There was never any question that The Dark Knight would open big; rather, the question seemed to be, would it open biggest? And the second film in Christopher Nolan's reboot of the comic-book series has done just that, breaking the all-time opening weekend box-office record with $155.34 million (handily besting Spiderman 3's record, which was $151.1 million). That, combined with a solid No.2 showing from fellow new release Mamma Mia! (with $27.6 million) and residual sales from former top earners Hancock (No. 3 with $14 million) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (No. 5 with $10.04 million), propelled the box office to its biggest weekend ever, with more that $250 million in ticket sales.
Last week's No. 1, Hellboy II, saw the biggest drop in the top 10, actually falling behind Journey To The Center Of The Earth (No. 4 with $11.91 million), which it beat last week. Another new release, Space Chimps, made a modest debut at No. 7 with $7.35 million, behind Wall-E, which drops to No. 6 in its fourth week. Wanted (No. 8 with $5.1 million), Get Smart (No. 9 with $4.09 million), and Kung Fu Panda (No. 10 with $1.75 million) round out the top 10.
More detailed numbers can be found at boxofficemojo.com.