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The Lyons Den

Starring E! movie dude Ben Lyons

Beat Ben @ the Box Office: A Giant Gotham Gross?

Thu., Jul. 17, 2008 11:12 AM PDT by Ben Lyons

Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros. Entertainment

Finally! It's here! Starting tonight, The Dark Knight invades more than 4,300 screens—many of them IMAX—bringing the return of Batman, one of the most beloved characters in American pop culture.

After Christopher Nolan teamed with Christian Bale to relaunch the franchise in 2005, there's been new interest in the billionaire vigilante. And that, combined with the truly breathtaking performance from the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, has created a hysteria around the film. Midnight screenings are sold out and theaters are adding hourly showings from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.

So look for The Dark Knight to pull in a weekend total of $112 million. Only reason I'm not calling it higher is because it's not a holiday, kids are still away at camp, and Hancock, Hellboy II and WALL-E will still put up strong numbers.

What do you think? Can Bruce Wayne close an even bigger deal? Drop your numbers in the comments!