Exactly as would be expected, The Dark Knight Rises retained its spot at the top of the domestic box office chart for the second consecutive weekend.  After last week's opening made the Batman sequel the third-biggest debut of all time with $160.8 million, the second frame saw the film earning an estimated $64.1 million for a Stateside total of $289.08 million in ten days.  Adding in the $248.2 million that Christopher Nolan's final Gotham-based adventure has brought in from foreign territories, and The Dark Knight Rises now stands at $537.2 million.

That $64.1 million haul is a 60% drop from the movie's first weekend, and is smaller than the $75.1 million earned by its beloved predecessor The Dark Knight in its second weekend back in 2008.  The fairly steep drop for The Dark Knight Rises is at least partially attributable to the front-loaded nature of this sequel, which was so eagerly anticipated that much of the audience downright needed to have their asses in seats as early as humanly possible. 

On Friday, it was looking as though this weekend was going to be significantly less king to Batman, as the film's $18 million Friday estimate marked a 76% decline from last week.  Of course, cinemas had to compete with the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics in London, an event that fairly well monopolized national attention with a record-setting 40.7 million viewers.

There were only two new national releases this weekend to offer fresh competition for Batman, and both came in behind holdover Ice Age: Continental Drift, which is in second place.

The Watch debuted in third place with an estimated $13.3 million.  That's less than you'd expect from a team-up of comedic leading men like Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, and Vince Vaughn, all of whom are proven, if not always consistent, commercial assets.  20th Century Fox's marketing effort on the film didn't quite distinguish The Watch as an R rated ensemble comedy with science fiction elements, instead positioning it as a fairly generic comedy.  A not-particularly welcoming response from critics surely didn't help, either.

In fourth place we find fellow newcomer Step Up Revolution, the fourth installment in the dancing franchise.  The film debuted with $11.8 million, bolstered by its 3D presence.  Still, that marks the lowest opening in the series so far.  Past films demonstrated, however, that the international appeal of the Step Up movies is almost astonishingly strong, meaning that this sequel should perform quite well overseas and make up for cooling enthusiasm at home.

1. The Dark Knight Rises                       $64.1 million        $289.1 million

2. Ice Age: Continental Drift                  $13.3 million        $114.8 million

3. The Watch                                          $13.0 million        New Release

4. Step Up Revolution                           $11.8 million        New Release

5. Ted                                                     $7.4 million         $193.6 million

6. The Amazing Spider-Man                 $6.8 million         $242.1 million

7. Brave                                                 $4.2 million         $217.3 million

8. Magic Mike                                        $2.6 million         $107.6 million

9. Savages                                             $1.8 million         $43.9 million

10. Moonrise Kingdom                          $1.4 million         $38.4 million

Friday, August 3rd will see wide releases for the Total Recall remake and family-oriented Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.