Prior to opening in the US at midnight on Thursday, Warner’s Bros The Dark Knight was being billed as the most hyped movie in history. That’s a lot to live up to. Pre-release reviews, however, were almost unanimous in their praise of Christopher Nolan’s second Batman movie, indicating perhaps that the hype is entirely justified.

If the critics weren’t evidence enough, The Dark Knight has now broken at least two box office records: biggest take for a midnight debut ($18.5 million) and – more impressively – the highest opening weekend gross ever, racking up $155.4 million and beating Spiderman 3’s $151.1 million into second spot.

Nice going, Batman! Strong press, psychotic marketing and massive interest in Heath Ledger’s supposedly Oscar-worthy portrayal as the Joker should give The Dark Knight long legs in theatres, so look for this one to beat the box-office pedigrees of the likes of the Spiderman and Pirates Of The Caribbean franchises. Can’t see it topping 1997’s Titanic (which to date boasts in the region of $1.8 billion in grosses), but it will be massive.

UPDATE: Shortly after going to press, The Dark Knight’s weekend stats were upped to $158.4 million. Bada-boom.