Title : "Dark Knight" beats total of "Batman Begins"

Date : 24 July 2008 1858 hrs (SST) URL : Channelnewsasia.com

LOS ANGELES : The latest Batman instalment "The Dark Knight" sold more tickets in its first six days of release than its predecessor did in its entire run.

Distributor Warner Bros Pictures projected the film would sell about US$17 million worth of tickets on Wednesday, taking its its US-Canadian total to about US$221 million.

Directed by English filmmaker Christopher Nolan and starring Welsh actor Christian Bale as the caped crusader, "Dark Knight" grossed a record-breaking US$158.4 million on its opening weekend, eclipsing the previous all-time mark of US$151.1 million set by "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007, a record that many pundits believed would not be beaten.

"Dark Knight" will enter the top-10 for all domestic releases once it surpasses the US$373.6 million total for 2004's "Spider-Man 2." Warner Bros predicts domestic sales will eventually exceed US$400 million, making it the first film to break that mark since the "Pirates of the Caribbean" in 2006.

Interest in the sequel was stoked by Heath Ledger's edgy turn as the villainous Joker. The Australian actor's performance in his last film generated talk of a rare posthumous Academy Award months before the movie was released.