Dark Knight breaks box office records

Jul 21, 2008 2:13 AM by Vicki Salemi

Posted in Entertainment / Movies & Reviews

Big Bat Box Office

The most anticipated film of the summer showed its mettle by breaking box office records that proved it was anything but a "Dark Knight" for the entire Batman franchise.

All hail the Bat! Move over Spiderman, Dark Knight prevails

The late Heath Ledger is already garnering early Oscar buzz for his deprecating and dark portrayal of The Joker. Well, according to industry insiders, "The Dark Knight" raked in a whopping $155.34 million during the very first weekend it opened.

As far as superheroes go, this beat out the most recent superhero box office win of $151.1 million a la "Spider-Man 3" last May.

In many ways, this is hardly a surprise. The film has so many facets going for it box office-wise, it had to produce those numbers. The first, it is a sequel of a highly respected comic book hero reboot. Secondly, it had the performance of Heath Ledger that proved impossible for fans that may not have enjoyed comic book films to find themselves in the local cineplex enjoying a film starring 'Batman.'

The weekend box office Top 10

1. The Dark Knight $155.34*
2. Mamma Mia! $27.6
3. Hancock $14.0
4. Journey to the Center of the Earth $11.9
5. Hellboy II: The Golden Army $10.0
6. WALL-E $9.8
7. Space Chimps $7.4
8. Wanted $5.1
9. Get Smart $4.1
10. Kung Fu Panda $1.8

* All figures in millions