The Dark Knight Rises achieves biggest 2D movie opening ever

The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, grossed $160.9 million for the weekend, making it the biggest 2D movie opening ever.

With the $88 million made overseas, The Dark Knight Rises worldwide total currently sits at $248.9 million. IMAX announced that the film made $23.8 million from 396 IMAX locations worldwide.

While the The Dark Knight Rises' opening was lower than expected, it's $160.9 million debut is still more than The Dark Knight's $158.4 million debut in 2008.

The Hollywood Reporter says Warner Bros. will make a "substantial" donation to charities supporting the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooting massacre.

Nobody doubted The Dark Knight Rises ability to debut as the No. 1 film in North America, but many in the film industry speculated whether or not it could break the opening weekend record for this summer's other superhero blockbuster, The Avengers, which earned $207 million in its debut. It should be noted that The Avengers, unlike The Dark Knight Rises, was shown in 3D which has higher ticket prices.

Other notable box office numbers include (via):

1. The Dark Knight Rises – $160,887,295
2. Ice Age: Continental Drift: $20,416,978
3. The Amazing Spider-Man – $10,887,111
4. Ted – $10,011,610
5. Brave – $6,024,987

[Exhibitor Relations]