ANOTHER weekend, another top spot for Batman’s The Dark Knight. For the fourth week in succession, the Christopher Nolan movie dominated the US box office, earning an estimated $26 million to become the third-biggest movie of all time.

The impressive figures meant that the film clung on to the top spot in spite of yet more competition from “stoner action comedy” The Pineapple Express which took an estimated $22.4 million in the three-day period from Friday, August 8 to August 11, 2008.

The Dark Knight‘s 24 day total now stands at a whopping $441.5 million, which means that it now ranks at No. 3 on the all-time list, behind Titanic ($601 million( and Star Wars ($461 million).

Distributor Warner Bros is now anticipating that the film will hit about $520 million in domestic business.

However, when taking inflation into account, The Dark Knight sits at 49th in the all-time list, some way short of Gone With The Wind, which would have made $1.4 billion in today’s dollars.

Elsewhere at the American box office, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor dropped off a massive 60 per cent in its second week, taking a further $16.1 million and bringing its total gross to $70.7 million.

The film, which continues to perform below industry expectation, nonetheless still caps a memorable summer for its star, Brendan Fraser, who is poised to lay claim to two movies that have grossed in excess of $100 million.

In spite of its failing fortunes, The Mummy 3 is still likely to nudge past the $100 million landmark, while Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which has currently earned $81.8 million, could yet do the same.

Another film to successfully cross the $100 million threshold, however, was Mamma Mia!, which continues to prove a popular draw among female audiences.

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