'The Dark Knight Rises' is hanging on steadily at the top of the U.S. Box Office, allaying fears in some sections that the tragic events in the Aurora Theatre in Detroit might make a severe dent in its takings. Despite an initially sharp drop in sales following those events, the Christopher Nolan-directed film has managed to take in a robust $36.4 million to keep top spot for a third successive week. Its main challenger this weekend was the Colin Farrell-starring remake of 1990 action classic 'Total Recall', which opened with a slightly disappointing $26 million for second spot.
Compared to its hugely successful predecessor 'The Dark Knight', which saw Heath Ledger gain a posthumous Academy award for his role as the Joker, 'The Dark Knight Rises' is now looking good to beat its commercial feats. It's now made around $39 million more than the 2008 film at this point following its release, with sales only dropping a reasonable 28 per cent on the previous weekend.
Coming in at third place, and somewhat contrastingly from 'Total Recall', was the family friendly flick 'Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days', which took in $14.7 million on its debut. It was the third instalment of the film franchise, and took in far less than either of its predecessors. Elsewhere, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' celebrated going over $250 million domestically at the box office, whilst Seth MACfarlane's 'Ted' went over $200 million.