'Dark Knight Rises' grosses $249 million on opening weekend

MARIA SAEED

KARACHI: After remaining silent all weekend following Friday's massacre in Aurora, Colorado, Warner Bros. confirmed Monday that "The Dark Knight Rises" debuted with $249 million in worldwide ticket sales.

The highly-awaited film raked in $160.9 million in the U.S. and Canada and $88 million overseas.

The debut makes “The Dark Knight Rises” the biggest 2D opening ever ahead of its 2008 predecessor, “The Dark Knight.” It also gives the film the third-largest opening after 3D films “The Avengers” with $207.4 million and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” with $169.2 million.

Still the take home for "The Dark Knight Rises" has come in way below earlier projections, which ranged from $170 million to $200 million in the US and Canada alone.

Sony, Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Lionsgate joined “The Dark Knight Rises” distributor Warner Bros. in publicly withholding their weekend box office figures. They did so out of respect for the victims and families of the Colorado incident.

Following behind “The Dark Knight Rises” in the No. 2 spot was “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” the animated Fox film which dropped 56 percent in its second weekend to make just $20.4 million, and Sony’s superhero reboot “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which earned $10.9 million during its third weekend at the box office coming in at third position.

Warner Bros are reportedly donating a 'substantial' amount of money to help victims of the Colorado shooting.

Collecting a whopping $160.9 million, the Hollywood studio is giving back to the Aurora community following the tragic shooting incident that killed 12 moviegoers and injured more than 58 others.

Warner Bros. contacted Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper's office and announced they would deliver the charity through Givingfirst.org.