The Dark Knight has beaten its rivals to the pulp, shattering the opening weekend box office record in America.
The movie, which features a mesmerising performance by the late Heath Ledger as Batman's arch-rival the Joker, has taken an estimated 155.3 million US dollars ($A159.76 million) in ticket sales.
The mark smashes the record set by Spider-Man 3 in May last year.
Meanwhile the buzz is building that Ledger's performance is worthy of a posthumous Oscar.
The opening day grosses for `The Dark Knight' far exceeded the full weekend haul of its predecessor, `Batman Begins', which took in $US48.7 million ($A50.1 million) in its first three days in 2005.
Reviews were excellent for director Christopher Nolan's `Batman Begins', but they were stellar for his `Dark Knight'.
"We've really never seen anything like this," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
"The death of a fine actor taken in his prime, a legendary performance, and a movie that lives up to all the hype. That all combined to create these record-breaking numbers."
Buzz had been high for the Batman sequel well before Ledger died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose in January.
Trailers last (northern) autumn revealing Ledger's demented Joker, with crooked clown makeup, turned up the heat even more. The critical acclaim over his performance that built from advance screenings left fans in a frenzy.
"It's a combination of things. Certainly, that's a great part of it, but I think this movie's gross was partly because of the reviews it received and the incredible buzz and word of mouth that preceded it with our early screenings," Fellman said.
"And the success and quality of the last one, 'Batman Begins', delivered by Chris Nolan just set the tone for the opening of this movie."
`The Dark Knight' reunites Christian Bale as Batman, the vigilante crime-fighter tormented by personal tragedy, and co-stars Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman. Maggie Gyllenhaal also stars.
The film spins an epic crime duel as Ledger's Joker orchestrates a reign of terror on the city of Gotham aimed to spread chaos and break down the restraint that keeps Batman on the right side of the law.