IS THE new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, cursed?

A series of tragic events - which range from violence and death, to close scrapes - has threatened to overshadow the buoyant success of the blockbuster, which has raked in US$400 million (S$550 million).

In the latest incident, actor Morgan Freeman was rushed to a Tennessee hospital after the car he was driving went off the shoulder of the road and flipped over on Sunday.

The death of Heath Ledger - the Australian star was found dead in his Manhattan apartment after an accidental drug overdose - now seems like a portent of disaster.

Crew member Conway Wickliffe, a New Zealand-born special-effects technician, also died while working on the film. He was on a camera truck filming a stunt car when it crashed into a tree in October last year.

The film is dedicated to Ledger and Wickliffe.

The star of The Dark Knight, Christian Bale, has not escaped the curse, either.

Bale, who plays Batman, made headlines last month when he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his mother and sister shortly before the film's London premiere.

He was granted bail pending further inquiries and denies the allegation.

Several other Hollywood films have been plagued by supposed curses over the years.

Poltergeist, the 1982 Steven Spielberg horror movie, is considered to carry the mother of all movie curses.

Actress Dominique Dunne, who played the family's eldest daughter, was murdered by a former boyfriend in 1982 at age 22. Heather O'Rourke, who played her sister, died suddenly at 13 after a short illness after filming a sequel in 1988.

Rebel Without A Cause, released in 1955, saw three actors die. They include James Dean, who was killed in a car accident that same year at 24, while co-star Natalie Wood drowned in 1981. Sal Mineo, Oscar-nominated for his role as John "Plato" Crawford, was stabbed to death in 1976.

Then there's the Superman curse, which follows actors who have been involved in the popular movies. George Reeves, who played Superman in the 1951 film Superman And The Mole Men, was found dead of a gunshot wound in his home in 1959.

Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in the Superman film saga from 1978 to 1987, was paralysed from the neck down after being thrown from his horse in a 1995 riding event. He died in 2004.

And then there's The Crow.

A series of mysterious accidents occurred during filming for the 1994 film, from a carpenter being severely burned after the crane in which he was riding struck high-power lines, to star Brandon Lee's death after he was shot with a gun supposed to contain blanks. - AGENCIES

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