Box Office Action

The Dark Knight rolls to a monster Friday with $66.4 million. (Box Office Mojo has a summary of the biggies from the past six years here.) And Variety notes:

Earning an unheard of $66.4 million in its first day, Warner Bros.’ Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” is poised to become the highest opener ever for a non-holiday weekend after “Spider-Man 3,” which debuted to $151.1 million.

“Dark Knight,” directed by Christopher Nolan and returning Christian Bale as the caped crusader, easily soared past the $59.8 million earned by the “Spider-Man” three-quel on its first Friday in May 2007.

Not only that, but the smash success of “Dark Knight,” along with Universal’s musical romp “Mamma Mia” and several strong holdovers, should deliver the film biz the best three-day weekend ever in terms of overall grosses, which could come in as high as $250 million. Previous record-holdover was the weekend of July 7, 2006, which brought $218.4 million in total grosses, led by the $135.6 earned by “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean’s Man’s Chest.”

There are two animated flicks in the Big Ten, Wall-E at #6 (and a $175.7 million box office total) and Space Chimps at #7.

So I guess Chimps won't be duking it out with the Caped Crusader for the top spot. A shame.

Meanwhile, Kung Fu Panda has dropped out of the Ten to #11, waddling along with $205.3 million ...

Add On: The weekend totals offer one surprise -- the size of Batman's box office take -- as The Dark Knight and Mama Mia finish #1 ($155.3 million) and #2 ($27.6 million).

The new Batman movie "The Dark Knight" smashed the weekend record set by "Spider-Man 3" last year, selling an estimated $155.3 million worth of tickets during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said on Sunday.

Downlist, there were three animated features in the Top Ten: Wall-E at 6th place with $182.5 in the till, Kung Fu Panda at tenth with $206.5 million, and the tepid Space Chimps at #7, collecting $7.3 million and breaking my heart by not making a stronger assault on the top spot.