Christopher Nolan’s final adaption of the original DC comics – which have traditionally struggled away from home – has sold strongly in every territory it has opened in, with the United Kingdom leading from the front with a gross of $86.5 million.
Of the 35 highest grossing films ever made, only Steven Spielberg’s E.T. joins The Dark Knight Rises by doing more business abroad than it did domestically in the United States.
The Dark Knight Rises took $5.7 million from China alone this weekend, taking $42 million from the country in just under two weeks. Nolan’s second film The Dark Knight was banned by the Chinese government.
The latest figures mean around 48 per cent of the Batman franchise’s $3.6 billion in grosses have come from international territories, compared with Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter franchise, which drew 69 per cent of its $7.7 billion gross domestically, or the studio’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, which made 65 percent of its $2.9 billion away from home. But no single film performed so well across the world as The Dark Knight Rises.
Producer on The Dark Knight Rises Michael Uslan credited Nolan with broadening the character’s appeal and making him current, telling The Wrap: “Batman represents 75 years of folklore in the United States but the rest of the world has only known him for the past 10 years.”
