Box Office Review: Dark Knight again!

Ledger continues to sketch an indelible portrait. | Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

For an unprecedented fourth week in a row, The Dark Knight fought its way to the top of the box office heap ($26M/$441.5M). Pineapple Express mounted a strong challenge on Friday, but faded slightly as the weekend continued ($22.4M/$40.4M). The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor endured--as expected--a precipitous drop in its second weekend but still managed to rake in an undeserved $16.1M ($70.6M). After that it was the weekend's other wide newcomer, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, which pulled in $10.7M ($19.7M) despite the fact that none of the film's winsome co-stars had a topless scene.

Hold-overs filled out the rest of the top 10: the unexpectedly hilarious Step Brothers ($8.9M/$80.9M); the cute Mamma Mia! ($8M/$104M); the pedestrian Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D ($4.8M/$81.7M); the awful Hancock ($3.3M/$221.7M); the god awful Swing Vote ($3.1M/$12M); and the endearing Wall-E ($3M/$210.1M). In the limited release crowd, Bottle Shock did mediocre business ($6145 per theater); Beer for My Horses flopped ($2483 per); Elegy was strong ($17,000); Hell Ride was not ($1018); and Patti Smith: Dream of Life was above average ($8080).