We all expected “The Dark Knight” to fare extremely well at the box office and now we are left to witness the successive records it is breaking as best three-day opening, top-grossing overall box office weekend and now, fastest movie to reach the $200 million mark.

There apparently are not sufficient superlatives for Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight.” Film critics have welcomed it with open arms, heaping praise on director Chris Nolan, stars Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, on the story, the action scenes and the dialogue.

Fans have been just as rabidly enthusiastic, purchasing tickets weeks in advance, standing in queues hours before they were allowed into theaters and adorning themselves with Batman/Joker paraphernalia.

But the most palpable and quantifiable measure of the film’s success is its ascension at the box office.

“The Dark Knight” grossed some $18.5 million from midnight screenings last Thursday, setting a midnight debut record. Friday, it earned another $48.7 million, Saturday, tickets worth $47.6 million were sold at cinemas across the US and Canada and Sunday, another $43.6 million in sales.

The film thus surpassed the $151.1 million opening set by “Spider-Man 3” last year, with a whopping $158.4 million.

The fun did not stop when the weekend ended though, with moviegoers crowding on to see Christian Bale’s Caper Crusader and Heath Ledger’s insane Joker fight over Gotham City, which helped “The Dark Knight” exceed $203 million in a mere five days, the fastest a movie has ever jumped the $200 million mark.

The previous record belonged to “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which reached that sum in a short eight days.

“The Dark Knight” is surely on its way to added accomplishments and further comparisons in its own favor. For example, 2005’s “Batman Begins” grossed $205.3 million during its entire run…imagine what “The Dark Knight” could do?

The film also rewrote the history of the box office by helping to shape the top-grossing overall box office weekend, with an estimated $253 million. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” set the previous record in 2006 when it opened and the three-day take rose to $218 million.