LOS ANGELES - "The Dark Knight" fended off a strong challenge
from the new "Mummy" sequel to lead the North American
box office for a third weekend, and is on track to become
the second-biggest movie of all time.
 

The Batman blockbuster earned $43.8 million for the three
days beginning Friday, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said
on Sunday. Universal's "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"
followed with $42.5 million.
 

The Walt Disney Co. political comedy "Swing Vote" came in
at No. 6 with just $6.3 million, the latest disappointment for
its star, Kevin Costner, who has not had a $100 million movie
since 1992's "The Bodyguard."
 

The total for "The Dark Knight" rose to $394.9 million.
Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, said it expects the
film to add at least $100 million, surpassing the $461 million
haul of 1977's "Star Wars" and its two reissues, the current
No. 2 movie of all time in the United States and Canada. The
$601 million record, held by 1997's "Titanic," seems
watertight.
 

"The Dark Knight" will add yet another record to its
impressive tally on Monday or Tuesday, when it breaks $400
million, which would be its 18th or 19th day of release. The
old record of 43 days is held by 2004's "Shrek 2."
 

MUMMY BIG OVERSEAS
 

Pundits had predicted that the "Mummy" movie could open to
upwards of $50 million, roughly in between its two
predecessors, but the critically mauled Brendan Fraser film was
a little bruised by the Batman juggernaut.
 

It marks the follow-up to 2001's "The Mummy Returns," which
opened to $68 million. The franchise relaunched in 1999 with a
$43.4 million bow for "The Mummy."
 

Universal said "The Mummy" was big internationally. The
film, co-starring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, opened to $59.5
million from 28 territories. Top markets included Russia and
South Korea, each with about $13 million. Because the action is
set in China, and the Olympic Games kick off in Beijing on
Friday, Universal has been cross-promoting the movie with its
General Electric Co corporate sibling NBC, which holds the U.S.
broadcast rights to the games.
 

Fraser has had a low profile since appearing as part of the
ensemble in the Oscar-winning 2004 movie "Crash." But he now
has two movies in the top 5, with Warner Bros.' "Journey to the
Center of the Earth" at No. 5 with a four-week total of $73.1
million.
 

"Swing Vote," in which Costner plays a hard-drinking oaf
whose vote will determine the outcome of a U.S. presidential
election, was released as a counterprogramming attempt. Disney
distribution president Chuck Viane billed it as "a thinking
person's movie," but it ended up being one of the worst
openings of Costner's career. Reviews were mixed.
 

Disney's only summer success, the Pixar-produced cartoon
"WALL-E" has earned $204.2 million after six weeks, and will
pass the $206 million haul of last year's "Ratatouille." But it
will end up as only the sixth-biggest of Pixar's nine
productions.
 

Despite the strong performance of "The Dark Knight" and
"The Mummy," overall sales fell for the second consecutive
weekend, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers. The top
12 films grossed $149 million, down 10 percent from the
year-ago period. Year to date, revenues are flat at $5.9
billion, while the number of tickets sold is down almost 3
percent.