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.

The Dark Knight continued to dominate at the box office this weekend, holding on to the #1 spot for the 3rd weekend in a row. Batman and the Joker managed to fend off the second Mummy sequel by raking in almost $44.5 million. Unfortunately it did not surpass the previous record holder, Spiderman 3, which had accumulated $45 million during its third weekend. As of Sunday night, this placed The Dark Knight at #8 in the all-time box office gross with $393 million.

On Monday it also surpassed the $400 million mark, making it the fastest movie to reach that milestone. The record was previously held by Shrek 2, which took over 43 days to reach that mark. This means that The Dark Knight, having reached the $400 million mark in just 18 days of release, did it 60% faster.

The Dark Knight is still breaking records in its second week of release. It has grossed more in 10 days than any other Batman movies’ entire silver screen run. At this rate,TDK will come close to wrestling the title of most financially successful movie of all time from Titanic.

TDK has become the fastest movie to reach $300 million in an amazingly short 10 days. The previous record holder was Pirates of the Caribbean 2 which took a full 16 days to reach that mark. It also broke the record for highest grossing 2nd weekend, pulling in $75,166,466, surpassing the previous record holder Shrek 2, which had $72 million.

So far, The Dark Knight has raked in $313,781,677 domestically and over $355.5 million in international releases. This last number is sure to grow as the movie has not been released everywhere internationally.

Experts are forecasting that this Batman sequel will reach the $400 million mark at 18 days of release. The previous record being Shrek 2, which took a full 43 days to get to that number.

For a list of other records that The Dark Knight has broken, see my previous article The Dark Knight Smashing Records.

The Dark Knight is kicking ass and taking names. Since its midnight showing debut, the movie has been shattering previous records and for good reason. It is nothing short of a masterpiece and unlike the crapfest that was Spiderman 3, its well deserving of the records it is breaking. It has so far broken 10 all-time records in its first 5 days of release. One has to wonder that if The Dark Knight can break so many records in 5 days, how many records will it break before bowing out of movie theaters? Its also impressive considering the movie’s non kid friendly PG rating. Realistically I doubt that it will break Titanic’s record for the #1 box office movie of all time, but it should find itself in the top 5, alongside Star Wars/Star Wars Episode 1, Shrek 2 and E.T.

Records broken:

1. Largest number of opening theaters with 4366. The previous record holder was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s end with 4362.
2. Biggest midnight preview opening gross with $18,489,000. Star Wars Episode 3 held the previous record with $16.5 million.
3. Biggest IMAX midnight preview opening gross with $640,000.
4. Biggest one day gross of $67,165,092 (includes midnight showings), shattering Spiderman’s 3 previous record of $59,841,919.
5. Biggest opening weekend gross of $158,411,483, overshadowing the previous record of $151,116,516 held by Spiderman 3.
6. Biggest opening weekend gross for an IMAX release of $6,214,061. Again breaking Spiderman’s 3 previous record of $4,700,000.
7. Biggest Sunday single day gross of $43,596,151. Another Spiderman 3 record broken ($39,937,865).
8. Fastest movie to surpass the $200,000,000 domestically at 5 days. The previous record was 8 days, shared between 3 movies: Spiderman 2, Star Wars Episode 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
9. Biggest Monday single gross with $24 million.
10. Biggest Tuesday single gross with $20.9 million, ahead of the $15.7 million earned by Pirates of the Caribbean 2

The movie is currently voted as the #1 movie of all time on IMDB, surpassing The Godfather (1 & 2) and the Shawshank Redemption. The next ‘recently’ released movie that appears in the list is Lord of the Rings: Return of the King at #14. The Dark Knight is expected to hold the #1 position this coming weekend, even with the release of the much anticipated X-Files movie. X-Files is expected to take in between $20-30 million on its opening weekend. The Dark Knight is expected to take in between $75 million and $85 million on its second weekend of release.

Update (July 28th): To view more records broken by The Dark Knight, please see the updated The Dark Knight Still Breaking Records article.

Batman. A comic book creation that has excited fans for 69 years. As a character, he has endured through the death of his parents and one sidekick. He survived through Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent and the creation of the Comics Code Authority. The campiness of the 60’s television show, a broken back at the hands of Bane and the near destruction of Gotham. All things that in one capacity or another that this fictional character has survived. Every one of these pale in comparison to the maniacal villain that he must face in Nolan’s sequel to the popular Batman Begins.

For those who don’t know me, here is a a bit of background which might help show that what I’m about to say is not said lightly. I am a huge movie buff. My DVD collection creeps close to 500. I’m also an avid comic book reader, with my collection exceeding over 10,000 comics and graphic novels. Out of any character that I’ve read over the last few decades, Batman always has and remains my favorite character. There are many reasons for this which I won’t get into right now. Trust me when I say that The Dark Knight is not only the best comic book based movie that I’ve ever seen, but its probably the best movie that I’ve seen of any genre.

The Dark Knight takes place a year after Batman Begins. For those who have seen the first film, you might remember that the last scene of the movie involves Gordon and Batman on the rooftop of the GCPD, with Gordon showing Batman the Joker’s calling card. This sequel starts off with a bank robbery sequence in which we’re introduced to the chaos that is the Joker. From the gutters of Gotham rises the psychopathic criminal known for his evil grin, maniacal laugh and utter disrespect for everything and everyone.We’re also introduced to Harvey Dent, the District Attorney who, together with Jim Gordon and Batman, is taking the good fight to the city’s mob bosses. The appearance of the Joker slams a stake deep into our heroes’ plan to rid the city of mobsters. It also forces Bruce Wayne/Batman to struggle and confront everything he believes in. Unlike other criminals, the Joker isn’t seeking money or fame. His only goal is to unleash pure unalduterated chaos unto the citizens of Gotham.

Calls to give Heath Ledger a posthumous Academy award for his work in the Dark Knight is not uncalled for. His portrayal of the Joker is nothing short of perfection. Everything from his mannerisms, ticks and speech drip insanity without going over the top. Watching him play this character will leave you absolutely speechless and in awe. It is a real shame that this would be his last full role in a movie, as we can clearly see how much of an extraordinary actor he really was. Its also a shame that he won’t be involved in any possible sequels. There’s no way any actor out there could try to successfully imitate what Ledger brought to the character.

The performance by Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent is also a powerful one. He brilliantly played the DA who throughout the movie is built into a white knight in shining armor, and who falls far from that position when he is turned into Two-Face. Gary Oldman, as detective/commissioner Gordon plays a much more important role in this sequel. His acting skills are on par with any other movie that he’s done, which is to say it’s very very good. Maggie Gyllenhaal, who replaces Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes, plays the character well. And then there’s Christian Bale. He gives a good performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but this isn’t as much of a Batman movie as it is a Joker/Dent movie. Yes, the Batman plays a major role, but there is little character development compared to Batman Begins. There’s nothing really wrong with this as the character of Wayne/Batman was already well established. The only fault I have with Bale is the voice he uses when he’s wearing the Batman garb. It seemed forced and a little over the top.

Visually, The Dark Knight is dead on. The darkness of the characters and the story visually permeates the movie. Even though Batman and Joker are fictional characters, and previous incarnations made them larger than life, as with Batman Begins, Nolan has grounded the Dark Knight into reality. Nothing is too over the top or too fictional. I do think part of the attraction to both of Nolan’s works is its authenticity. These characters are believable and could very well exist in the modern world.

A quick note to parents; If you haven’t caught on yet, this is a very dark movie. Just because its a comic book character does not mean its OK for your 8-10 year old. I wouldn’t recommend that anyone under the age of 14 see this flick due to its nature. Spiderman or Iron Man this movie is not.

The Dark Knight is far more than just a comic book movie. It reaches deep within the human soul and splatters the duality that most people have faced at some point in their lives right onto the screen. It clearly shows that chaos and order live hand in hand. The Joker being the Yin to Batman’s Yang. Without one, the other cannot exist. It also illustrates that there’s a fine line of moraility that most of us abide by, and makes you ponder what could make you cross that line. What would cause you to cross the threshold?

I give The Dark Knight 10/10, a rating that I’ve never given to any other movie.