Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.'s Batman saga ``The Dark Knight'' became the third highest-grossing domestic film of all time with $442 million in sales as it topped the movie chart for a fourth straight weekend.

The Warner Bros. film made $26 million this weekend at theaters in the U.S. and Canada, box office tracker Media By Numbers LLC said today in an e-mailed statement. It beat Sony Corp.'s stoner comedy ``Pineapple Express,'' which made $22.4 million.

``The Dark Knight'' is the first film since 2003's ``The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' to hold onto first place for four consecutive weekends, according to Media By Numbers. The movie may help lift 2008 box-office sales past last year's record of $9.68 billion. The movie ranks third in all-time domestic sales -- receipts from the U.S. and Canada -- behind ``Titanic'' ($601 million) and the original 1977 ``Star Wars'' ($461 million), according to Media By Numbers.

``The `Dark Knight' is holding up better than most summer blockbusters,'' said Brandon Gray, publisher of Box Office Mojo LLC in Burbank, California. ``This is a phenomenal picture any way you slice it. Still, it's unlikely to top `Titanic's' $600 million gross.''

In ``The Dark Knight,'' Christian Bale's Batman ponders his future as a crimefighter as the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, terrorizes Gotham City. The film is a sequel to the 2005 release ``Batman Begins,'' also starring Bale, which had $205.3 million in sales from theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Both films were directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan.

`The Sisterhood'

``Pineapple Express'' stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as losers who go on the run after witnessing a murder. The film has taken in $40.5 million since it opened on Aug. 6.

``The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,'' from Universal Pictures, dropped to third place from second with $16.1 million. The film is the third in the series starring Brendan Fraser as adventurer Rick O'Connell. This time, O'Connell and his son Alex battle the reanimated remains of an ancient Chinese emperor.

The weekend's other new film, ``The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2,'' also from Warner Bros., was fourth with $10.8 million. Since its Aug. 6 debut, the movie has taken in $19.7 million.

`Step Brothers'

``Step Brothers'' fell to fifth place from third with sales of $8.9 million. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play a couple of spoiled slackers who must share a house after their parents marry.

Rounding out the top 10 in sixth through 10th place, respectively, were: ``Mamma Mia!,'' with sales of $8.1 million for General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures; ``Journey to the Center of the Earth,'' from Warner Bros., collected $4.9 million; Sony's ``Hancock,'' starring Will Smith, with $3.3 million; Walt Disney Co.'s ``Swing Vote'' starring Kevin Costner with $3.1 million; and ``Wall-E,'' from Walt Disney's Pixar animation studio, with $3.05 million.

Receipts for the top 12 movies fell 22 percent to $109.5 million from the year-earlier period, Encino, California-based Media By Numbers said. For the year, box-office sales of $6.15 billion are down 0.4 percent from a year-earlier. Year-to-date attendance has dropped 4.3 percent.

The following table has figures provided by studios to Media By Numbers. The amounts are based on gross ticket sales from Aug. 8, yesterday and estimates for today.

Movie                Rev.  Theaters  Wks   Avg./    Pct.  Total
                    (mln)                 Theater   Chg.  (mln)

1.  The Dark Knight  $26.0   4,025    4    $6,467   -39   441.5
2.  Pineapple Express 22.4   3,072    1     7,292    --    40.5
3.  The Mummy         16.1   3,778    2     4,265   -60    70.7
4.  Sisterhood        10.8   2,707    1     3,979    --    19.7
5.  Step Brothers      8.9   3,182    3     2,797   -46    80.9
6.  Mamma Mia!         8.1   3,194    4     2,530   -36   104.0
7.  Journey            4.9   1,970    5     2,464   -27    81.8
8.  Hancock            3.3   2,258    6     1,461   -35   221.7
9.  Swing Vote         3.1   2,213    2     1,404   -50    12.0
10. Wall-E             3.0   2,144    7     1,420   -34   210.1

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.netMichael Tsang in New York at mtsang1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 10, 2008 15:16 EDT