The Dark Knight is clearly Hollywood’s most luminous hero – yes, we are all out of metaphors, oxymora and superlatives for this film that has wooed critics, fascinated fans and rewritten box office history.

The latest installment in the Batman franchise, starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader and the late Heath Ledger as his nemesis, the chillingly creepy Joker, has reached new heights of movie industry glory.

The film has been breaking record after record in consecutive new “Bests.” Best three-day opening, Top-Grossing overall box office weekend, Fastest movie to reach the $200 million mark and the list goes on.

Released on July 18, it took a mere 10 days for “The Dark Knight” to smash another target this weekend: surpassing the $300 million mark. With such speed and determination, “The Dark Knight” seems to have taken on a life of its own and who knows what record it could break next?

Analysts are already looking in dismay at benchmarks ahead for the film to exceed.

The movie earned another $75.6 million in ticket sales in the Friday through Sunday period, bringing its North American box-office total to $314,245,000, Warner Bros. head of distribution Dan Fellman told the Associated Press.

This marks another “Best” for the action flick: best second-weekend gross in recent Hollywood history.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” had set the previous record in 2006, of reaching $300 million in 16 days. “Dead Man’s Chest” also lost other titles to “The Dark Knight,” including fastest trek to $200 million, with eight days, and helping shape the top-grossing overall box office weekend, with $218 million.

“The Dark Knight” left such figures behind it, in the dust, by reaching the $200 million touchstone in five short days and by contributing to the creation of a new top-grossing overall box office weekend, with $253 million.

Fellman optimistically told the AP that “The Dark Knight” could well reach the $400 million mark in anther 18 days, which would break another record, this time set by “Shrek 2” in 2004, when it raked in that sum in 43 days.

As if we were not impressed enough already, Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, has an even more grandiose perspective on things to come, reports Bloomberg.com, considering it likely for “The Dark Knight” to surpass “Titanic,” which has remained from its release in 1997 until now the highest-grossing film in U.S. history, with more than $600 million domestically.

The film also received layer upon layer of a certain kind of aura, given its initial tantalizing promotion, followed by star Heath Ledger’s unfortunate passing away in January, among reports that his portrayal of the villainous Joker is out of this world.

Film critics have meanwhile confirmed that this, Heath Ledger’s last completed role, is a true measure of his talent and craft and there are even expectations for him to receive an Academy Award nomination.

The film’s aura was inadvertently strengthened last week, when star Christian Bale was arrested in London following a family argument which ended with his mother and sister alleging assault. The actor has meanwhile been exonerated by authorities and is due back in London in September.

Other releases fared significantly worse at the North American box office this weekend, but then again, there was no comparing to the success of “The Dark Knight.”

Zany comedy “Step Brothers,” starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, took in an estimated $30 million. Singing-dancing Meryl Streep, joined by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård, helped “Mamma Mia!” take in another $17.9 million, while “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” reuniting director Chris Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, took in a modest $10.2 million.