In its second week, "The Dark Knight Rises" continued to dominate the box office, but it seems the excitement over this film is no longer coming close to what audiences felt about "The Dark Knight" in 2008.

The final chapter in Christopher Nolan's Batman series earned $64.1 million at the box office this weekend, losing 60 percent of its audience from the previous week, according to The Numbers. That brings its total to $289.1 million after two weeks, pushing it ahead of "The Amazing Spider-Man" and challenging the total box office take of "The Hunger Games," but will almost definitely fall short of "The Avengers."

"The Dark Knight Rises" was able to barely beat the box office opening of "The Dark Knight" in the first week, but it was a different story in Week 2. The second film in the franchise earned $75.2 million in its second week, and had a two-week total of $313.8 million. While it's tough to compare the Batman film to "The Avengers," which had 3-D premium tickets to include, "The Dark Knight" was not in 3-D, and is basically comparing apples and apples.

North American ticket sales have already made up the $250 million budget for the film, so the movie is far from a flop. But it will be hard for "Dark Knight Rises" to live too large under the shadow of the second film, which earned the late Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar win.

"Ice Age: Continental Drift" stayed at No. 2 for the second week in a row, earning $13.3 million, while the comedy "The Watch" premiered at No. 3 with $13 million. Also debuting was "Step Up Revolution" from Summit Entertainment, which earned $11.8 million.

"Spider-Man" fell from third to sixth with a $6.8 million weekend, bringing its total to $242.1 million. "The Avengers" held on to No. 15 with a $543,000 weekend, bringing its 2012-leading total to $616 million domestically.

International box office for "Dark Knight Rises" has remained mostly weak, earning about $125 million so far, bringing its worldwide total to $414.1 million after two weeks. By comparison, "The Avengers" ended up with $1.5 billion in worldwide sales while "The Hunger Games" is at $655.4 million worldwide.

"Dark Knight" could get its first real threat this coming weekend with the release of the "Total Recall" remake. That film has not yet been reviewed by critics, which could spell trouble for that film already. On the family side, Twentieth Century Fox is releasing "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days." However, that film will likely not be too much of a threat -- the first installment of that franchise in 2010 made just $64 million total, while the second part in 2011 earned only $52.7 million total.

For "Total Recall," it has to at least defeat the 1990 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which earned $119.4 million domestically. Adjusted for inflation, that's $209.6 million. Once the film is reviewed, it's expected to be a flop with critics, despite starring Colin Farrell and Jessica Biel.