The new Batman movie "The Dark Knight" smashed the opening-weekend record set by "Spider-Man 3" last year, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said on Sunday.

The hotly anticipated film, co-starring late actor Heath Ledger as the anarchic Joker, sold an estimated $155.3 million worth of tickets during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada, the Time Warner Inc-owned studio said.

That's more than the $151.1 million earned by Sony Corp's "Spider-Man 3" during its first weekend in May 2007.

"The Dark Knight" stars Welsh actor Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, and was directed by English filmmaker Christopher Nolan.

The franchise was resurrected in 2005 with "Batman Begins," which earned $48.7 million during its first weekend in 2005, and finished up with $205 million.

The latest film reportedly cost about $180 million to make, thanks in part to the pioneering use of Imax heavy cameras to shoot the film for giant-screen theaters. The filmmakers also blew up bits of Chicago, which doubles for the fictional Gotham City.

But it is Ledger's performance as the Joker, a role last taken on by Jack Nicholson for 1989's "Batman," that has generated the most buzz. It was the Australian actor's last completed role before he died of an accidental overdose in January.

Many pundits have already declared that he is a shoo-in to receive an Oscar nomination for his creepy turn as the bane of Batman's existence.

Tickets for many weekend screenings sold out long ago, and moviegoers -- some dressed as characters from the movie -- had to wait hours in long lines to get inside once the film opened just after midnight on Friday.

Some theaters kept screening the film throughout the night to meet demand.