Climactic part of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy records a series best opening of $22.4m (£14.4m) to knock Fox’s 3D animation off number one.

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Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy looks set to go out on a high as The Dark Knight Rises recorded an impressive opening of $22.4m (£14.4m) from 594 sites to chart top of the UK box office.

That opening – of which $1.6m (£1m) came from IMAX screens – marks a series best for Warner Bros ahead of The Dark Knight’s $17.4m (£11.2m) and Batman Begins’ $6.9m (£4.4m), as well as a career-best for Nolan. The Dark Knight Rises will also pass Begins’ final tally in the UK of $25.8m (£16.6m) this week.

In the context of the year’s other superhero films, The Dark Knight Rises toppled The Amazing Spider-Man’s $17.2m (£11.1m), despite that film’s three days of previews and 3D uplift. TDKR lost out slightly to Marvel Avengers Assemble though which recorded a $24.5m (£15.8m) debut, although it’s worth bearing in mind that Avengers had a day of previews and the 3D uplift which TDKR did not.

Its nearest challenger was Fox’s Ice Age: Continental Drift which added $3.3m (£2.1m).

The latest instalment in the ever-popular franchise has now overtaken the original Ice Age’s final tally of $23.4m (£15.1m), and has amassed $27.4m (£17.7m) to date. It still has some way to go to catch either Ice Age: The Meltdown ($45.9m/£29.6m) or Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs ($54.5m/£35.2m) though.

Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man added $1.6m (£1.1m) in its third week and has now caught $34.9m (£22.5m) in its web.

Dropping one place to fourth was Lionsgate’s comedy drama Magic Mike. Although it fell heavily week-on-week, it has now crossed the £5m mark at the box office following a $1.4m (£883,730) weekend for $8.1m (£5.2m) overall.

StudioCanal’s apocalyptic dramedy Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World stands at $1.1m (£717,775) after ten days in play.

This week’s only saturation release belongs to Universal’s Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax as it expands nationwide. StudioCanal’s Searching For Sugar Man, Artificial Eye’s El Bulli: Cooking In Progress and Kaleidoscope’s The Man Inside are among the films receiving limited releases.

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