Out of respect for all those affected by the senseless, violent act, Warner Bros, which distributed The Dark Knight Rises, refrained from releasing box office estimates, and the other major studios followed suit.  Now, actual figures have been released, and the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy opened to $160.8 million at the domestic box office.

That's the third biggest American opening of all time, behind the $207.4 million debut of The Avengers in May and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2's $169.1 million last summer.  Unlike either of those films, The Dark Knight Rises did not benefit from a 3D release and the inflated ticket prices that accompany them.  For context, more than half of the tickets sold for The Avengers in its opening were for 3D shows.  While Nolan's last Batdance saw special IMAX exhibitions, the number of IMAX screens is a fraction of 3D screens nationwide.  The film earned roughly $19 million from 332 IMAX locations.

So domestically, The Dark Knight Rises knocked the opening of The Dark Knight down to fourth place on the all-time chart.

Internationally, the last Batman to star Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader grossed $88 million in 17 different territories.  That brings its three-day global total to $249 million.  Word of mouth is strong and the film received a strong A CinemaScore.  Combined with the event movie hyperbole surrounding the film and the finality of it as a trilogy-capper, that should mean that The Dark Knight Rises will continue to hold well over the next several weeks.

Here are the official numbers for the weekend of July 20th-22nd:

1. The Dark Knight Rises                     $160.8 million       New Release

2. Ice Age: Continental Drift                $20.4 million        $88.8 million

3. The Amazing Spider-Man                $10.8 million        $228.6 million

4. Ted                                                    $10.0 million        $180.4 million

5. Brave                                                 $6.0 million         $208.7 million

6. Magic Mike                                        $4.2 million         $101.9 million

7. Savages                                             $3.3 million         $40.0 million

8. Madea's Witness Protection            $2.2 million         $60.2 million

9. Moonrise Kingdom                           $1.8 million         $36.0 million

10. To Rome With Love                        $1.4million         $11.1 million

This Friday sees wide releases for The Watch and Step Up Revolution, along with Ruby Sparks, Klown, Killer Joe, and Searching for Sugar Man in limited release.