It was a hard act to follow, but the summer of 2008 managed to finish slightly ahead of last year’s record-setting take, thanks to the monster release The Dark Knight and first-class showings from May tentpoles Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

In Canada, the total box office from May 2 to Sept. 4 reached $388 million, up 3% from $378 million last year, while the total North American box office remained steady at US$4 billion, according to Variety.

Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob tells Playback Daily the company is ‘surprised and happy’ about the summer box-office results.

‘I think everybody was nervous going into this summer because of the blockbusters from last year, which got started with Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: [At World’s End] ,’ he says, adding that Dark Knight was a ‘huge benefit.’

Earnings for the sequel to Batman Begins stand at $512 million, followed by Iron Man and Indiana Jones, which both made over $300 million in North America, according to Box Office Mojo.

‘Dark Knight was the runaway hit of the summer…but we opened with a really nice bang on May 2 with Iron Man,’ adds Dean Leland, VP of media and studio relations at Halifax-based Empire Theatres.’ It certainly performed much better than we had anticipated.’

Leland notes that the ensemble cast in Warner Bros.’ Knight worked better than in previous franchises.

‘It had the buzz of Heath Ledger, but it was also very good,’ he says.

Other films that played a big role in the success of the summer box office include Will Smith’s Hancock with over $220 million in North America, followed by animated movies WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda, with total takes of $219 and $214 million, respectively.

The highly anticipated Sex and the City came in at $150 million, and was ‘very strong in Canada,’ according to Jacob, though he concedes that Speed Racer and Eddie Murphy’s Meet Dave were the disappointments of the summer.

As summer gives way to the more austere fall, the newly re-energized Alliance Films heads to theaters with three big-ticket releases on Friday, including the Coen Brothers’ comedy Burn After Reading, playing on 266 screens after it made its North American premiere at TIFF a week ago. The distributor also bows Righteous Kill, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, on 261 screens, followed by the ensemble comedy The Women on 181 screens. It features Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Eva Mendes.

Jacob says it’s too early to tell what the summer of 2009 has in store, though he predicts that Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be a strong midsummer release. The sixth film in the franchise was originally slotted for November.

He also says 3D films will help the box office in 2009, pointing to releases including DreamWorks’ Monsters vs. Aliens, the third installment of the animated Ice Age and James Cameron’s sci-fi thriller Avatar.

‘There’s no comparison from this year to next year, it will be 10 times bigger in terms of 3D,’ Jacob says.