Batman sent Spidey packing this weekend as king of Hollywood's box-office superheroes.

Nationwide, "The Dark Knight" took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, topping the previous best of $151.1 million for "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007 and pacing Hollywood to its biggest weekend ever, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Separate box office numbers for Atlanta were not immediately available.

"We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight." The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said.

Hollywood set an overall revenue record of $253 million for a three-day weekend, beating the $218.4 million haul during the weekend of July 7, 2006, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"This weekend is such a juggernaut," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, whose musical "Mamma Mia!" debuted at No. 2 with $27.6 million.

Outside the Regal Mall of Georgia Stadium 20 & Imax multiplex, Collin Adams, 25, of Blairsville, was back again Saturday for a second helping of "Dark Knight." On Tuesday, Adams had raced the nine hours from Columbus, Ohio, to the Buford multiplex to be one of the first to see a prescreening.

"I've been looking forward to this for a long time," said Adams, who learned he had won Imax tickets from a Warner Bros. promotion while at a job interview in Ohio.

"Then we had to sit in a two-hour line," said his fiance Blair McCants, who also endured the trip. "I wasn't too happy about that."

Was it worth the miles journeyed?

"Totally," Adams said. "It's so epic and so awesome."

The villainous Joker demanded the most attention, he said. "Heath Ledger stole the show," said Adams, who wore a vintage Batman T-shirt to the film.

"The Dark Knight," which cost $185 million to make, also broke the "Spider-Man 3" record for best debut in Imax large-screen theaters with $6.2 million. "Spider-Man 3" opened with $4.7 million in Imax cinemas.

Steve Denham of Dacula and his wife, Angie, paid extra to see "Dark Knight" on Sunday afternoon at Buford's Imax —- the only super-widescreen theater in Georgia showing the film.

Some Saturday performances there were cut short or canceled after the Imax projector malfunctioned. It was working again Sunday. Imax tickets are $15 apiece, compared with $10 for the conventional screenings.

It's worth it," said Steve Denham, whose call sign as an Air Force navigator was "Batman." "It's just bigger. You get to see everything bigger. I knew it would be clearer and a lot more detailed than the regular show."

On opening day Friday, "The Dark Knight" also took in more money than previously counted —- a record $67.85 million. The previous opening-day record also had been held by "Spider-Man 3" with $59.8 million.

The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's animated family flick "Space Chimps," opened at No. 7 with $7.4 million.

—- Staff reporters Marcus K. Garner and Chris Reinolds and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

BY THE NUMBERS

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

1. "The Dark Knight," $155.34 million.

2. "Mamma Mia!", $27.6 million.

3. "Hancock," $14 million.

4. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," $11.9 million.

5. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," $10 million.

6. "WALL-E," $9.8 million.

7. "Space Chimps," $7.4 million.

8. "Wanted," $5.1 million.

9. "Get Smart," $4.1 million.

10. "Kung Fu Panda," $1.8 million.