‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Sold 12 Million Fewer Tickets Than Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’

Here's a little perspective for you on this slow news day: Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises' sold 12 million fewer tickets than Tim Burton's 'Batman,' released in 1989. Are fewer people heading to the theater these days? It's hard to believe more people were excited for Burton's film than Nolan's.

Thanks to the folks over at Movies.com, who were tipped off on Twitter by Brian Collins, it turns out you can do more at Box Office Mojo than just compare the profits of films -- you can compare how many tickets were sold, too. It's always fun to adjust the profits of older films for inflation and compare them against films today to see just how much an old classic would bank at the box office, but comparing the ticket sales is a bit more illuminating.

According to the site, Tim Burton's 'Batman' sold 12 million more tickets (62,954,600) in 1989 than 'The Dark Knight Rises,' which sold only 50,635,700. That number isn't anything to scoff at, but when compared to Marvel's superhero smash 'The Avengers,' which sold 76 million tickets, and Nolan's 'The Dark Knight,' which sold 74 million tickets, Nolan's final Batman film doesn't seem so popular anymore.

You could chalk it up to ticket prices at the theater -- the average ticket cost in 1989 was $3.97 -- but even then, how do you explain how 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Avengers' still managed to top Burton's 'Batman'? Maybe audiences weren't that excited about Bane after all.