Stop the presses! Sure, Dark Knight made the record for biggest opening weekend box office take, but Spider-Man 3 had done that barely more than a year ago. The real shock, which has shaken reality as I know it, is the IMDb user rating of Dark Knight. It currently stands at a staggering 9.5 (from regular voters--total voters gives an average of 9.7), putting it at #1--ahead of Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, and other well-loved, long-established IMDb favorites. I don't expect it to remain there. Movies generally descend the IMDb rankings as they grow older, with many films that debuted on the top 250 falling off the list by the end of their first year. The people who rush to see the movie when it comes out are the ones most likely to enjoy it and rank it highly. Hence, as a more general audience, without such predispositions, eventually sees the movie--just before it leaves the theaters, on an airplane, on TV, or on DVD--more conservative rankings bring the average down. But still, I don't remember even the Lord of the Rings movies, which I believe each debuted in the Top 10 but have since fallen to ranks 14, 20 and 31, unseating the great Godfather/Shawshank Redemption duo. Dark Knight has done what seemed impossible. I wonder how long it can retain its crown.
> Update 8/11/08: I haven't been watching it closely, but by now Dark Knight has slipped to #3 in the IMDb rankings. Phew! The world can now go back to turning eastward.
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