The Dark Knight could beat Titanic's record $600.8 Million at U.S. Box Office: Expert

The 1997 drama which starred Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet earned $600,788,188 domestically.

The prediction came amid a report that the 'Batman Begins' sequel had grossed $314,245,00 by the end of its second weekend in theaters nationwide. It surpassed the record previously held by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in 2006 which passed the $300 million mark in 16 days.

"The `Titanic' record has sat in a lock box for 10 years. It's a tall order but if any film has a chance to surpass that number, it's got to be `Dark Knight,'" said Paul Dergarabedian, President of Media by Numbers, according to the Associated Press. Media by Numbers is a company which tracks box office results.

In 1997, "Titanic" had $28.7 million at the box office on its opening weekend in 2,674 theaters. It took 44 days to the movie to pass $300 million according to statistics from Boxofficemojo.com. At that time, the movie was in U.S. theaters from December 1997 to August 1998.

Final figures released on July 21, showed "The Dark Knight" had accumulated $158.4 million during its first weekend at 4,366 theaters, the most theater showings in the U.S. ever. It surpassed "Spider-Man 3" which had gross sales of $151.1 million in 2007 during its first weekend at 4,252 theaters.

After its first week on July 25, "The Dark Knight" had grossed $238.6 million the new record for one week sales, according to Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. The previous record was held by 'Pirates of the Caribbean II" which grossed $196 million in 2006.

The success of the film benefitted from rave reviews and acclamation for Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker character. The movie has received positive reviews from 94 percent critics, according to review aggregation site Rottentomatoes.com.

Ledger -who died early this year of an accidental prescription-drug overdose - has received praise from critics and fellow actors who have said the performance should be nominated for a posthumous Oscar award.