New York - Batman sequel The Dark Knight, the sixth cinema adventure of the superhero, broke through the magic 300-million- dollar barrier in a record time of only ten days. Starring Christian Bale for a second time as billionaire Bruce Wayne and his superhero alter ego, The Dark Knight lit up cinema cash registers with 155.3 million dollars in the first three-day weekend ticket sales, shattering Spider-Man 3's Friday-Sunday record of 151.1 million dollars, set in 2007.
The Dark Knight was fueled by excellent critical reactions particularly for a comic-book adaptation, building on expectations from 2005's Batman Begins, which successfully relaunched the Batman movie franchise, and curiosity for the last performance of co-star Heath Ledger. The Australian native, who plays the villainous Joker opposite Bale, died in January of a drug overdose.
The previous front runner Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest took 16 days to bring in the result. Dark Knight put the competition in the shadows for the second weekend in a row with studio box-office estimations of 75 million dollars.
Altogether the blockbuster in North America has already pulled in 314 million dollars.
The slapstick fun Step Brothers landed clearly in second place with the history of an involuntary pair of brothers Will Ferrell and John C Reilly in the leading roles. Despite the shadow of the Dark Knight the film brought in 30 million dollars.
The new thriller The X-Files: I Want to Believe brought in a disappointing 10.2 million dollars and reserved the fourth seat. The previous 1998 X-Files movie, generated 30 million dollars on its first weekend.
The successful Abba musical Mamma Mia! provided for a merry summer mood with a singing Meryl Streep in the leading role. The film also in its second week brought in 17.8 million dollar in third place.
The fantasy film Journey to the Center of the Earth the adaptation of the author Jules Verne classic pulled in 9.4 million dollars for a total of 60 million dollar for its three-week run.
