NO one doubted “The Dark Knight” was going to be a blockbuster, particularly since it’s the last movie of the late Heath Ledger and buzz has been building around his portrayal of The Joker. But I don’t think anyone really expected it to be this huge, as it posted $158.4 million in its opening weekend to break the previous North American box office opening record.

Fittingly enough, DC’s Batman beat rival Marvel’s franchise comic book character Spider-Man (but I’m still a big Spider-Man fan), as the previous record holder was “Spider-Man 3″ with $151.1 million.

Check out this video report from Access Hollywood.

Yup, Hollywood is definitely benefiting from comic book characters with all the comic book movies that have been coming out in the past few years. By the way, if you loved the graphic novel like I did (and who doesn’t heh), I’m sure you also can’t wait for the “Watchmen” movie. If you haven’t seen the “Watchmen” trailer yet, you can check it out here.