It’s probably a good thing for journalism that The Dark Knight Rises didn’t gross the $190 million projected for its opening weekend. Otherwise, media headlines would have been overloaded with every variation of the word rising you can think of—or at least just a lot of “The Dark Knight Rises to the top of the box office.”

Whether or not the film’s weaker-than-expected initial weeks were somehow related to a fear of being shot post-Colorado massacre, The Dark Knight Rises stands to make a lot of money. But who cares? Sure, it is pretty hard now to disassociate the film with the infamous “Batman shooting,” and yes, some arguments point to a mythological “Batman curse,” and OK, the last one probably made more money because people were sad about Heath Ledger. So, “Who cares?” Well, it is fairly obvious that a lot of people care. Box office analysts, to be more specific, and some fans who have a strange urge to see their favourite franchise earn a lot of many as though they will somehow own a share of that money simply by remaining loyal fans.

The Dark Knight Rises has and will continue to break various box office records. Analysts cite the trend of “front-loaded” moviegoing in which the majority of a film’s money is made during the opening weeks of buzz and midnight screenings—but with TDKR‘s “slow” start, the film is bound to break some more records at some point.

But what is all this breaking of records anyway? Is it all that it appears to be? Continue Reading