THE DARK KNIGHT RISES’ bitter/sweet midnight opening, but definitely much more bitter

Unless your head is literally up your bum, you are all too aware of the terrible crud that went down last night/this morning in Aurora, Colorado…

We hate to even go here, but can’t help but wonder—how will last night’s real life nightmare affect The Dark Knight Rises‘ box office performance this weekend? Will people be too scared to go see it? Law enforcement is planning to beef-up security, but still…

Last night’s earnings did not seem to be affected in the slightest (seeing as folks were either inside or on their way inside their respective theaters, when it all went down). The Dark Knight Rises delivered the 2nd highest midnight opening of all time earning $30.6 million. It trails only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which earned a whopping $43.5 million, on its way to a $169.2 million opening weekend.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 did $30.2 million during its midnight run last November and made $138.1 million during its debut weekend. The Hunger Games scored $20 million its first night and $152.5 its first weekend. The Avengers‘ midnight run was in significantly fewer theaters, which explains why it ‘only’ earned $18.7 million, but a record-breaking $200 million for its first weekend out.

Will the opening weekend for The Dark Knight Rises even come close to any of these figures (after last night’s horror show)? Do you plan to see it?

*We’ll have details Monday morning on TH5′s Weekend Box Office.