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LOS ANGELES: New Batman film "The Dark Knight" soared over the North American box-office with a record-breaking opening weekend, eclipsing the previous all-time mark set by "Spider-Man 3," industry estimates said Sunday.
The film, which features a mesmerising performance from late Australian actor Heath Ledger as Batman's arch-rival the Joker, took an estimated US$155.3 million in ticket sales, Exhibitor Relations said.
That mark shattered the US$151.1 million earned by "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007, a record that many pundits believed would not be beaten by "The Dark Knight."
Prior to "The Dark Knight," "Spider-Man 3" had led the all-time opening weekend figures from 2006's "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" (US$135.6 million) and 2007's "Shrek the Third" (US$121.6 million).
Buzz has been building for weeks about director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to 2005's "Batman Begins," with several reviewers hailing Ledger's performance as worthy of a posthumous Oscar.
Midnight screenings of the film on Thursday across the United States and Canada were sold out days in advance, and cinemas reported huge queues of fans lining up for tickets to later screenings on Friday.
Starring British actor Christian Bale as Gotham City's famous caped crusader, "The Dark Knight" cost around US$180 million and was shot on location in Chicago and Hong Kong.
Unusually for a superhero blockbuster, the movie has won near universal critical acclaim, with heavyweight reviewers praising its dark themes and performances of an all-star cast which also includes Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart.
"An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some," Daily Variety said in its review earlier this month.
However it is Ledger's performance as the cackling master criminal that has dominated the film's pre-release.
Ledger, who died of an accidental drug overdose in New York in January, is being heavily tipped to win a rare posthumous Oscar nomination at next year's Academy Awards.
"I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker," wrote Rolling Stone's respected film critic Pete Travers.
"If there's a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976's 'Network,' sign me up," Travers added.
British actor Gary Oldman, who plays Gotham City police officer Lieutenant Jim Gordon, told reporters during a press event in Beverly Hills this month he expected Ledger's performance to earn an Oscar nod.
"The Academy doesn't always recognise work in this kind of genre, but I think he's probably going to get an Oscar nomination," Oldman said.
"Over the years when I've seen great performances - (Jack) Nicholson in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' Al Pacino in 'Dog Day Afternoon' - you go 'wow, there's something really special at work here.' And I think Heath's done that here. It's like he's gone through the sound barrier."
With "The Dark Knight" dominant this weekend, it was left to Abba musical "Mamma Mia" to lead the best of the rest, opening with US$27.6 million.
Will Smith's "Hancock" was third with US$14 million.
- AFP/yb
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