The Dark Knight breaks box office record in US
The Dark Knight sets new record for midnight preview screenings
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Sunday, 20, Jul 2008 02:26
The Dark Knight has set a new box office record for takings in its first day on release in the US.
The Batman Begins sequel took $66.4 million (£33.1 million) on its opening night, according to distributor Warner Bros, surpassing the previous record of $59.8 million (£29.8 million) set by Spider-Man in 2007.
The figures mean the movie is already well on the way to recouping its total cost of $185 million (£92.4 million).
The Christopher Nolan-helmed film, starring Christian Bale as the title character, had previously broken the record for preview takings - $16.9 million (£8.5 million) - which was set by Star Wars Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith in 2005.
The Dark Knight had taken $18.5 million (£9.2 million) from its showings at 00:01 US time on Saturday morning.
Box office receipts from screenings at 03:00 and 06:00 were not counted in The Dark Knight's record-breaking bow, which has increased speculation that the film could break records for its total takings over an opening weekend, with some predicting receipts of up to $100 million.
Such a debut would more than double the $47 million (£23.5 million) opening tally averaged by the five previous Batman films, including Batman Begins.
The Dark Knight would enter an exclusive club should it break the $100 million, with Iron Man having earned $101 million in May and Spider-Man 3 having pulled in $151 million (£75.5 million) in May 2007.
"We're very proud of the film," said Warner Bros head of distribution Dan Fellman.
"It's the magic of the movie business, how one film just stands out above the others," he was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
The late Heath Ledger's performance of The Joker has been tipped to be worthy of a posthumous Oscar, while critics have been unanimous in heaping praise on the film.
Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC, which compiled the preview figures, said there had been an "unbelievable demand" for the film.
"The Heath Ledger factor is a major part of this," he added.
"Beyond that, the movie is so good, it's worthy of all these accolades."
The Dark Knight is released in the UK on July 24th.