'Dark Knight' sets another record

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Add another entry for "The Dark Knight" in Hollywood's record books: The Batman sequel has climbed past $400 million at the box office in just 18 days, the fastest pace ever, a studio executive said Tuesday.

As of Monday, "The Dark Knight" had taken in $400.04 million domestically, according to distributor Warner Bros.

Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager for Warner, said the film hit that mark in less than half the time it took for the previous record-holder, "Shrek 2," which crossed the $400 million level on its 43rd day of release.

That put "The Dark Knight" at No. 8 on the all-time box-office charts. It was poised to move up to No. 7 on Tuesday, passing the $403.7 million haul of the original "Spider-Man" to become the top-grossing comic-book adaptation ever.

Warner expects the film to pass the original "Star Wars" ($461 million) in about two weeks, making it No. 2 on the all-time domestic list behind "Titanic" ($600.8 million).

Even as "The Dark Knight" heads toward the $500 million mark, it will lag behind "Titanic" and "Star Wars" in terms of the number of tickets sold because admission prices are higher now. In today's dollars, the Batman film would have to take in about $900 million to match the number of tickets that "Titanic" sold.

"The Dark Knight" has earned wild acclaim from critics and fans, particularly for Heath Ledger's maniacal delivery as Batman enemy the Joker. Buzz for his role and the film reached a fever in the months after Ledger's death in January from an accidental prescription drug overdose.

The movie had a record opening weekend of $158.4 million.

"There's no question Heath Ledger's performance has made cinematic history. It's one of the most important or memorable villains ever," Goldstein said. "That added to it, but I think you have to look at a film in its entirety. It's the marvelous job the filmmakers and the actors did."

Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner, as is CNN.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.