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Warner Bros.

The late Heath Ledger stars as The Joker in 'The Dark Knight.'

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LOS ANGELES – Batman has sent Spidey packing as king of Hollywood's box-office superheroes.

The Dark Knight took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, topping the previous best of $151.1 million for Spider-Man 3 in May 2007 and pacing Hollywood to its biggest weekend ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released The Dark Knight.

The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said.

Hollywood set an overall revenue record of $253 million for a three-day weekend, beating the $218.4 million haul over the weekend of July 7, 2006, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"This weekend is such a juggernaut," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, whose musical Mamma Mia! debuted at No. 2 with $27.6 million.

Revenue totals for The Dark Knight could change when final numbers are released Monday.

The movie's release was preceded by months of buzz and speculation over the performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman's nemesis. Mr. Ledger, who died in January from an accidental prescription-drug overdose, played the Joker as a demonic presence, his performance prompting predictions that it might earn him a posthumous Academy Award nomination.

The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan with his Batman Begins star Christian Bale, whose vigilante crime-fighter is taunted and tested by Mr. Ledger's Joker as the villain unleashes chaos.

Overseas, The Dark Knight added $40 million in 20 countries where it began opening Wednesday, including Australia, Mexico and Brazil. The film opens in Great Britain this weekend.

The Dark Knight, which cost $185 million to make, also broke the Spider-Man 3 record for best debut in IMAX large-screen theaters with $6.2 million. Spider-Man 3 opened with $4.7 million in IMAX cinemas.

On opening-day Friday, The Dark Knight also took in more money than previously counted, Mr. Fellman said. The film pulled in a record $67.85 million, up nearly $1.5 million from the studio's estimates a day earlier.

The previous opening-day record also had been held by Spider-Man 3 with $59.8 million.

Women accounted for most of the audience for Mamma Mia!, which Universal opened as counterprogramming to the male-dominated audience for The Dark Knight.

Here are the estimated weekend sales for the top 10 films.