David James/Paramount PicturesThe $300 million club has a new member.
The final box-office numbers from the weekend show Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull moved into that exclusive, nine-figure territory yesterday.
The movie is the second 2008 release to crack $300 million after Iron Man, which beat Indiana Jones to the neighborhood by about a week.
Iron Man, which currently sits at $309 million, remains the year's No. 1 movie.
The ever-resourceful Dr. Jones, however, holds the overall advantage.
An even bigger hit internationally, the adventure franchise's fourth installment has topped $400 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $713 million, Paramount said today. Iron Man, by comparison, has done the majority of its big business stateside. Overseas grosses bring its worldwide haul to "only" about $560 million.
Among George Lucas movies, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is its producer's biggest non-Star Wars hit as a producer, per Box Office Mojo stats. Among Steven Spielberg movies, Crystal Skull is his third-biggest hit, behind E.T. and Jurassic Park, as a director.
Among Indiana Jones movies, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the top grosser—so long as you don't adjust for inflation.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, the series starter bumped down to No. 2 by Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, arguably had the more impressive run of the two installments, grossing a gaudy $209.6 million domestically back in 1981.
Still, a win is a win. And Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first new Indiana Jones movie in 19 years, overcame minor qualms that the film would suffer from young moviegoers unable to relate to the veteran franchise and its veteran star, Harrison Ford, who, at 65, is seven years older than Sean Connery was when that actor played Indiana's father in The Last Crusade.
And the movie isn't done yet. Last weekend, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull made more than double the money of the finally tiring Iron Man. A couple more showings like that, and Indiana Jones may be the $300 million club's No. 1 member.