andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

It seems that Ben Stiller can take down The Batman.

According to E! News, “The Dark Knight” finished the weekend box office in second place while Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder” took first place with an opening of $26 million – per studio estimates complied by Exhibitor Relations.

Although “The Dark Knight” failed to remain in the number one spot for the fifth weekend in the row, the Christopher Nolan film became the second all-time ranking movie by bringing in a total of $471.5 million dollars to date – beating out “Star Wars” which grossed $461 million domestically, including re-releases.

“Going in I would have been happy with $250 million,” Warner Bros. distribution chief Dan Fellman said today. “…We went for a ride like the public.”

The movie is expected to reach the $500 million landmark by the Labour Day weekend and it is likely to tap out at about $530 million – making it just about $70 million shy of Titanic’s $601 million domestic record.

“Titanic is king of the box office, and will remain that way forever,” said Fellan.

Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. lead an ensemble cast in Tropic Thunder, an action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to make the biggest war film ever. After ballooning costs (and the out of control egos of the pampered cast) threaten to shut down the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast deep into the jungles of Southeast Asia for “increased realism,” where they inadvertently encounter real bad guys. “Tropic Thunder,” also starring Brandon T. Jackson, is now in theatres.

Jackson spoke with andPOP recently in Toronto.

“Grindhouse” may have bombed at the box office, but it has had a lasting impression.

According to SlashFilm.com, the new Ben Stiller movie, “Tropic Thunder” will feature fake trailers. The idea is taken from the Tarantino-Rodriguez collaboration.

According to the site’s source, one of the trailers is for a faux film called “Satan’s Alley” and featured Robert Downey, Jr. (who stars in “Tropic Thunder”) and Tobey Maguire.

The fake “Grindhouse” trailers were so popular that one of them, “Machete,” is actually being made into a full-length film.