.

I also don't think there's any problem with the media raving about the huge opening TDK is having. It's going to be the major box-office story of the summer -- why wouldn't all the outlets be talking about it?

Yes, Heath Ledger's Oscar chances are probably being over-hyped. So what? That'll die down... unless, like Jack Sparrow and PIRATES, he manages to get an nom... in which case, good for him.

I agree with Kris; until a few weeks ago I don't recall seeing any major love being tossed Batman's way: no more so than for Iron Man or Indy or SEX AND THE CITY.

Yes, generally speaking the Batman films have always opened very strong -- although I think that this is the strongest and most significant of the franchise's openings since the first one. Warner Bros. has gone a great job marketing TDK, and most everyone loved BATMAN BEGINS, so people are flocking to see it. And honestly, since opening weekend is about marketing and the previous film in the franchise, then in all likelihood TDK will have solid legs and end up being the box-office story of the summer... in America anyway. Good-bye IRON MAN, good-bye INDY.

Nikki Finke and Steve Mason are saying $60-63 million for Friday. If that's accurate it should either set a new opening weekend record or score the second biggest. At any rate an opening in excess of $140 million looks to be in the bag, and an opening of over $150 million is a possibility. With an opening this big it should end up as the highest grossing film of the summer, and most likely of the year, in terms of domestic box office. In terms of worldwide box office, though, Potter 6 should be #1, followed by Indy.

"And actually, no, I honestly can't say the media coronation happened before Travers' review landed."

No, sites like your own are part of the media too for how long have you had your Batman coverage?

But that's not even it. Not even close.

In my opinion, the so-called "coronation" started occuring about three weeks prior to Traver's review (and since when has he become such an important

All that review did is gave the permission to unleash the flood gates. "Coronation" occured before that.

When it's all said and done, the mighty Spiderman will still reign supreme. THAT's the power of FANBASE.

"in America anyway. Good-bye IRON MAN, good-bye INDY."

Lastly, why do batfans want to bury "Iron Man" and "Indy" so fast? Maybe because they want to do it before people start paying attention to the whole picture - worldwide grosses, so they want bragging rights on what on overage represents less than half of the picture (and if the ratio is the other way around than so much the sadder).

I think it's long overdue that international grosses were given more attention in the media (this is just a general statement by the way).

So welcome, Dark Knight and may your run be successful. And as far as the biggest story of the summer than I sincerely hope that the best movie wins.

Classic, "if I wrote what Poland wrote, this is what I would mean by it" thinking, Kris.

My intentions and my meanings are not stated ambiguously.

And I love how you accuse me of being obviously against the film by giving it only a positive review with some reservations and yet your "it should be nominated for an Oscar" passionate push for the first film and love of this one means nothing to your attitude.

And yeah... that Pete Travers leads the critics and media to orgasm all the time... just waiting for the giant wave of love for the other 27 films he'll love this month... apparently none of the long lead stuff was in the works for months... and Gilliam, who actually worked with Ledger on two of the three films he made since Ledger got to Hollywood, is an angry old fool who had no insight into Ledger.

I am not trying to "get" MovieTickets.com or Fandango or even Crazy Nikki, who runs their stuff like it was from a mysterious source. I am trying to offer just a hint of perspective, which no one seems to be interested in this weekend. And that seems to anger you.

Doesn't bother you as a journalist that people marketing a paid product in ticket pre-sales are the ones driving the vast majority of hype in the media this week... that you can read their press releases, repurposed as news, close to word-for-word, all over the place... that WB doesn't even have to work it since everyone is so busy doing it for them? Okay. I guess you think that is the job of a journalist in 2008... but somehow, I doubt that. I think you just think it's okay right now because you like the side it takes.

And really, Kris, whatever I think about a movie, I think I cover the facts, even when offering an opinion. That would be, tooting my own horn, unlike the media that hated Hancock then failing to acknowledge that film's box office success. Or even Indiana Jones, which has not been given half the media love regarding its success that Iron Man was given, even as it's grossed almost $200m more and continues to expand that lead. I panned that one... so I must have some other secret angle, right?

Anyway... bottom line for me is, I don't like sheep, especially in the media. That isn't the job. We aren't marketers. We shouldn't be running press releases as news to pander to the audience.

You guys don't think it matters. Fine.

But the cycle of the endless sugar high and quick crash and no memory... dangerous stuff. And just because we toil in the gingerbread house of journalism doesn't mean that it means nothing when our cookie crumbles.

"Lastly, why do batfans want to bury "Iron Man" and "Indy" so fast?"

I have no investment -- emotional or otherwise -- in any of these films. FYI, I was an Indy fan before I was a Batfan, and I certainly wouldn't consider myself a crazy fanboy by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just looking at numbers... and I agree, INDY will almost certainly outgross TDK worldwide.

Opening weekends and records don't mean as much as they used to, unless they're smashed by significant margins, as SPIDEY 1 and SPIDEY 3 did. TDK's opening won't be one of those. But the numbers are mind-boggling enough to warrant box-office buzz even outside of the usual entertainment outlets; although INDY and IRON MAN had strong openings, we're used to seeing $100 million opening weekends now. But $60+ million days? Hasn't been done. (Fantasy Moguls is reporting a $63 million Friday).

Of course, if TDK doesn't develop strong legs and gets "only" $330-350 from such a huge opening, that'll make the story less interesting -- which is what happened to SPIDEY 3 when it could only get to $336 after opening to $151 million. But the flip-side means TDK does something along the lines of PIRATES 2, and ends up grossing $400+ million, at which point it handily owns the summer (no matter what I think of it or Iron Man or Indy).

Let's enjoy this ridiculous special circumstance for a minute.

P.S. And you know what sucks the worst... all this anger makes me feel like I am doing what you guys want to believe I am doing. All the black and white stuff means that I am not supposed to be pleased by the success or that I am flip-flopping if I praise a movie that I've been praising - albeit not unreservedly - since I saw it.

The business story is the business story. And the movie is the movie.

And while the number may end up being $60 for Friday, beating Spider-Man 3 by $200,000, it may well not. No intellegent person in distribution without an agenda will tell you a number based on west coast matinees and halfway through the evening on the east coast. Truth is, at this level, that number could be $5 million low... or $5 million high... but you can bet your sweet bippy that Dan Fellman is now feeling compelled to announce $60.1 tomorrow morning, just so no one in the media will be disappointed... and the truth can wait for Sunday and Monday...

Of course, Dave, I agree that numbers thrown around right now are guesstimates with intent (either by WB or a competing studio). It's perhaps telling that the WB official "guess" is $60 million, whereas it's a competing studio honcho mentioning $63 million. Nothing is written until Monday actuals (and of course, sometimes not even then!)

But it doesn't mean it isn't fun to talk about. :)

Another thing, when Tapley finally predicted TDK opening he wrote:

"I could be grossly off the mark, but I also kind of feel like a lot of the big box office naysayers are part of some strange backlash against all the pre-sales story madness."

This, in the nutshell is a problem I've had with him. Enough with conspiaracy theories. Bravo for using both "backlash" and "pre-sale madness" in the same sentence to support your argument though.

Ironically, I am put in the "naysayer" camp, yet I make the argument above pretty clearly for why a record opening actually fits Batman history.

But I don't care for the "pre-sales story madness," so I must be backlashing.

You know, the mega-number doesn't make historical sense in many ways... but the box office has changed dramatically in the last few years. Iron Man proved that. And just because I wasn't a big fan and didn't predict the number doesn't make be unaware of that or angered by it.

It's the "pick a side" shit that so riles me. It's not a game, no matter how much some people want to make it one.

And generally, I think Kris gets that.

Not today.

Regarding Gilliam, don't forget that he and Chuck Roven did "Brothers Grimm" together and may not exactly see eye to eye.

The point is simple:

3 Batman movies have previously owned the biggest first weekend in history. Only one of those ultimately broke $200M, and it capped at $260M (that was the first one).

What's being argued is that with Batman, the opening does not necessarily predict the final gross.

Variety is reporting a midnight-show record $18.5 million estimate (not counting 3 or 6 a.m.s)

I agree with Telemachos. Star Wars is the gold standard when it comes to franchises.

Would it be irrelevant of me to only care that "The Dark Knight" was made (check) and makes enough money for everyone involved to do another sequel exactly how they want to do it?(and mate) If it makes more, great for them; but why is this being debated like somebody's life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is riding on every last penny this movie's going to rake in? You know what's going to happen after the final tally is in on Sunday, record broken or not? We're all still going to have to take out the garbage (Well - most of us at least. I might be okay til Tuesday).

Ok, Fantasy Moguls is now projecting $66 million Opening Day - sounds kind of high, but I actually roved some theaters, today (work-related), to verify that a cinema ad I placed was running, and in the south suburbs of Chicago, at a 10 AM show on a Friday, the theater was packed. Lots of kids, too, which probably isn't a good idea. I still have not seen and probably not will, until next week.

Opening weekend is probably going to break $155 million, who would have thought? You mean, this is going to do THREE times what the last one did opening weekend???? I guess that's not unprecented: Austin Powers 2 and Terminator 2.

Still very impressive - Warners did a bang-up job marketing this thing and I think Dave had a good point about 'Begins being the true outlier. The first three films really did set standards for opening weekends - people forget that when the first one did $40 million in 1989, it was an insane number at the time, breaking the previous record by over 30%.

One thing that is kind of bugging me about the hype is all of the short shrift I think the last one is now getting - I loved Batman Begins and can't get over how many critics are now saying that TDK overcomes the many "flaws" of the previous movie. Ok, Katie Holmes was an obvious one, but it was a damn fine movie, one of my favorites of recent years. I think Cillian Murphy was spot-on and everybody just forgot about him.

Mama Mia apparently did over $10 million as strong counter-programming - little doubt it will do at least Hairspray numbers. Just a matter of time before Amanda Seyfried gets partnered in a crappy romantic comedy with James Marsden....

Props to Tapley for turning this ridiculousness to Swiss Cheese (Gilliam is far and away in the wrong here, and does not need to be lionized for his utterly disgusting comments), and props at least to Poland for fully acknowledging this is his opinion.

Excellent for Dark Knight. For all the talk of coronations, The Dark Knight actually goddamned fought for the title.

Little fight in ya. I like that.

Geoff, I don't think Terminator 2 is an apt comparison. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are similar in size (both big budget tentpole pics, not necessarily scope of the project) whereas Terminator was a small movie and was released in a time that was nigh impossible to get an opening weekend gross close to the numbers the sequel got. Also, Terminator the first was an original property, same for Austin Powers, which means a formidable multiplier between original and sequel opening weekends is much more understandable.

Wow. Sorry. That was longwinded.

What Austin Powers and Terminator have in common is home video - that's what drove the huge openings of the sequels. What drove the 'outlier' small opening of Batman Begins was the memory people had of the crappy Schumacher movies.

"Also, Terminator the first was an original property"

see CYBORG 2087

Nikki Finke is now saying $64-65 million for TDK. Going from Batman & Robin to Batman Begins to TDK is an incredibly successful rejuvenation of a film series. Kudos to Warners. Unfortunately Hellboy II is set to drop very hard this weekend, It looks like it'll drop by something like 70%.

I think what has to be put into perspective here is that online advance ticket isn't a nationwide phenomenon. Outside of the big cities I don't think it's a common practice. Here in Canada it's even far less of a practice. I'm in Montreal and there is only one IMAX theater in the downtown core. As of Friday, only the Friday showings and the Saturday evening showings were sold out. Sunday was wide open and so was Monday. That said, if anyone shows up on Saturday afternoon ten minutes before the showtime expecting to get in is a fool. So tracking by the numbers of one or two online ticket sales sites is like playing pin the tail on the donkey. Yes, TDK is going to be do big numbers but trying to gauge that number by the results of a very select set of numbers is premature.

Is there any proof that this isn't a nationwide practice? North Dakota theaters had sell-outs for The Dark Knight by Wednesday. I mean, three people managed to sell-out an entire theater! Wow!

I'd think an apt comparison would be something like The Matrix and Reloaded.

Box Office Mojo Friday estimate: $66.4 million.

Sorry to see Hellboy take such a steep drop. Impressed to see how Hancock is holding.

Metrotown in Burnaby, BC, Friday evening -- actually went to see "Mamma Mia", which was sold out at 7:30, still some tix available for 7:40 "Dark Knight", which sold out while I was there (playing on three screens).

Going to try for "Dark Knight" in downtown Vancouver today (theater website says nothing is sold out yet).

I wish "Hellboy" was second choice instead of "Hancock".

Go ABBA!

If TDK matches Spider-Man 3's very frontloaded multipliers it would lead to a weekend total of $167 million and a final domestic tally of $371 million. Since it should have better legs than SM3, TDK should have a good shot at $400 million domestic.

I'm shooting a movie in Baton Rouge, the city you describe as a "college town" without noting that college isn't, in fact, in session right now. You may have been right at the time of your writing that there were no sellouts, but by the time I got to a theater at the Mall of Louisiana to watch the film, every showing was sold out, and the crowds were enormous.

I would suggest that perhaps the online purchasing of tickets is a somewhat cultural phenomenon, that occurs more frequently in some parts of the country than others. But whatever the case, TDK was definitely ultimately sold out in Baton Rouge.

Of course the fanboys are taking an overdose of Bat-Hype, served up by the Liberal Media while America marches faster and faster into a homegrown version of National Socialism.

Or, how to cram the most non sequitors into a single sentence?

Are we sure Charles isn't putting on an act like LexG? At any rate, Lex can be lucid when he wants to be. Charles it seems has slipped past beyond that horizon.

For the record, I am not lacking a sense of reality here. It there was something for Poland to lose his mind about and charge that there were no record advance sales to be flaunted in the media, I'd understand. But that wasn't the case.

And I should think a $66 million opening day partially (again, not absolutely) establishes that. Ditto Roman's attempted slap at the franchise by indicating that Spider-Man's "reign" will still stand. Again, the reality of the numbers should hopefully now provide the "perspective" that David, and to a lesser extent, Roman, are aching for.

This isn't a fanboy argument for me, David. Yeah, I love the character, love the films (though am still quite able to be even-handed when reviewing them). It's understandable you'd want to take it there since you got a little chafed at my suggesting your escalating assault began with a review that would rather have pointed out flaws than prove that it was, indeed, a positive assessment. I don't disagree that you liked the film, but your tendency to seek out a contrary base of opinion went a little too far in this case.

And, again, the actual numbers prove that.

The question remains for me, though, and that is, what hard questions? I'm right there with you on the anti-sheep stance. You know I have the right idea of what a journalist should be (in this or any case). But I still fail to see where a line was fed and followed that didn't have a leg to stand on. Just because some theaters in Milwaukee and Baton Rouge had tickets available last night, that's just not enough for me.

I really don't think Fandago, Movie tickets and the like were out there saying every seat in every theater in every market in every backwater area of every town was gone, or even on the way to being gone. If they had, I'd understand, and fully appreciate, taking such umbrage.

Jeffmcm and blackcloud must get their news from Fox News Channel. At least I stay current on hard news even when I'm on holiday:

Bush crony caught on tape as influence-peddler
(The Sunday Times, UK)

9 US soldiers killed in Afghanistan bombing
(AP)

US court upholds Bush's power to have people seized, jailed without charge
(AP)

Canada deports Iraq war veteran back to US
(Globe & Mail, Toronto)

CNN reporter criticizes US gov't agency, gets put on "Terrorist" watch list
(The Raw Story)

Maryland State Police put war, death penalty opponents on "Terrorist" list
(AP, Baltimore Sun, D.C. papers)

As the song goes, you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. Jeffmcm, blackcloud and every other Batman groupie fall for everything

I haven't seen Batman and I'm aware of every news story you mention, I'm mostly pointing out the cognitive disjunctions in your attempt to combine thought threads.

Charles, your last post exemplifies the paranoid, conspiracy-mongering thinking that has doomed the Left in this country since the late '60s. Your basic charge seems to be that Dark Knight's opening day receipts are a result of the "Liberal Media" feeding the gullible American public hype and PR instead of covering those stories you mentioned. Yet as you point out in your subsequent post, that very same so-called Liberal Media has been covering lots of other stories besides "The Batman." The story about the Maryland State Police surveilleing anti-war and anti-death penalty posters (you might want to read the story more closely, they weren't put on any terrorist list) was A1 in the Washington Post. The attack in Afghanistan got lots of play. So did those other stories. You might want to explain how these news outlets could possibly have time to cover them all when they're so busy fueling the Batman hype train.

Getting past the media, you assume that anyone who falls for the Batman hype, which we'll define as anyone who saw it opening day, can't be bothered to pay attention to anything else going on in the world. So after the left-wing paranoia, you've brought in the typical left-wing condescension that anyone who doesn't see the "truth" is fool or, worse, a knave. That's been strike two against the American Left since the 1960s. Of course, the people who went to see Batman are stupid because the media does not enlighten them. But then again, if they are so stupid, why would the Liberal Media bother hiding all the bad stuff going on in the world, like the "March to National Socialism" taking place in the US? They could shove it out there and, on your view, no one would notice--they're all too busy standing in line for the 6 a.m. show of Dark Knight.

So there we have the essentiall bankruptcy of a certain segment of Left thinking in America, perfectly encapsulated by Charles. Its premises are inherently contradictory, and it is only because of this contradiction that attains its meretricious superficial consistency. And, most typical of that sort of thinking, it can only survive by imputing the worst motives to those who question its own motives and assumptions. I'm sure Jeff, who slags Nicol D *all the time* for embodying the supposed worst of Fox News, would be shocked to learn that that Murdoch-owned enterprise is his sole news source. In truth, you have no idea where he gets his news, any more than you have any idea where I get mine. You merely assume--and it's pretty obvious to just about everyone now that you are an ass--that because we question you we're dupes of Fox News. That's pretty much the same behavior we see from IO. The difference is that whereas his version is merely obnoxious, yours is vile and pernicious. But then it would be. That's what you see in the world, so that's what you get, even if you haven't quite become it yet.

What exactly is your point Chucky? Pop-culture and hard news are not exactly the same. No matter how hard some try to make it so. It's not the case. So, again, enjoy this weekend. Enjoy a flick no one had any faith in being this big... blow all the estimates out of the water. Oh... everyone but me. Never doubt the big dog except in the case of a Wachowski film.

IOI, please change your screenname to "The Big Dog".

Kris... opening weekend numbers don't prove shit about anything but marketing.

Again, I am stunned when smart people like you decide to make an argument that would never agree with at least 80% of the time when it supports what they feel.

Was Indiana Jones the second best film this summer because it had the second best opening? Was "something there" because of the opening?

As for the other stuff -

"I really don't think Fandago, Movie tickets and the like were out there saying every seat in every theater in every market in every backwater area of every town was gone, or even on the way to being gone. If they had, I'd understand, and fully appreciate, taking such umbrage."

This is a bit of dancing really. If in response to the 3-a-day press releases was for media to say, "but they aren't selling out in every backwater town or even Los Angeles, except for those amazing midnight numbers," great.

But the media - which is my endless point - has become a headline culture in which the headline markets the story. Readers aren't often getting past the headline of the first 2 graphs... but much worse, journalists aren't often writing deeper than those first two graphs anymore. Offering that context, even when "they" don't read it, is the core of what we do... it's EVERYTHING. If it isn't what is journalism other than rewriting press releases, whether from Fandango or the US Government?

Where did I say anything about opening weekend numbers being about anything other than marketing, David? I know that's a line you love to bring up constantly -- and it's one I agree with -- I just don't know why you're bringing it up now, because I haven't refuted it.

Also, I don't correlate box office to quality. Never have. So the Indiana Jones comment...out of place here. Not sure why it's being brought up.

I think we're in agreement here more than we think. I don't disagree that the media is obsessed with the easy nature of a headline and will feed on that ad nauseam. But you asked for "hard" questions to be posed, and really, there were none.

There is a difference between looking for perspective and calling foul on a lie, and truthfully, you seemed to suggest that the ticket sales agencies had propagated a falsity that was being put through the cycle over and over again. That is what I take umbrage with.

Again...no one ever said every single show available was sold out. The story (however boiled down to an easily consumable brief) was about records being broken, and two days later, quite clearly, they were.

Actually, the other thing that this huge opening is about, that isn't marketing, is Batman Begins. Take that out of the equation and the interest in the new movie would drop precipitously.

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