TLK

You are right. It is pretty obvious that Nikki doesn't have direct access to the data and that she gets information from her studio contacts . If studios are serious about not reporting they can shut off access to Nikki and I think this is what has happened. She hasn't updated her numbers today in hours.

This is going to hurt the franchise as this is what people will remember about TDKR years from now but that headline is sensationalism at its worst. This guy is deranged and just because he identified himself as Joker doesn't mean that everyone has to pretend he is some Batman super villain.

'Dark Knight' Shooting: In Gesture of Sympathy, Studios May Not Report Box Office Grosses This Weekend Warner Bros. said late Friday afternoon that it wouldn't report weekend grosses for The Dark Knight Rises out of respect for the victims of the shooting, which occurred during a midnight screening of the film in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Throughout the evening, other studios began indicating they would refrain from reporting grosses as well over the weekend. Ditto for Rentrak, the service that collects box office data from theater owners across the country. Full Story - www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dark-knight-rises-shooting-no-box-office-report-352717

I know it is Onion but it is still very wrong. http://www.theonion.com/articles/some-fucking-guy-at-warner-bros-wondering-what-sho,28859/ Some Fucking Guy At Warner Bros. Wondering What Shooting Of 12 Means For Ticket Sales July 20, 2012 | ISSUE 48•29 Related Articles [*]Nation's Music Snobs Protest Predictable Use Of Metallica, Pantera To Torture Prisoners 11.21.09 [*]Opening Band Issues Two-More-Songs Warning 04.16.03 LOS ANGELES—According to sources, some soulless fucking piece of shit at Warner Bros. is wondering how last night's tragic shooting of 12 people at a screening of Dark Knight Rises will affect ticket sales for the blockbuster film. "God, I hope this doesn't ruin our shot at the opening weekend box office record,” said the unimaginable asshole, noting that the cold-blooded murder of a dozen innocent people could deter moviegoers from seeing the film with friends throughout the weekend. "At least the international numbers will still be very strong. We can take comfort in that.” At press time, the oily, subhuman son of a bitch was reassuring coworkers the movie would definitely still finish number one in North American box office receipts for 2012.

WTF? Nikki is still counting 30 million presales separately from the Friday numbers.$80M Friday: Box Office: $120M Worldwide: $30M Pre-Sales, $10.4M Foreign

Nope. IMAX will make a big part of that 50 million.

Gitesh Pandya ‏@giteshpandya #TDKR update from a different source: FRI now tracking to finish in low 80s. West coast evening shows now starting.

Ben Fritz ‏@benfritz A lot of today's box office for "Dark Knight Rises" is pre-sales, so tough to say yet if shooting has any impact

These sort of things affect family audiences. Maybe they shouldn't but they do. It is natural for people to hesitate before taking their families to theaters after an event like this. It shouldn't effect college age audience though.

I think WB fears that reporting big numbers may seem like gloating and a bit tasteless. Like I said earlier, studios PR department is very sensitive because they are in people business.

Click the link for full statement from Nolan http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118056875 Josh Dickey ‏@Variety_JLD Nolan statement: “Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ I would like to express our profound sorrow ... Christopher Nolan on shootings: 'unbearably savage' Helmer breaks silence on Aurora massacre By Variety Staff Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of "The Dark Knight Rises", I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community. I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.

Warner Bros May Not Report Box Office For ‘Dark Knight Rises’ All Weekend By NIKKI FINKE | Friday July 20, 2012 @ 3:27pm PDT Comments (1) EXCLUSIVE: I’ve just been told by a Warner Bros spokeswoman that the studio may do this “out of sensitivity to people”. Through midday today the studio was reporting The Dark Knight Rises grosses internationally and domestically as usual. Now it may suspend its box office reporting all weekend for Christopher Nolan’s final Batman trilogy installment. A final decision has not yet been made. It would be a highly unusual step for a company in the movie business that’s part of publicly owned Time Warner. And it is certainly the studio’s right to stay mute the rest of the weekend. However, the numbers will still get out because every Hollywood studio follows Rentrak’s reporting of grosses. So rival studios will tell reporters like me how The Dark Knight Rises is doing.

Best thing about Nikki's updates is that she is counting 30 million presales on top of everything.85+10.5+30=125.5 million

I will be surprised if it makes more than 56-57 million for the day. Its late afternoon shows appear to be weaker than either THG or TA in the areas I track. It is doing very well after 7 PM as there are a lot of sell outs so that may compensate for its matinee weakness.

Midnight is 30.64 million. Someone asked xia for his old predictions and he provided that.

I think she is counting presales.

How am I supposed to give any evidence for this? I am basing this on human nature. A lot of parents will draw a line at their 11-12 year olds going to watch this movie this weekend.

Friday screenings are already sold out. You will see some family audience drop off on Saturday/Sunday. It's Sat/Sun won't match TA's Sat/Sun.

Gitesh Pandya ‏@giteshpandya Super early to know for sure, but source tells me #TDKR now heading for possible high 80s FRI incl midnights.

THR says 80-90 Million Friday. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dark-knight-rises-colorado-shooting-box-office-352539 According to early returns, the superhero tentpole is poised to gross between $80 million to $90 million on Friday for a weekend opening in the $175 million to $180 million range -- the second-best three-day debut of all time after The Avengers ($207 million).

I think WB feared that violent ads may cause some backlash. Studio PR departments are very sensitive to these type of things. They also removed Gangster Squad ads from all theaters. Expect them to tone these ads down and they will start running by next week.

Copycat fears are always real in situations like these. Odds of it happening in your theater are miniscule but odds of some crazy person trying to pull it off in some theater somewhere isn't that small.

I just read on DHD that the shooter was dressed as Joker. True ???

Don't want to get into a controversial debate but I feel the same way. People who do this sort of thing have given up on their life and a lot of them either commit suicide or die in a gun battle. Death penalty is an easy way out for scum like these.

I think WB will eventually release toned down ads and they will restart playing them next week.