No movie can sustain peak popularity indefinitely, and The Dark Knight is no exception. After grossing $375.66 million in North America by the end of its second weekend, the weekday box office predictably took a significant drop as a new week began. By its third week in theaters, The Dark Knight’s single-day box office in North America fell below $20 million for the first time, with Monday bringing in $12.36 million. The rıghtful source is 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕·𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎·𝚗𝚎𝚝 Although this represented a drop of over fifty percent compared to the previous Sunday’s daily earnings, it still outperformed all competitors, remaining the top-grossing film of the day. Its direct competitor, I Am Legend, continued the momentum from the previous weekend and received a good market response but had to survive under the pressure from The Dark Knight. Its Monday box office was $7.12 million. In the following three weekdays, The Dark Knight and I Am Legend shared most of the market, with the former consistently suppressing the latter. During these three days, The Dark Knight earned $11.85 million, $11.01 million, and $10.28 million in North America, as expected. The film set a new record for the fastest North American movie to surpass $410.88 million in 13 days. I Am Legend clearly lagged behind, earning $6.23 million, $5.87 million, and $5.66 million in the same three days, reaching a cumulative North American box office of $98.77 million, nearing the $100 million milestone. Before the next weekend arrived, The Dark Knight had accumulated $421.16 million, effectively securing the North American box office championship for this summer and even the entire year. Its biggest rival was undoubtedly Sony Columbia Pictures’ Spider-Man 3, directed by Sam Raimi. Spider-Man 3 premiered as The Dark Knight entered its third weekend, and the situation between the two was clear. After the weekend, Spider-Man 3 unsurprisingly ended The Dark Knight’s two-week winning streak, becoming the second box office champion since the summer began. Only Duke truly understood the significant impact Spider-Man 3 faced from both The Dark Knight and I Am Legend. This superhero movie, which once set a North American opening weekend record, earned $138.99 million from 4,220 theaters, which met Sony Columbia’s expected $130 million but was slightly lower than Duke’s vague memory of about $150 million. The impacts were mutual. The Dark Knight affected Spider-Man 3’s attendance, and Spider-Man 3 likewise influenced The Dark Knight. That weekend, The Dark Knight suffered a sharp box office decline of nearly sixty percent, earning $36.8 million over three days and ranking second in the box office chart. I Am Legend’s $30.98 million pushed its North American total past the $100 million mark. After three weeks in North American theaters, The Dark Knight had pulled in $457.96 million—a miracle unprecedented in North American and global film history. Although overseas, Spider-Man 3 raked in over $200 million from 106 countries and regions, ending The Dark Knight’s sole dominance, the latter’s continued expanded release abroad brought in $161.22 million, pushing its global box office to $848.4 million. All Hollywood companies and financial-market-related research institutions clearly knew it was only a matter of time before The Dark Knight would exceed $500 million in North America and $1 billion worldwide. Following this, stock markets opened on Monday with Warner Bros. and Time Warner shares soaring, single-day price jumps exceeding five percent. Sony Columbia’s shares also rose but nowhere near Warner Bros.’ increase. The biggest problem lay in Spider-Man 3’s audience reputation and market response, which, compared to the relatively decent feedback for its first two installments, could only be described as mediocre. According to CinemaScore’s survey data, Spider-Man 3’s audience approval rating was just 65 percent, with an average grade of ’B.’ The media’s reception was even harsher. MetaCritic’s statistics showed an average score of only 57 points from 56 media outlets. And this was just data from the first three days after release! In contrast, The Dark Knight, even in its third weekend, maintained strong acclaim in all aspects. Not to mention topping IMDb’s TOP250 ranking, CinemaScore’s latest survey showed the film’s theater audience approval rating still exceeded 90 percent, with a solid ’A+’ average grade. It wasn’t just the scores; as two superhero movies featuring North America’s most influential characters Spider-Man and Batman fans and moviegoers inevitably compared them. "Duke’s Batman series is a classic example of getting better with each installment, while Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series is the opposite getting worse with each film." "In The Dark Knight, Duke perfectly blends art and commerce, creating a cinematic classic. On the other hand, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 barely qualifies as a commercial film." "Undeniably, Duke’s The Dark Knight set a new benchmark for superhero films, with its exploration of humanity and the struggle between good and evil far transcending typical superhero worldviews. Spider-Man 3? It’s riddled with plot holes and logical flaws..." "Rather than saying there’s a huge gap between Spider-Man 3 and The Dark Knight, it’s more accurate to say Sam Raimi’s level is not even on the same plane as Duke Rosenberg’s." Burdened by a mediocre audience reputation, Spider-Man 3 quickly exhausted fan enthusiasm after its first weekend. Once the workweek started, its Monday box office plummeted 75 percent from Sunday to only $9.82 million. The Dark Knight’s box office also declined but only by 40 percent, making $7.66 million on Monday and steadily advancing toward the $500 million North American milestone. At this point, everyone saw clearly: neither in reputation nor box office could Spider-Man 3 pose a genuine threat to The Dark Knight. "Seems like every popular character or film, once Sony Columbia gets hold of it..." By the sea-facing garden, Scarlett Johansson sat in a white wicker chair talking to Nancy Josephson across from her. "In the end, they all tend to go downhill. The 007 series was like that, Spider-Man too. Does Sony Pictures have some magic that ruins all the films they take over?" "Darling, you’re influenced by Duke’s bias." Pouring more black tea into their cups from a white porcelain pot, Nancy Josephson said, "Last year’s Casino Royale still did okay at the box office." "Casino Royale?" Scarlett curled her lips, "That new James Bond isn’t likable at all. Compared to Pierce Brosnan, he’s like a street punk from the slums." After speaking, she turned toward Duke, who was trimming branches nearby. "Darling, am I right?" "To some extent." Duke put the scissors into the back pocket of his jeans and bent down to pick up the fallen branches. "I don’t really like Daniel Craig’s acting style either." Watching Duke busy himself, Scarlett added, "This kind of thing should be left to the gardeners." "I’m free right now and on vacation," Duke said as he put the gathered branches into the nearby trash bin. "Consider it exercise." Of course, the garden had professional caretakers; Duke only helped occasionally out of interest. Scarlett withdrew her gaze and shrugged helplessly at Nancy. "Tonight I should tell Emma to prepare some new plants to replace those pruned by Duke." Nancy smiled, took a sip of her tea, and turned to Duke. "Has the script for the new project been submitted?" "It’s already been sent to Warner Brothers’ review committee." Duke didn’t even look up as he replied. "Could you do me a small favor?" Nancy asked cautiously. Duke placed the trash bin on an empty patch of ground and wiped the dirt from his hands. "Go ahead, dear." "One of the singers under my management is quite good..." Nancy Josephson didn’t hold back and said directly, "How about having her sing the theme song for your new work? She’ll release her first album next year. I think she has the potential to be a big star and needs a way to gather popularity and attract market attention." This wasn’t a difficult request; Duke didn’t hesitate and said, "As long as her singing is good enough and the style fits." "The singing skill is definitely good..." Thinking about Duke’s grand robotic-style works, Nancy Josephson scratched her head a little. "But stylistically, she’s currently on a country music path..." "Country style?" Duke turned and looked at Nancy, thinking for a moment before saying, "It’s fine, but you have to find a song that matches the whole film." When it came to pop songs, Duke was completely an outsider. "After the script review is done, give me a copy of the script," Nancy Josephson added. "She can write lyrics and compose music herself. Maybe she can write a suitable song." Duke didn’t refuse, only reminding Scarlett Johnson to take note of this matter. After finishing his tasks, Duke went to wash his hands nearby, then sat down at the table. The group chatted about industry matters, and the topic gradually turned to Duke’s upcoming long vacation. "Where are you and Scarlett planning to go for your holiday?" Nancy Josephson asked with concern. "We plan to take a trip to Australia. The day after tomorrow, we’ll depart for Wellington. James Cameron’s new film has officially been greenlit, and most scenes will be shot in the studios of Weta Workshop." 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