The new Hollywood blockbuster movie, Batman The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, shattered another box-office benchmark this weekend by reaching the $300 million mark in only 10 days.
The number breaks the record established by 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which reached $300 million after 16 days.
It is expected that "Dark Knight" could reach $400 million in about 18 days, which would beat the record "Shrek 2" set in 2004 when it made that much money in 43 days.
The Dark Knight might also surpass 1997's Titanic as the highest-grossing film in U.S. history. Titanic, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, had made $600,788,188 domestically, a record no other movie has come close to touching.
Director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to his 2005 origin story "Batman Begins," which again stars Christian Bale as the tormented comic-book crime fighter, initially benefited from the mystique of the late Heath Ledger giving his masterful, last performance as the Joker.
"What can you say? We've been getting a lot of repeat business coming in," a source said. "Our audience is expanding, like you would expect with terrific word-of-mouth and strong reviews. Our audience is getting a little bit older, that's the good news. We're finding the younger demographic, male and female, coming back. To do $300 (million) plus in 10 days, we just couldn't have predicted it."
"Now, it's all about word-of-mouth," he said. "The first weekend, there was this huge, pent-up demand and eagerness by audiences to see this movie. Now, it seems to be unstoppable."
Part of the film's visual allure comes from the fact that 30 minutes of it were shot with IMAX cameras, including an elaborate bank-heist scene at the start.
Some of the top grossers this week were:
1. "The Dark Knight," $75.63 million.
2. "Step Brothers," $30 million.
3. "Mamma Mia!" $17.9 million.
4. "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," $10.2 million.
5. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," $9.4 million.
6. "Hancock," $8.2 million.
7. "WALL-E," $6.3 million.
8. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," $4.9 million.
9. "Space Chimps," $4.4 million.
10. "Wanted," $2.7 million.
The number breaks the record established by 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which reached $300 million after 16 days.
It is expected that "Dark Knight" could reach $400 million in about 18 days, which would beat the record "Shrek 2" set in 2004 when it made that much money in 43 days.
The Dark Knight might also surpass 1997's Titanic as the highest-grossing film in U.S. history. Titanic, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, had made $600,788,188 domestically, a record no other movie has come close to touching.
Director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to his 2005 origin story "Batman Begins," which again stars Christian Bale as the tormented comic-book crime fighter, initially benefited from the mystique of the late Heath Ledger giving his masterful, last performance as the Joker.
"What can you say? We've been getting a lot of repeat business coming in," a source said. "Our audience is expanding, like you would expect with terrific word-of-mouth and strong reviews. Our audience is getting a little bit older, that's the good news. We're finding the younger demographic, male and female, coming back. To do $300 (million) plus in 10 days, we just couldn't have predicted it."
"Now, it's all about word-of-mouth," he said. "The first weekend, there was this huge, pent-up demand and eagerness by audiences to see this movie. Now, it seems to be unstoppable."
Part of the film's visual allure comes from the fact that 30 minutes of it were shot with IMAX cameras, including an elaborate bank-heist scene at the start.
Some of the top grossers this week were:
1. "The Dark Knight," $75.63 million.
2. "Step Brothers," $30 million.
3. "Mamma Mia!" $17.9 million.
4. "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," $10.2 million.
5. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," $9.4 million.
6. "Hancock," $8.2 million.
7. "WALL-E," $6.3 million.
8. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," $4.9 million.
9. "Space Chimps," $4.4 million.
10. "Wanted," $2.7 million.