By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
The Dark Knight's box office records continue to fall faster than Batman's foes.
Knight took in $75.6 million this weekend, according to studio estimates from Nielsen EDI.
The haul gives the Batman sequel $314 million in 10 days, easily making it the fastest film to earn $300 million. The previous record was held by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which did it in 16 days.
Next up: $400 million. Shrek II holds the record as the film to reach that mark fastest, in 43 days; Warner Bros. predicts Knight will do that in 18.
"Four hundred million is yesterday's news," says the studio's Dan Fellman. "I don't know how far beyond that we can go, but certainly $500 million seems within reach."
If it is, Knight would become the second highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Star Wars' $461 million. Titanic remains the all-time champ with $601 million, and some forecasters are beginning to wonder whether that's in reach.
"I don't think there was ever a time when a movie would be seriously compared to Titanic," says Paul Dergarabedian of Media by Numbers. "But when you're out of the gate this quickly, and keep going this strongly, you have to consider whether the impossible is suddenly possible."
What's probable is a third Batman installment, though Warner Bros. has announced no date.
"We're all still in awe of (director) Christopher Nolan and what he has done," says Fellman. "We're certainly hoping he has a few more ideas up his sleeve, because we're just waiting for him to call."
If he does, one question that will loom over the franchise: How to move forward without Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker and died of a prescription drug overdose in January.
"You have to believe that Heath — and his death — is the engine that's taking the franchise as far as it has gotten," says Glen Whippet, film reviewer and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. "And that raises the question of how far it can go without him."
In previous Batman installments, villains are one-shot appearances. The Joker, Two Face, the Riddler and Catwoman all made single-film appearances. Whippet says that should be the case for Ledger, as well.
It would be a mistake to have someone fill Ledger's shoes as the demented Joker, he says. Unlike Batman, who has been populated by the likes of Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and now Christian Bale, Ledger has made an indelible mark with his villainous turn.
"I'm not sure anyone would accept any other actor," Whippett says. "The best plan would probably be to put the Joker to rest for now. You'd need about a 20-year moratorium before you could reboot that character for the franchise."
The franchise appears impervious to bad news. Last week, Bale was taken into London police custody for an alleged assault on his mother and sister. But ticket sales have been unaffected.
"If anything," says Dergarabedian, "it just raised more awareness about the movie. People don't care about that. They care about the movie."
Moviegoers also cared about Step Brothers, the Will Ferrell comedy, which enjoyed a stronger-than-expected debut with $30 million and second place despite tepid reviews. The story of two stepbrothers who begin as mortal enemies earned recommendations from 52% of the nation's critics, according to survey site RottenTomatoes.com.
The debut was the second strong showing for the team of Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who opened Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby to $47 million in 2006.
Don't expect a re-teaming anytime soon for the agents behind the X-Files. X-Files: I Want to Believe. The only other major newcomer this weekend made its debut at No. 4 with an anemic $10.2 million, about $7 million below most analysts' expectations. The reuniting of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson lost target audience to Dark Knight after not exactly wowing critics, less than a third of whom gave the film a positive review.
Mamma Mia! held well, dropping just 36% from its debut to take third place with $17.8 million. The ABBA-inspired musical with Meryl Streep has done $62.7 million in 10 days.
Journey to the Center of the Earth was fifth with $9.4 million, pushing the movie to $60.2 million.
Ticket sales were virtually even with the same weekend last year.
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