Batman Greater than Spiderman

The new Batman flick "The Dark Knight" smashed the weekend record set by Spider-Man 3 last year. The Dark Knight sold $155.3 million worth of tickets during its first 3 days of release superceding the $151 million grossed by the web slinger.

This hotly anticipated title stars Welsh actor Christian Bale and is directed by English film maker Christopher Nolan. The same team was involved in the successful production of Batman Begins which ultimately netted $205 million. Analysts believe the Dark Knight to comfortably exceed that amount by the middle of the week. Some of the intrigue around the title can be attributed to the casting of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker.

Earliest forecasts of sales of $100 million proved to be below par. The film is reported to have cost a whopping $180 million to make thanks largely to the extensive use of IMax cameras for up to 30 minutes of the 152 minute production.