Update #2: The official number has came out a full two hours past when it was originally expected. The Dark Knight Rises grossed $30.6 million in midnights from 3,700 locations. This number is the second highest all-time for the category.
Now our attention turns to the daily record of $91.1 million currently held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. The genre record for a single day belongs to The Avengers which banked $80.8 million on its first 24-hours in theaters less than three months ago.
Update: Because of obvious circumstances related to Warner Bros.’ midnight release of the third Christopher Nolan Batman movie, it is becoming obvious that the midnight numbers will not be as celebrated by the studio’s PR department as they would be under normal circumstances. With that in mind, we do not yet have a figure for how much money The Dark Knight Rises grossed in midnights. The general consensus from third-party data suggests $30 million which means it is now the biggest 12 AM opening for the superhero genre and one of the biggest late night debuts of all time. This is still second fiddle to Harry Potter’s $43 million, but it definitely is not too shabby.
Original 7/19: Reports are starting to surface that the midnight numbers for The Dark Knight Rises are set to beat that of The Avengers. This may seem odd to a whole lot of people because this posting is before 10 PM on the east coast, but keep in mind nearly all midnight IMAX showings midnight have been sold out since earlier in the day. If The Dark Knight Rises hopes to win the superhero crown for 12 AM time period, it will need to pass $18.7 million which is considered laughably easy especially when taking into account that The Dark Knight four years ago found $18.1 million in the time frame with cheaper tickets and far less hype.
There are no figures just yet for how big these late night screenings will be, but over 3,000 theaters are expected to take part tonight and…Well, it might just give Harry Potter a run for its money. Nobody is coming out and saying that from the studios or blogs just yet simply because that franchise’s finale banked over $43 million in midnights last July. That number was absolutely ‘insurmountable,’ but then again people thought the same about the film’s opening weekend which got demolished by The Avengers less than ten months later.
Stay tuned for an update tomorrow before noon on the actual tally.
Related: Early Box Office Tracking Has ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Opening Beyond $180 Million