LOS ANGELES / Yahoo News (AP) Batman has sent Spidey packing as king of Hollywood's box-office superheroes.

"The Dark Knight" took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, topping the previous best of $151.1 million for "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007 and pacing Hollywood to its biggest weekend ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight." The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said.

Hollywood set an overall revenue record of $253 million for a three-day weekend, beating the $218.4 million haul over the weekend of July 7, 2006, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"This weekend is such a juggernaut," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, whose musical "Mamma Mia!" debuted at No. 2 with $27.6 million.

Factoring in higher admission prices, "Spider-Man 3" may have sold slightly more tickets than "The Dark Knight."

At 2007's average price of $6.88, "Spider-Man 3" sold 21.96 million tickets over opening weekend. Media By Numbers estimates today's average movie prices at $7.08, which means "The Dark Knight" would have sold 21.94 million tickets.

Revenue totals for "The Dark Knight" could change when final numbers are released Monday.

The movie's release was preceded by months of buzz and speculation over the performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman's nemesis. Ledger, who died in January from an accidental prescription-drug overdose, played the Joker as a demonic presence, his performance prompting predictions that the role might earn him a posthumous Academy Award nomination.

"The average opening gross of the last five `Batman' movies is $47 million. This tripled that, and for a reason," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. "A big part of that was the Heath Ledger mystique and a phenomenal performance that absolutely deserves the excitement surrounding it."

"The Dark Knight" reunites director Christopher Nolan with his "Batman Begins" star Christian Bale, whose vigilante crime-fighter is taunted and tested by Ledger's Joker as the villain unleashes violence and chaos on the city of Gotham.

Overseas, "The Dark Knight" added $40 million in 20 countries where it began opening Wednesday, including Australia, Mexico and Brazil. The film opens in Great Britain this weekend and rolls out to most of the rest of the world over the next few weeks.

"The Dark Knight," which cost $185 million to make, also broke the "Spider-Man 3" record for best debut in IMAX large-screen theaters with $6.2 million. "Spider-Man 3" opened with $4.7 million in IMAX cinemas.

"Every single show is sold out," said Greg Foster, IMAX chairman and president. "We're adding shows as much as we can, but we're at 100 percent capacity."

On opening day Friday, "The Dark Knight" also took in more money than previously counted, Fellman said. The film pulled in a record $67.85 million, up nearly $1.5 million from the studio's estimates a day earlier.

The previous opening-day record also had been held by "Spider-Man 3" with $59.8 million.

Women accounted for most of the audience for "Mamma Mia!", which Universal opened as counter-programming to the male-dominated audience for "The Dark Knight."

"With the crowded summer, we knew we would have to find the right weekend, and this seemed like the perfect one considering three-quarters of our audience was female," Rocco said.

Based on the stage musical set to the tunes of ABBA, "Mamma Mia!" features Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski.

The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's animated family flick "Space Chimps," opened at No. 7 with $7.4 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Dark Knight," $155.34 million.

2. "Mamma Mia!", $27.6 million.

3. "Hancock," $14 million.

4. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," $11.9 million.

5. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," $10 million.

6. "WALL-E," $9.8 million.

7. "Space Chimps," $7.4 million.

8. "Wanted," $5.1 million.

9. "Get Smart," $4.1 million.

10. "Kung Fu Panda," $1.8 million.

Something smells in here....

June7 said:

Sure, but...


Take that, Bats! Spidey's still king.

I still can't get over this statement:

i went to see it this afternoon. it kicked ass! heath ledger was my favorite as the joker. such a great, funny, menacing performance . lots of action, very exciting, even at 2 and a half hours. a batman movie . the ending wasn't as climactic as you'd hope, but it was still well worth it, i think. i liked it .

Haven't seen it yet, but whats this whole deal with making ticket prices more expensive than normal! Movie tickets are already at ridiculous prices! Why make them even more expensive for just one specific movie!

I'm glad we have tight ass Tuesday here otherwise I don't think I could justify paying more than normal for a movie ticket, $9 is enough for me!

Best movie of the year so far!
Going in i knew it was recieving rave reviews, didnt read any, wanted to judge for myself.
This movie is just far too good to be a comic book movie!

Comic book movies are usually just ok with me, other than Spiderman 2, which i loved also, but this one blows it away!
The Story!, its all about a great story,.. try not to read anything before you watch it, if you havent seen it.

I thought for sure Heath Ledger was recieving "pitty" raves because of his tragic untimely death,....but hell no!, He flat out gives the best performance of the last 10 years! he is that good! And he better recieve an oscar!

This is movie making as good as it gets!

Lastly, this is not a kiddie movie, i wouldnt bring in anybody under 10, or anyone who thinks Prince's 90's music is great, it will be way over their heads.

GO SEE THIS THING!
[Edited 7/20/08 19:37pm]

Remember that the totals they are announcing right now are based on estimates for Sunday viewings. The final numbers may come in even higher, because typically the Sunday box office numbers are 10 to 15% less than the Friday and Saturday numbers. But with most of the Friday and Saturday viewings being sold out, the Sunday numbers may not drop very much. Plus a lot of moviegoers are seeing this movie multiple times.

June7 said:

I can't believe they did it that cheaply!

LOVED IT!!!!!

I cried during Heath's last scene when he said what he did to Batman.

I know sentimental stupid shit but I did cry, he was so good and I truly didn't know that heath had that in him, he was truly disturbing.