With so many positive reviews and so much anticipation, ”The Dark Knight” is on its way to set a new record for the best opening-weekend. On Friday, the Batman sequel earned $66,400,000 in ticket sales after it opened in 4,366. “The Dark Knight” has already surpassed the previous record of $59.8 million set last year by "Spider-Man 3".

However, he opening day grosses for "The Dark Knight" far exceeded the full weekend haul of its predecessor, "Batman Begins," which took in $48.7 million in its first three days in 2005

“The Dark Knight” depicts a Gotham City paralyzed with fear, whose once superhero is not only confronted with his inner doubts, but also with the citizens’ frowns. Cheap copycats, pranksters and outlaws wearing similar Batman costumes undermine the real hero’s credibility. Batman has turned from the hero trusted by the entire town into a decrepit hero who himself doubts his mission there. He is the incarnation of both the superhero and the villain.

In the meantime, Gotham City redirects its hopes to a new hero: district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who is prepared to eradicate corruption and crime. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is seriously considering leaving his place to Dent, now that he is also the love interest of Wayne’s former girlfriend, assistant D.A. Rachel (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, a better replacement for Katie Holmes).

But Batman, Dent and the entire Gotham City are shattered by the appearance of the most callous outlaw: the Joker. Embodying supreme evil, transforming his ruthless plans into even more ruthless actions, careless of anyone and of himself, too, the Joker makes terror omnipresent in the city.

Unlike any other evil character, the Joker has no motive for his wrongdoing and in the same time, he is set to accomplish his ultimate goal: chaos. His painted face – white complexion, dark eyes and blood-crimson mouth – expresses nothing more than he is: ruthlessness.

The Joker asks Batman to unveil his face, else he will make the streets of Gotham red with blood; for the first time in a movie of the genre, audiences will fear that the protagonist, epitome of the good, will be defeated.

The Joker questions everything, making those representing good doubtful, he is determined to demonstrate the futility of rules. The Joker wants chaos and anarchy and he has the intelligence and the means to make them rule even from behind the bars of a prison cell.

Besides being a success at box office, “The Dark Kight” was greeted with rave reviews by the movie critics.

Even the famous movie critic Roger Ebert was impressed by Nolan’s movie and rated with four out of four stars.

“Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about. That’s because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production,” Ebert wrote.

Ebert also greeted the remarkable performance of Ledeger. “The key performance in the movie is by the late Heath Ledger, as the Joker. Will he become the first posthumous Oscar winner since Peter Finch?”, Ebert said.

In Friday box office, “The Dark Knight” was followed by “Mamma Mia!”, a musical comedy with Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. The movie earned $9,627,000 in ticket sales.

Will Smith’s “Hancock” earned $4,550,000, bringing the total gross to $182,054,000 in 17 days after the official launch.

Released last weekend, “Journey To The Center Of The Earth” earned $3,590,000 on Friday, while “Hellboy Ii: The Golden Army” followed close with $3,164,000.

“Space Chimps”, another movie that opened this weekend, has managed to achieve only the seventh place in Friday’s box office, with $2,450,000.