Fresh Loaf

Batman soared more like Superman over the weekend when The Dark Knight earned an estimated $155.4 million. The sequel to Batman Begins broke most of the records that can be broken, including biggest opening weekend and, according to The Vulture:

the records for biggest single-day gross ($67 million on Saturday), largest number of opening theaters (4,366 nationally), biggest midnight gross ($18.5 million on Thursday night), best-ever July opening (beating Pirates of the Caribbean 2’s measly $136 million in 2006).

Final numbers will be in later today, so it’s possible Spider-man 3’s previous record could stand. It’s likely that Spider-man 3 sold more total tickets, with the higher ticket prices giving The Dark Knight the edge.

Apparently nobody saw it coming, either. The Dark Knight was generally expected to break $100 million (like Iron Man or better), but not to have one of the most successful weekends in film history. Most hugely successful movies tend to be brighter, flashier and more fun, and The Dark Knight was accurately perceived as being dark to point of despair, as the above image from someecards suggests.

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Some early notices for the epic-length Batman drama The Dark Knight suggest that the late Heath Ledger gives the “definitive” performance as The Joker, the Caped Crusader’s sociopathic arch-nemesis. It’s true that Ledger does tremendous, terrifying work in the film — if he’d lived, he could have launched a second career playing psychos. I’m not sure, however, that anyone can give the definitive performance of such a pop culture mainstay. In high-brow terms, it’s like expecting a definitive Macbeth or Blanche DuBois. Like any enduring fictional character, the Joker has a long history that reflects changes in his target audience and creative staff — we get different Jokers for different times. Following are five of the traits that make The Clown Prince of Crime possibly the most memorable and timeless villain of them all.

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