'The Dark Knight Rises' to Beat BFI Imax Record

our editor recommends

The BFI Pacts With ODEON for IMAX Programming Duties

The Dark Knight Rises: IMAX Trailer

Ridley Scott’s 'Prometheus' Breaks IMAX U.K. Pre-Sales Record

LONDON: Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises has booked an eye-popping £1 million ($1.5 million) in advance booking at BFI Imax, breaking all previous sales records for the venue.

The venue, operated from Wednesday July 17 by Europe's largest exhibitor Odeon, for the British Film Institute, said there have been over 60,000 tickets bought and 43 shows sold out so far for the Warner Bros. release this week.

The venue said 62,300 tickets have flown off the shelves for the film, grossing £1 million ($1.5 million) two days ahead of the film’s opening July 20, since tickets went on sale five weeks ago.

Both the advance box office gross and the number of tickets sold have beaten the cinema’s previous best-ever advance sales posted by Avatar in December 2009 (£607,000 sales for 47,000 tickets).

The Dark Knight Rises also broke BFI Imax records for highest first day sales ever (24,754 tickets grossing £409,838) and the highest first week sales ever (38,658 tickets grossing £634,013). Both these records were previously held by Prometheus.

In total, 43 shows are now sold out, including screenings for early birds at 04.25 and 04.55 this weekend.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ The Dark Knight Rises marks the conclusion to filmmaker Nolan’sBatman trilogy.

Over an hour of the footage from the film is in Imax format, with the image filling the giant screen.

Dennis Laws, general and technical manager, BFI IMAX said: “These figures prove that seeingThe Dark Knight Rises in Imax, to truly experience Christopher Nolan’s incredible vision for the film, is an unmissable event this summer."