Dark Knight Smashes $300M Record

Latest Batman flick The Dark Knight grossed $300 million in just 10 days—turning the 16 days Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest took on its head to set a new record. The dark tale, driven by Heath Ledger's strong performance, took in another $75.6 million in its second weekend to push its total upwards of $314 million.

"Our audience is expanding, like you would expect with terrific word-of-mouth and strong reviews," said a Warner Bros. exec, who expects the movie to rake in another $100 million in the next 8 days. "To do $300 (million) plus in 10 days, we just couldn't have predicted it."