THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Opening On More Screens Overseas; Unlikely To Beat THE AVENGERS

Variety reports that in an effort to increase overseas revenue, Warner Bros. have increased the number of screens The Dark Knight Rises will play on. The last instalment in Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise may hold the #4 spot on the domestic list of highest grossing films, but sits way down at #35 on the list of international titles. The site speculates that this may have something to do with the character not being as popular internationally as he is in the US, and make the point that this makes it unlikely we'll see the film come anywhere near Marvel's The Avengers overseas gross of $840 million.

The Dark Knight Rises will play on 15,000 screens altogether, although the lengthy running time of two hours and forty seven minutes limits this number considerably. This is still nearly 4,000 more than The Dark Knight, which grossed $1 billion with $531 million domestic and $469 million overseas. Not a huge difference, but enough that Warner Bros. are apparently feeling the pressure to up its takings later this month, despite one rival studio exec saying, "It really is going to be a dominant film internationally, but I don't know that it will have quite the same appeal as 'The Avengers' for everyone from 8 to 80."

However, there is a huge amount of interest in The Dark Knight Rises (which is being heavily promoted as the final chapter of Christopher Nolan's "Epic Trilogy") and it will roll out in 17 markets on July 20th, before opening in another 38 the following weekend. Also good for the studio is the fact that China will more than likely show this instalment after declining to allow screenings of The Dark Knight back in 2008. Which do you think will eventually come out on top at the box office? Sound off with your thoughts in the usual place.

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Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ "The Dark Knight Rises" is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. The screenplay is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on “Batman Begins” and the record-breaking blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. The film is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

STARRING:

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Michael Caine as Alfred
Gary Oldman as Commissioner Jim Gordon
Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox
Tom Hardy as Bane
Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake
Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate
Josh Pence as Ra's Al Ghul

RELEASE DATE: July 20th, 2012