The Dark Knight Rises At Movie Theatres – Biff Bam Pop’s Box Office Predictions, Weekend of July 20th, 2012

The big question this weekend isn’t “will The Dark Knight Rises top the box office?” No, the only question worth asking is simply, “how much money will The Dark Knight Rises make this weekend?” Find out our prediction after the jump!

The Dark Knight Rises this weekend.

The wait is over, as Christopher Nolan brings his Batman trilogy to a close. Returning are Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman, while newcomers Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard are also added to the mix. Reviews for the film have been stellar so far, the trailers enticing and the hype reaching maximum overdrive. With all that, will The Dark Knight Rises be able to break the $206 million opening weekend record set by The Avengersback in May?

Probably not.

With a nearly three-hour running time and a lack of (more expensive) 3D theatres, The Dark Knight Rises will lack that extra push needed to reach Avengers heights. However, it could come close. Extremely close. With $25 million in advance ticket sales, I’m predicting that The Dark Knight Rises will become the second film in box office history to hit $200 million during its opening weekend. $200.5 million to be exact. We’ll see how things turn out on Sunday.

As for the rest of the top five, Ice Age: Continental Drift will have to settle for a very distance second this weekend with $22 million. The Amazing Spider-Man will lose that comic book audience and wind up in third with $18 million. Ted should cuddle up to fourth place with $13 million, while Magic Mike will close things out in fifth with $7 million.

So, to recap, here are our predictions:

1) The Dark Knight Rises – $200.5 million
2) Ice Age: Continental Drift – $22 million
3) The Amazing Spider-Man – $18 million
4) Ted – $13 million
5) Magic Mike – $7 million

Be sure to check back on Sunday to see how the weekend turns out!