BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhuanet) -- "The Dark Knight" topped the box office for a second weekend in a row in ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters, becoming the first film to surpass 300 million U.S. dollars in 10 days, media reported Monday.

    The sequel to "Batman Begins" took in 75.6 million dollars this weekend, giving it 314.2 million dollars since its July 18 debut.

Heath Ledger is shown in a scene in his role as The Joker in "The Dark Knight" in this undated publicity photo released to Reuters July 16, 2008. Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    That surpasses the record set in 2006 by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which took 16 days to make 300 million dollars.

    "The Dark Knight," starring the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, set five box-office records last week, including best opening-weekend sales with 158.4 million dollars and best single-day with 66.4 million dollars.    

    Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. head of distribution, expects that the epic Batman saga could reach 400 million dollars in about 18 days, which would beat the record "Shrek 2" set in 2004 when it made that much money in 43 days.

    "What can you say? We've been getting a lot of repeat business coming in," Fellman said. "Our audience is expanding, like you would expect with terrific word-of-mouth and strong reviews. Our audience is getting a little bit older, that's the good news. We're finding the younger demographic, male and female, coming back."

Actor heath Ledger as The Joker is shown in a scene from director Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" in this undated publicity photo released to Reuters July 18, 2008.  Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Coming in second place was "Step Brothers," which had a strong opening of its own with 30 million dollars.

    Will Smith's superhero flick "Hancock," placed third with 8.2 million dollars.

    The weekend's other big release "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," came in the fourth place with an estimated 10.2 million dollars.

    Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

    1. "The Dark Knight," 75.63 million dollars.

    2. "Step Brothers," 30 million dollars.

    3. "Mamma Mia!" 17.9 million dollars.

    4. "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," 10.2 million dollars.

    5. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," 9.4 million dollars.

    6. "Hancock," 8.2 million dollars.

    7. "WALL-E," 6.3 million dollars.

    8. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," 4.9 million dollars.

    9. "Space Chimps," 4.4 million dollars.

    10. "Wanted," 2.7 million dollars.

    (Agencies)