Already touted as one of the best films of 2008, and the best role of Heath Ledger's short life and career, the Batman movie "The Dark Knight" is highly anticipated to smash all box office records this weekend.
Christian Bale is fabulous as the hero Bruce Wayne/Batman, but the movie belongs to its freaky dark force the Joker, played by Ledger, who portrays dementia and villainy like it's never been done before.
Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes, previously played by a weak Katie Holmes, and other stars include Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman. But it's the performance of Ledger is the biggest buzz. There will likely be posthumous oscar nods for him, which is rare for actors who play "comic-book" characters.
"I think he's one of the greatest screen villains of all time," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "When he's off screen, you kind of miss him."
The quality of this film is so good in fact that you're going to realize how bad the previous Batman films have been.
Warner Bros is going for broke releasing this movie wide. Not only is it on 4,366 screens - they are playing it round the clock, deep into the dark night, with unheard of 3 am and 6 am showings in some place.
As a movie event, "Dark Knight" might even beat the opening weekend record of $151.1 million set last year by "Spider-Man 3."
"The advance-ticket sales are among the best of any film," according to Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. "The anticipation could not be higher."
