'Dark Knight' beats Spiderman's US box office record

Batman has sent Spiderman packing as king of Hollywood’s box office superheroes.

'The Dark Knight' took in a record US$155.34m (€98m) in its first weekend, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released the 'Batman Begins' sequel.

That topped Hollywood’s previous best of $151.1m (€95.3m), set by 'Spiderman 3' in May 2007.

“We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did,” Fellman said.

The movie should shoot past the $200m (€126.16m) mark by the end of the week, he said.

Its release was preceded by months of buzz and speculation over the performance of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, Batman’s nemesis.

Ledger, who died in January from an accidental prescription-drug overdose, played The Joker as a demonic presence, his performance prompting predictions that the role might earn him a posthumous Academy Award nomination.

The previous opening-day record also had been held by 'Spiderman 3' with $59.8m (€37.7m).