One of the most anticipated films of the year, The Dark Knight Rises, will open July 20 in both the United States and United Kingdom (July 19 in Malaysia). Co-writer and director Christopher Nolan will deliver the final piece of his Batman trilogy which will have spanned over a seven year period starting from 2005. The second installment, The Dark Knight, was especially well received both critically and commercially, grossing slightly over $1 billion worldwide.
Warner Bros. surely intends to surpass that mark but comparisons will inevitably be cast with rival studio Disney's mega release of the year, The Avengers. The Avengers is the third highest grossing movie of all time at $1.45bn and holds the record for highest opening weekend gross (measure of a film's hype) at $200m. The average viewer probably won't bother comparing the two since their tone and themes are rather different, but business is business for comic book publishers DC and Marvel (sister companies of WB and Disney respectively).
