Four In A Row For 'Dark Knight'

The last quartet of No. 1 weekends happened five years ago with "The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King."

For the second straight weekend, even though "Dark Knight" trailed a newly released movie on Friday, it surged ahead on Saturday and Sunday.

"Dark Knight" dropped only 39 percent from last weekend, passing "Shrek 2" to become the third-highest grossing movie ever. This week, "Dark Knight" is expected to pass "Star Wars," which earned $461 million, to become the second-biggest film ever.

Batman is also flying high in IMAX theaters, collecting a total of $31 million so far.

"Pineapple Express" came in second, pulling in $22.4 million. "The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor" fell 60 percent from its take last weekend, bringing in $16.1 million since Friday, and $70.7 million in 10 days.

The big question for "Dark Knight" remains, can it surpass "Titanic's" huge $600.1 million domestic gross?

"I don't know how long we'll be able to sustain the gross," said Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Dan Fellman. "In the fall, I do think we'll have a lot of interest, but we've already taken so much out of the marketplace. We'll cross the $500 million bridge around Labor Day and see where it goes from there."

Coming this Friday: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Will the Force be with Lucas' new animated film? Time will tell.

"The Dark Knight" continues to air in theaters across the globe.

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