'The Dark Knight' swoops towards $400m in just 17 days, tops b.o. once again, August 1-3, 2008

For the third straight weekend the Caped Crusader topped the box office, stuffing another massive $43.8 million in its coffers on its record march towards $400 million, fending off big budget challenger The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in the process.

Warner Bros.' blockbuster The Dark Knight fell just 42% to an estimated $43.8 million, surprisingly topping the box office for the third straight weekend, bringing its 17 day total to an incredible $394.9 million. The $185m budgeted superhero pic took just 14 days to reach $350 million, and will likely surpass $400 million on Monday, its 18th day of release, easily shattering the record for fastest film to the mark set by 2004's Shrek 2 in 43 days. Only seven films have ever surpassed $400 million and just one film has ever broken past $500 million domestic, 1997's $600 million grossing Titanic. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the sequel now sits at No. 8 on the all-time domestic list, surpassing the $380.3 million haul of 2005's Star Wars: Episode III.

At its current pace The Dark Knight seems like a shoe in to surpass the $461 million domestic total of 1977's Star Wars as the second highest grossing film of all-time, and should become just the second film in history to surpass $500 million in North America. Look for the Heath Ledger starrer to have a strong August and finish with roughly $535 million by the end of its record-smashing run. Internationally, The Dark Knight grossed another strong $37 million, bringing its overseas cume to $202.5 million. That puts its worldwide haul at a staggering $597.4 million in three weeks, making the $1 billion global mark look like a no brainer.

Universal ponied up nearly $150 million bringing the Mummy franchise back into theaters, and were rewarded with a strong, but perhaps less than hoped for $42.5 million opening. Launching in 3,760 theaters and averaging $11,303, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor posted the lowest opening of any Mummy film. 1999's The Mummy bowed with $43.4 million on its way to $155.3 million domestic. 2001's The Mummy Returns opened with $68.1 million on its way to a franchise record $202 million domestic. Reviews for the big budget sequel were dismal, with just 9% of critics polled by Rottentomatoes.com recommending the film. However, just a 4% drop in sales from Friday to Saturday means the film might be playing better with moviegoers than critics. Still, don't expect the Brendan Fraser-Jet Li starrer to come close to breaking even in North America.

Overseas Dragon Emperor took in $59.5 million from 28 territories, giving the film the top spot globally with a strong $102 million. Look for a majority of its total gross to come from the international market.

Will Ferrell's Step Brothers fell 47% to $16.3 million, pushing its ten-day cume to $63 million. Look for the $65m budgeted Sony comedy to finish with close to $100 million domestic.

Universal's musical Mamma Mia! slipped just 26% to $13.1 million, pushing its three week cume to an excellent $88 million. Budgeted at $52 million, the Meryl Streep starrer should finish with $115-120 million domestic.

New Line/Warner's sleeper hit Journey to the Center of the Earth continued its fantastic run, falling just 29% to $6.9 million, bringing its four week cume to $73.1 million. At its current pace, the $60m budgeted 3D film should finish close to $100 million domestic.

The weekend's only other debut was Kevin Costner's political comedy Swing Vote, which opened with a disappointing $6.3 million in sixth. Averaging just $2,847 in 2,213 theaters, the $21 million budgeted Buena Vista pic was poorly received with critics. Look for the film to have trouble breaking even theatrically.

Pixar-Disney's Wall•E fell a top ten best 26% despite losing nearly 500 theaters this weekend, earning $4.7 million and pushing its six week cume to $204.2 million. That's just a couple million dollars behind last year's global hit Ratatouille which took in $206.4 million domestic and $621 million worldwide. At its current pace the $180 million budgeted film looks likely to surpass DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda ($210.4m) as the highest grossing animated pic of 2008.

Despite the fantastic staying power of The Dark Knight, a disappointing bow from The Mummy caused the box office to finish down 8% from last year's comparable frame when The Bourne Ultimatum opened with $69.3 million. However, it was up a healthy 25% from 2006 when Talladega Nights topped with $47 million.