The Dark Knight Rises Earns $161 Million On Opening Weekend

The Dark Knight Rises took in an impressive $161 million this past weekend, despite the tragic shooting that occurred at the Denver premiere. The film snagged the record for highest opening ever for a 2D film, which many expected it would, and it also received the honor for the third highest opening of all time, behind The Avengers with $207.4 million and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 with $169.2 million.

While the $161 million isn’t anything to look down upon, I did expect a bit more. After all, this is The Dark Knight Rises we’re talking about, it’s one of the most anticipated films of the decade.

I feel like the Denver tragedy may have hurt the film a bit but even then, I really thought it would break $200 million, and I was really hoping it would. I guess those 3D ticket sales really do help, eh?

Even without the 3D boosting the box office numbers, the film will carry its momentum through to the next couple of weeks and I don’t think it will have any issue surpassing the $1 billion mark.

What do you think? Impressive opening or did it fall short of your expectations?

Check out the full top 10 list for this weekend’s box office below:

1. “The Dark Knight Rises,” Warner Bros., $160,887,295, 4,404 locations, $36,532 average, $160,887,295, one week.

2. “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” Fox, $20,416,978, 3,886 locations, $5,254 average, $88,840,284, two weeks.

3. “The Amazing Spider-Man,” Sony, $10,887,111, 3,753 locations, $2,901 average, $228,611,425, three weeks.

4. “Ted,” Universal, $10,011,310, 3,214 locations, $3,115 average, $180,431,425, four weeks.

5. “Brave,” Disney, $6,024,987, 2,899 locations, $2,078 average, $208,774,173, five weeks.

6. “Magic Mike,” Warner Bros., $4,291,432, 2,606 locations, $1,647 average, $101,966,459, four weeks.

7. “Savages,” Universal, $3,398,880, 2,336 locations, $1,455 average, $40,055,075, three weeks.

8. “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection,” Lionsgate, $2,253,074, 1,540 locations, $1,463 average, $60,289,622, four weeks.

9. “Moonrise Kingdom,” Focus Features, $1,831,471, 895 locations, $2,046 average, $36,087,959, nine weeks.

10. “To Rome With Love,” Sony, $1,420,891, 552 locations, $2,574 average, $11,107,993, five weeks.