July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.'s ``The Dark Knight'' took in a single-day record of $66.4 million yesterday, including $18.5 million in midnight sales, as fans rushed to see the late Heath Ledger's performance as the psychopathic Joker.

``Dark Knight'' bettered the single-day record of Sony Corp.'s ``Spider-Man 3'' of $59.8 million, which also had midnight showings, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers LLC. It may also threaten the May 2007 film's opening- weekend mark of $151 million, said Media By Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian in an interview today.

The film, from Time Warner's Warner Bros. studio, is expected to take in as much as $140 million during the weekend, according to the forecast by Hollywood Stock Exchange, a Web site that predicts a movie's performance.

``This is on track to be the biggest opening weekend gross of all time,'' Dergarabedian said. ``This is unprecedented, this would be a great opening weekend for most films.''

Interest in the film has been driven by Ledger's portrayal, which casts the Joker as a twisted killer who delights in carnage and anarchy. Christian Bale plays Batman.

Critics praised ``The Dark Knight,'' with 175 positive write-ups out of the 186 reviews tracked on RottenTomatoes.com as of July 18.

The opening of the film yesterday was in a record 4,366 theaters, Encino, California-based Media By Numbers said. Three thousand forty theaters held midnight showings, while others scheduled early morning runs at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., Media By Numbers said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 19, 2008 15:25 EDT