Twelve people were killed and 58 wounded in the hail of gunfire in Friday's Colorado massacre, in which an attacker gunned down film-goers at a packed premier of "The Dark Knight Rises."
This might have proved a marketing nightmare for the studio, and Warner Brothers, initially did not publish weekend box office figures -- a move swiftly followed by rivals, wary of offending the public.
But when figures were released on Monday they showed that "The Dark Knight Rises" -- directed by Christopher Nolan -- had earned $160.9 million in its first three days, according to Exhibitor Relations, which tracks ticket sales.
The last chapter in the Batman trilogy comes behind opening weekend grosses for "The Avengers" ($207.4 million) and the final Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" ($169.2 million).
However both "The Avengers" and "Harry Potter" were 3-D movies, meaning the ticket prices were higher.
"The Dark Knight Rises" had the most profitable weekend of any 2-D film, earning more than the $158.4 million raked in by its 2008 trilogy predecessor, "The Dark Knight," according to industry figures.
The 3-D computer-animated adventure comedy "Ice Age: Continental Drift" was second in box-office receipts, raking in $20.4 million dollars in its second week on the big screen, according to Exhibitor Relations.
Third was "The Amazing Spider-Man," starring Andrew Garfield, with $10.8 million, followed by cheeky teddy bear comedy "Ted" with $10 million, and Pixar studio's 3-D animated fairytale "Brave" with $6 million.
"Magic Mike," starring Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey as male strippers, was in sixth with $4.3 million, while Oliver Stone's drama "Savages" slipped to seventh, with $3.4 million in takings.
Tyler Perry's "Madea's Witness Protection" took eighth slot with $2.25 million in sales and indie coming-of-age movie "Moonrise Kingdom," starring Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Edward Norton, was ninth with $1.8 million.
Rounding off the top ten was the latest Woody Allen comedy, "To Rome With Love," starring Allen, Ellen Page and Alec Baldwin, with $1.4 million, according to Exhibitor Relations. (AFP)
