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LOS ANGELES - THE new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, raked in US$66.4 million (S$89.9 million) in its opening day to set the single-day box office record, according to its distributor Warner Bros.
The Friday tally bests the US$59.8 million set by Spider-Man 3 at its opening last year.
The film will likely break the opening weekend record of US$151.1 million set by the Spider-Man movie, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros.
'I don't see any reason why we are going to slow down,' he said.
Fellman attributed the success to the unique vision of director Christopher Nolan and the 'outstanding' performance of the late Australian actor Heath Ledger in what turned out to be his last completed screen role, as Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker.
The Dark Knight, which cost about US$180 million to produce, also picked up a record US$18.5 million in sales of tickets for preview screenings ahead of its official opening.
The five previous Batman movies released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc, had an average opening gross of US$47 million.
Those films collectively have amassed over US$1.6 billion in ticket sales worldwide since 1989, according to box office tracking service Media By Numbers.
The last Batman movie, 2005's Batman Begins, grossed nearly US$49 million its first weekend in North America and went on to collect about US$372 million worldwide.
The Dark Knight, picking up where that film left off, reunites director Nolan and star Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader and features Ledger as the Joker.
Only 10 other movies have managed to cross the US$100 million domestic box-office mark in their first weekends, led by Spider-Man 3 with US$151 million in May 2007 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest with US$135.6 million in 2006, the biggest July opening on record.
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