The Dark Knight continues to smash its competition and records in its 4th weekend in theaters. Over the past weekend, TDK remained in the #1 spot for a 4th weekend, a feat that was last accomplished by Lord of the Rings back in 2003. What’s even more impressive is that TDK is able to do this smack in the middle of summer blockbuster releases. LotR did it in the fall/winter, when few blockbusters are released.

The second Batman installment by Nolan took in over $26 million this past weekend, pushing it past Shrek 2 into the 3rd spot of all time boxoffice grosses, with a total of $441.6 million. It is only a little over $19 million short of overtaking the #2 spot long held by the original Star Wars. Experts predict that it should overtake Star Wars sometime before next weekend is over.

However, TDK is not expected to retain its #1 spot at the box office next weekend, with the release of the much anticipated comedy Tropic Thunder and the Star Wars Clone Wars animated flick.