After topping the box office for four consecutive weekends, “The Dark Knight” may be outshined by DreamWorks and Paramount’s heavily-discussed comedy “Tropic Thunder,” due to make its debut in 3,319 theaters on Wednesday. Ben Stiller’s production is very likely to linger on the first spot even over the weekend and interrupt the Batman sequel’s box office lead.

The studio is expecting the film industry satire, starring director Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., to overtake the overall five-day revenue of last week’s stoner comedy “Pineapple Express”, which earned $41.3 million, Variety reported.

Nevertheless, “Tropic Thunder” had a $90 million budget, compared to “Pineapple Express’” only $27 million. Having cost three times more than the Judd Apatow-produced movie, Ben Stiller’s parody gives DreamWorks significantly higher goals to reach before the production exits theaters.

Since “Tropic Thunder’s” audiences belong to a different age segment than “Pineapple’s”, the former is improbable to at least match the latter’s record-breaking $12.1 million opening last Wednesday, according to Variety. In addition to this, DreamWorks is expecting an up to $10 million debut of the “Thunder.”

However, it should far outdo the $23.3 million winnings “Pineapple Express” brought in during its opening weekend. The much-talked about movie may settle on the first spot at the box office and make “The Dark Knight” drop on the second position. Ben Stiller’s movie may nonetheless face tough competition from Warner Bros.’ animated film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” due for release on Friday.