Dark Night.. Here I come! - Heath Ledger brings record crowds

This week me and my friends are planning to watch Dark Night, everyone says it was so good which made me excited to watch it already. It just started and now a Box Office Hit! One thing that excites me is to watch Heath Ledger on his Joker role. I know he did a great job on this. Weee!!! really exciting.. Got to bring good and enough snacks inside, they say the movie was a bit long, but was really worth it! So Dark Knight.. Here I come! :)

Anyways, I've read an article about the success of Dark Night, Joker made a big part on this.. sharing this to you guys.. :)

FANS keen to see Heath Ledger's performance in his final film have propelled The Dark Knight to a US box-office record.

Buoyed by excellent reviews, exceptional word of mouth and strong interest in the late Australian actor's last completed role, the Batman adventure yesterday set a record forany midnight debut.

The movie - which also stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal - earned $US18.5 million ($19 million) from its midnight screenings in 3040 theatres.

The Dark Knight outstripped the previous midnight record, set by Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge Of The Sith.

That film, which had been eagerly awaited by Star Wars fans, grossed almost $US17 million from 3663 opening venues.

Some industry observers foresee The Dark Knight making as much as $US134 million over the weekend - another record.

The highest single-day opening record in the US is held by Spider-Man 3, which made $US61 million.

The Dark Knight, the follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins, opened in Australia on Wednesday and is also expected to break local box-office records.

Some Hollywood pundits are tipping Ledger for a posthumous Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role as The Joker.

"We've been thrilled by the response to The Dark Knight, first from critics and now from audiences,'' Warner Bros Pictures spokesman Dan Fellman said.

"From our earliest screenings, the buzz on the film has been white-hot ... and it hasn't let up.''

In the US, The Dark Knight was shown on a record number of movie screens nation-wide.

Across the country, 4366 theatres showed the film on its opening day, a figure that outstripped the wide bow of Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End, which touted a theatre count of 4362.

Batman Begins, which premiered in June, 2005, earned a whopping $US15.5 million on its first day.

Both films were directed by British writer, producer and director Christopher Nolan.