July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.'s ``The Dark Knight'' took in a record $18.5 million in midnight sales early today as fans rushed to see the late Heath Ledger's performance as the psychopathic Joker.

``The Dark Knight'' surpassed the previous $16.9 million record set by News Corp.'s ``Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith,'' according to figures released today by Media By Numbers LLC.

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

``There is something in the zeitgeist of the culture that has grabbed onto this movie and the performance of Heath Ledger,'' Media By Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian said in an interview.

Sony Corp.'s ``Spider-Man 3,'' released in May 2007, holds records for the biggest opening weekend, at $151 million, and biggest opening day, at $59.8 million, according to Media By Numbers. This year's biggest weekend opening was Viacom Inc.'s ``Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,'' which took in $100.1 million.

3,040 Theaters

Midnight showings of ``The Dark Knight'' were held in 3,040 theaters, Media By Numbers said. The $18.5 million includes revenue only from showings that started at 12:01 a.m. Some theaters also scheduled early morning runs for 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., Media By Numbers said.

Not all theaters that are showing the film held midnight screenings. The film opens today in a record 4,366 theaters, according to Media By Numbers.

The film is benefiting from higher ticket prices, an average of $7.08 this year, compared with $6.41 in 2005 when ``Star Wars Episode III'' opened. Theaters sold 2.61 million tickets for midnight showings of ``The Dark Knight,'' according to Media By Numbers. For ``Star Wars Episode III,'' 2.64 million tickets were sold.

``Still, it's just astounding to be in the same neighborhood as `Star Wars,'' said Gitesh Pandya, editor of the Web site BoxOfficeGuru. ``You couldn't ask for anything more.''

Box office attendance is down 5.2 percent this year as of July 13, according to Media By Numbers.

Heath Ledger

The film also stars Christian Bale as Batman, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as his love interest, Rachel Dawes. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine return as Lucius Fox and butler Alfred.

Ledger died in January from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. He was nominated for the best actor Academy Award for his portrayal of a gay cowboy in ``Brokeback Mountain.''

Ledger's death and critical praise for his performance are attracting moviegoers who typically don't turn out for films based on comic-book characters, said Pandya.

Of 176 reviews of the movie posted on Rottentomatoes.com, a Web site that aggregates film critiques, 165 were rated positive.

``You have a whole new layer of interest of people who might not go out to a comic book film but now need to see it right away,'' Pandya said.

Time Warner rose 5 cents to $14.70 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 11 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 18, 2008 19:04 EDT