Dark Knight Passes $400 Million

That’s one wealthy superhero guy. 

Which is worth more, Bruce Wayne’s estate or The Dark Knight? Well, in 2005 Forbes magazine’s Fictional Fifteen gave Wayne Enterprises an estimated worth of $6.3 billion, and put Bruce Wayne, if he were a real person in 28th place on their list of richest Americans. So while we don’t know how Wayne has weathered this year’s economic downturn, right now it’s a good bet that the international conglomerate is more lucrative–but the movie is probably more fun.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Dark Knight passed the $400 million mark in only 18 days, blowing away Shrek 2′s previous speed record of 43 days. The Lovable Green Monster sequel is third on the list of movies to pass $400 million domestically, topping off at $436.7 million. Star Wars is in second place with $461 million, and in first place is Titanic, which is practically in its own category with $600.8 million (and remember, this is just in North America–we al know how Titanic did internationally).

I don’t know if The Dark Knight is going to get into Titanic territory, but it certainly is possible that it might move ahead of Star Wars. I’m sure if you inflation adjust the dollars and break out the IMAX tickets, it might be a different story, but just now let’s keep things uncomplicated and go with straightforward totals.

The Dark Knight is of course doing well overseas, but probably has seen its last weekend at number one here, with the much heralded Pineapple Express opening. Interestingly, Pineapple Express and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 are both opening today instead of Friday, ostensibly because they want to avoid getting swept away in excitement over the Olympics opening this weekend. I find this strange because the target audiences for each–teen and twenty something guys and teenage girls–aren’t really the ones you’re going to find running to sit down in front of the TV to watch parades and flags and salutes to international peace through sports. More likely they’ll be leading a parade to run away from such an event.