Yesterday morning’s calculation was that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor would nudge out The Dark Knight by $2 million or so — a slight but decisive margin. That equation has now gone south. The Bat is king again.

Fantasy Moguls Steve Mason has reversed his cards and is now saying The Dark Knight will finish the weekend with $44.8 million (a mere 40% drop) vs. $42.5 million for the Mummy. What happened, it would appear, is that the negative Mummy word started to spread on Friday night and that’s what took it down.
The unfunny Step Brothers has come in third with $15.5 million for a cume of $62.16 million. Mamma Mia is up to $88 million with a with $13.1 million haul and a fourth-place showing. Swing Vote has died with a $7 million haul, which, barring a groundswell miracle, means won’t even make $20 million by the end of the domestic run.