“The Dark Knight” conquers it all. The fresh Batman movie has broken another box office record in North America as it claims the first spot for the second weekend in a row. “The Dark Knight” sold approximately $75.6 million in tickets at theaters from Friday to Sunday, according to Warner Brothers. The movie, stimulated by the late Heath Ledger’s outstanding performance, surpassed the $300m mark more rapidly than any other movie, only 10 days after its release.

“This picture has really taken on a life of its own,” said Dan Fellman, Warner’s president for domestic distribution. A proficiently conducted promotional campaign from the studio’s marketing chief, Sue Kroll, facilitated building public eagerness to witness Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. “The Dark Knight” may also have profited from an outburst of publicity that was triggered when the film’s star, Christian Bale, was interrogated by authorities in London after his mother and sister accused him of attack. However, Mr. Bale rejected the accusations and was discharged.

“The Dark Knight” has sold $314.2 million in tickets and is expected to also be a huge international success. Directed by Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Night” outshines its predecessor, bringing new dimensions to the story, with a carefully detailed script and the use of IMAX technology. The rush induced by the huge action scenes, combined with all the gadgets and the excellent performances of the movie’s two main actors, will not leave anyone dissatisfied.

The movie also introduces District Attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart, who starts off as a day-time crime fighter, heating things up with the wrong-doers of Gotham City. He will later accidentally transform into the revenge-minded Two-Face. Besides him, there are also present the knight’s police force contact Jim Gordon, played by Gary Oldman, Wayne’s faithful servant Alfred played by Michael Cane, Wayne Industries technical manager Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Maggie Gyllenhaal taking Katie Holmes’s place as Rachel Dawes.

The symbolism of the movie relates to the fragile line between good and evil which can easily lead to a radical direction change.Heath Ledger’s performance has been praised by many with good reason, as he managed to deliver one of the best villain portrayals ever, which has even led to rumors about an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

In "The Dark Knight," Ledger delivered his last complete film role before dying at the age of 28 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs on Jan. 22 in Manhattan. His performance in the latest action-filled Batman flick has been shifted to centre stage, inflated by all the marketing fury of a big summer blockbuster, and even shaped into Heath's epitaph.

Drawing inspiration from sources as wide-ranging as Johnny Rotten and ventriloquists, Ledger's Clown Prince of Crime is anything but funny. Instead, he's a sadistically gleeful force of nature who wants nothing more than to watch the world tear itself to pieces.

From facial tics to bad jokes, his devotion to the role took the Joker far from a garish comic book character to a nuanced madman that somehow does what every good villain can - makes you like him.
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 is obviously not a premiere presence, the character has been present in previous movies focused on the adventures of Batman. But what Jack Nicholson or Cesar Romero realized is far from what Ledger played. Their characters were clowns, mere pranksters in comparison with the great cruelty of Ledger’s Joker.

Ledger, who never played a villain before, was cast by movie director Christopher Nolan as the Joker "because he's fearless." Nolan recently proclaimed that Ledger was the only person on his list of names after seeing the actor’s performance as the gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain."

Besides "The Dark Knight" in this weekend box office, the second place went to “Step Brothers”, starring Will Ferrell and distributed by Sony’s Columbia Pictures, which opened with approximately $30 million in domestic ticket sales, proving once again that movie watchers prefer unsophisticated comedies.

In third place was “Mamma Mia!” with an estimated $17.8 million in sales ($135.3 million total), followed by the 20th Century Fox production “X-Files: I Want to Believe” a big-screen resurgence of the famous television series, which sold only an estimated $10.2 million in tickets in North America. The movie claimed only the fourth place, scarcely ahead of “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, which sold $9.5 million in tickets ($72 million total since its July 11 release).