Weekend box office

With Sunday’s actual sales higher than projected by Warner Bros., “The Dark Knight” handily set a record for the biggest opening weekend gross at domestic theaters. “Mamma Mia!” squeaked past “Hairspray” with the top opening for a musical. “Hellboy II” plunged 71% in its second weekend. Even so, total ticket sales of $260 million also set a record. Sales in the U.S. and Canada, July 18-20:

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Industry totals

*--* -- Movie 3-day gross Total Venues Average Weeks -- (studio) (millions) (millions) -- per venue 1 The Dark Knight $158.4 $158.4 4,366 $36,283 1 -- (Warner Bros.) 2 Mamma Mia! 27.8 27.8 2,976 9,325 1 -- (Universal) 3 Hancock 14.0 191.5 3,776 3,718 3 -- (Sony) 4 Journey to the 12.3 43.5 2,830 4,361 2 Center -- of the Earth -- (Warner Bros.) 5 Hellboy II: The 10.1 56.5 3,212 3,150 2 Golden -- Army -- (Universal) 6 Wall-E 10.1 182.7 3,310 3,042 4 -- (Disney) 7 Space Chimps 7.2 7.2 2,511 2,860 1 -- (20th Century Fox) 8 Wanted 5.1 123.3 2,433 2,085 4 -- (Universal) 9 Get Smart 4.1 119.6 2,135 1,932 5 -- (Warner Bros.) 10 Kung Fu Panda 1.9 206.6 1,505 1,236 7 -- (Paramount) *--*

*--* 3-day gross Change Year-to-date gross Change (in millions) from 2007 (in billions) from 2007 $260.0 +68.3% $5.37 -0.8% *--*

Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue.

Source: Media by Numbers