10 Biggest Superhero Movie Opening Weekends Of All Time

4. The Dark Knight Rises

Release date: July 20, 2012

Opening weekend total: $160.9 million

No Joker, no problem. Despite playing the best possible villain card (no pun intended) from Batman’s rogues gallery in the previous film, anticipation was at a fever pitch for the conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. It won’t go down as the most universally beloved of the three movies, but it will forever hold the title of the best of the three when it came to opening weekend hauls.

That also makes it the reigning king of Batman films of any kind. Even though the 1989 Tim Burton Batman was a phenomenon for its era, The Dark Knight Rises had the advantages of inflation, more advanced movie formats (big chunks of this film were shot with IMAX cameras) and simply more screens overall. It debuted in 4,404 theaters nationwide, still a record for superhero movies.

Batman has long been the ace for Warner Bros./DC when it comes to filling seats, and The Dark Knight Rises certainly cemented that fact. It’s foolish to say a future Batman film couldn’t beat it, but it won’t be easy.

Next: 3. Iron Man 3