Dark Knight Tops Spidey's Box-Office Record

Batman blazes way to $155.34M opening weekend
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 20, 2008 2:38 PM CDT
Dark Knight Tops Spidey's Box-Office Record
Actors, from left, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Christian Bale and Maggie Gyllenhaal attend the world premiere of "The Dark Knight," July 14, 2008, in New York.    (Associated Press)

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, according to Warner Bros., which released the Batman Begins sequel. That figure topped Hollywood's previous best of $151.1 million, set by Spider-Man 3 in May 2007.

On opening day Friday, The Dark Knight pulled in a record $67.85 million, up nearly $1.5 million from the studio's estimates a day earlier. "We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said a Warner Bros. spokesman. But Spider-Man 3 may have sold more tickets, because the average 2008 admission price is $7.08, up from $6.88 last year. (More Batman stories.)

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