HOW HIGH WILL THE LATEST DARK KNIGHT RISE?

Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight Rises is generating a prodigious number of discussions on social networks and in-theater trackers have suggested that it may be the one film that virtually every regular moviegoer is determined to see this summer. Today’s (Tuesday) Hollywood Reporter observed that studio executives are “abuzz” over the strength of tracking for the movie, which opens on July 20, and observers are predicting that it will earn more in its debut than The Dark Knight did on the same weekend in 2008. At the time, the film’s $158.4-million take set a record for a three-day weekend. Last year’s Harry Potter finale and this year’s The Avengers topped that figure but those films were aided by 3D surcharges. The Dark Knight Rises is in 2D, although it will be drawing premium pricing at IMAX theaters. (More than an hour of the film was shot with IMAX cameras.) One thing working against a record-shattering weekend: the film’s length, 164 minutes, which will limit the number of times it can be screened. Meanwhile, director Christopher Nolan has told the Associated Press that he has no interest in making another Batman movie. “No, not at all,” he said. “We’re finished with all we’re doing with Batman. This is the end of our take on this character.”