With China, Australia and Italy yet to launch, “Dragon Emperor” still has plenty of gas in the tank and will likely finish its foreign run ahead of the $260 million total for 1999’s “The Mummy”. Meanwhile, the Batman frenzy remained strong in international markets as “The Dark Knight” led the frame with $42.4 million n 60 territories.

Even though Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight” took third yesterday with $5 million at 3,590 sites, the superhero pic only weathered a 35% dip in its fifth Friday. Having accumulated $459.7 million to date, “Dark Knight” is on the verge of overtaking 1977’s “Star Wars” and its 1997 reissue on the all-time domestic grossers list.

I sense a disturbance in the Force: It’s a terrible weekend to be George Lucas. “The Dark Knight” is sure to pass “Star Wars” for the No. 2 spot on the list of biggest box office hits of all time (unadjusted for inflation). And perhaps worse, there’s a new “Star Wars” movie, and no one cares.

There were twists and turns that no one predicted. Who would have bet that “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” would not have the summer’s biggest opening, or that “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” would outgross it? Bottom line: Success at the box office can be determined by a confluence of mysterious factors.

I know a lot of parents who fret about the wholesale takeover of our kids’ imaginations by franchises like “Star Wars.” They fear that the pop culture is somehow corroding our offsprings’ ability to turbo-drive their own imagination. I’d like to think most kids are more inventive than that.

The Christian Bale and Heath Ledger superhero picture has now accumulated $441.5 million at the US box office, surpassing “Shrek 2” as the third highest domestic grosser of all time. It’s expected to beat “Star Wars’ ” $461 million total in the next week before finally settling at No. 2, behind “Titanic.”

The Sony comedy nabbed a record-breaking $12.5 million at the US box office. For the first time in its run, Warner’s “The Dark Knight” came in No. 3 for the day, behind “Pineapple Express” and “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.”

“Dark Knight” has every chance of nearing or crossing US$500 million in the United States, making it the second highest grossing title of all time after “Titanic,” which accumulated US$600.8 million in ticket sales at the US domestic box office.

Privately, Universal and most box office observers had expected “Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” to beat “Dark Knight” at the domestic box office, but the Batman sequel’s resilience and muscle has continued to surprise.

Early foreign performance for “The Dark Knight” represents a triumph for Warner Bros.’ Batman franchise, which had seen respectable rather than spectacular overseas numbers with “Batman Begins” topping international cumes at $166 million.