Warner Bros. delays Batman box office reports

A sign lists movie times at Regal Cinemas at Crossgates Mall in Albany, N.Y., Friday, July 20, 2012. / AP Photo/Mike Groll

(AP) NEW YORK - Hollywood studios aligned in a rare show of solidarity to give their weekend box-office reporting a rest because of the shootings in Colorado at a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Sony, Fox, Disney, Universal, Fox and Lionsgate said Saturday that they are joining "Dark Knight Rises" distributor Warner Bros. in withholding their box-office numbers for the weekend.

Warner Bros. announced Friday that it would forgo the usual revenue reports until Monday out of respect for the victims and their families in the shooting that killed 12 and wounded 58 at the midnight show earlier in the day.

The other studios said they also would not be reporting numbers until Monday. Paramount didn't immediately say whether they were joining. Box-office tracking service Rentrak said it would not report figures this weekend.

Sunday box-office estimates are a weekly routine for Hollywood, with studios jostling for bragging rights as the No. 1 movie and always aiming to break revenue records.

Before the shooting in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater at a midnight screening of the new Batman film, the box-office performance of "The Dark Knight Rises" had been eagerly anticipated. The film is expected to be among the most lucrative movie openings and possibly contend with the record $207.4 million brought in by "The Avengers."

But that now appears unlikely, even though "The Dark Knight Rises" earned $30.6 million from midnight screenings alone. Hollywood trade publications Variety and Hollywood Reporter reported estimates of roughly $75 million to $77 million for the film on Friday, based on box-office insiders.

That would put in on track for somewhere around $165 million for the weekend. Such a total would be the second highest weekend opening ever, after "The Avengers."

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Shooting rampage in Colo. theater

Any projections, though, are bound to be rough approximates given the atypical nature of the situation. Many of Friday's tickets were presold before the shooting. Moviegoers making their way to theaters also faced increased security and, in some places, bag checks. AMC Theaters, the country's second-largest movie chain, said it would not allow costumed fans or face-covered masks into its theaters.

Warner Bros. rushed to react to the tragedy, immediately canceling a Friday night premiere in Paris. On Saturday, it also canceled the other remaining red-carpet extravaganzas in Mexico City and Tokyo.

The studio, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., also moved to pull trailers from its upcoming film "Gangster Squad" from theaters. The trailer of the film, which stars Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling in a ruthless war between Los Angeles police and the mob, includes a scene of mobsters firing into a crowded movie theater from behind the screen.

[WinWin2012]

Warner Brothers should donate a portion of proceeds from the Dark Knight to the victims and their families. Sign this petition if you agree: http://www.change.org/petitions/warner-bros-donate-some-proceeds-from-the-dark-knight-to-a-fund-for-the-aurora-victims?share_id=MwDtxfMyKw

[shatface]

Whoever wrote this article needs to do more research can't believe you work for cbs. Go ahead check 165 mil thing again.

[soofligo]

I'm not understanding how delaying the reporting of box office does anything.... how about sell many Batman movie tickets, and donate all or portion of it to grieving family members as an act of sympathy/empathy.

[soofligo]

We live in an era where people/ entity/ politicians make these superficial statements and expect extraordinary results/ response. But in this case, "delaying of reporting of box office", what the heck does that for the Victims and their families. It is neither an act of gesture of kindness nor a comforting superficial statements. It's just plain stupid. It just undermines the wounds of those who have lost their loved ones.

[Etherbeard]

How about this? It would be unseemly for Warner Brothers to be projecting estimates all weekend. Pretty simple. Otherwise you'd have media goofballs talking about how much money Batman is making instead focusing on the tragedy... I suppose the terrible irony is that the ass-hat that wrote this article decided to focus on box office projections anyway.

[Jaylah54200]

I'm not really understanding how delaying the reporting of box office receipts does anything. I doubt that any of the families or loved ones of those killed or critically wounded in this tragedy are going to sit around saying, "Well, at least they delayed reporting box-office numbers until Monday!!"

As to the "increased security" at movie theaters, isn't that pretty much locking the barn doors after the horse is gone?