LOS ANGELES: Expectations for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ performance at the International Box office were extremely high. However on the eve of its premier, tragedy struck. A gunman calling himself ‘The Joker’ opened fire at the moviegoers killing 12, and injuring 59 in Aurora, Colo.

Before any news of the tragedy had broken, midnight collections for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ were superb. However, once the moviegoers heard, understandably, they were dissuaded from heading out to the theater over the weekend.

The expectation from the film was in the range of  $180 to $200 million (Rs 1008.9 crore to 1121 crore), however the total opening collections of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ internationally were approximately $160 million (Rs 896.8 crore) net.

While this is lower than predictions, the movie has still made it to the position of  the third-best debut of all time (being slightly behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2) and the best ever for a 2-D movie. Meanwhile, in India ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has performed exceptionally well in its opening weekend.