With so many positive reviews and so much anticipation, it’s no surprise that “The Dark Knight” set a box office record, racking up $18.5 million in ticket sales at 3,040 theaters, from midnight preview screenings before its official opening on Friday, distributor Warner Bros. said.

That surpassed the previous record holder, 2005's "Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith," which took in $16.9 million during its midnight debut in 2,915 theaters.

The “Dark Knight” figure did not include the 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. screenings, the studio said.

These results encouraged predictions that the film could raise as much as $100 million or more in its opening weekend, in the United States and Canada.

The previous Batman movies released by the same studio did not average more than $47 million in their debut weekends.

Box office tracking service Media By Numbers reported that the collection of Batman films has raised over $1.6 billion in ticket sales over the world since 1989.

“There is an unbelievable demand for this movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm mentioned above.

Dergarabedian thinks “the Heath Ledger factor is a major part of this.” But he also thinks the movie is very good and “worthy of all these accolades.”

Directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring Christian Bale as Batman and late actor Heath Ledger as The Joker, the movie cost $185 million to make, leaving aside the money spent for publicity.

The movie was greatly appreciated by the critics and that started rumors about a posthumous Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger.

Dan Fellman, Warner’s head of distribution, said the studio was very proud of the movie.

“It's the magic of the movie business, how one film just stands out above the others,” he said, as quoted by The Associated Press.