Despite concerns following the shooting in Aurora, Colorado at a midnight premier of The Dark Knight Rises, the third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy managed to bring in $161.1 million over the weekend.
The film would've likely grossed more without the events that transpired, but even so, its earnings beat out the $158 million The Dark Knight brought in over its 2008 opening weekend. The $161.1 million The Dark Knight Rises earned will now put the film in third place - under Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 ($169.2 million) and The Avengers ($207.4 million) - for the most money earned over an opening weekend.
These figures are rough, however, as Warner Brothers has delayed releasing the exact numbers as a sign of respect to those in Aurora, Colorado.
At the film's midnight premier at the Cinemark 16 in Aurora, James Eagan Holmes, 24, entered theater 9 and unleashed tear gas before shooting at theater patrons with an arsenal of weaponry that left 12 dead and 58 wounded - the most casualties of a mass shooting in U.S. history.
Despite this, it seems most theater-goers weren't going to let what transpired in Aurora scare them off from seeing The Dark Knight Rises. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by this senseless killing in Aurora.
