DARK KNIGHT ÆÐIÐ ER BYRJAÐ

A Fandango poll sums up the Dark Knight mania sweeping the film nation this week. With only a week to go, it looks like the Bat-Marketing has hit its stride and The Dark Knight is going to be huge:

* 37% of respondents plan to see the film at least once during one of the late night performances on Thursday night.
* 38% say that they intend to take off a few hours or the entire day from work on Friday as a result of seeing the movie the night before.
* 60% of these moviegoers are male.
* 71% are under the age of 35.
* 39% plan to see the film in IMAX(R).
* 92% expect that the Academy will recognize Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker with a posthumous Oscar(R) nomination next year.

The Dark Knight has become the fastest-selling advance ticket of the year, out-selling both Iron Man and Indiana Jones. Things have gotten so crazy with the midnight viewing crowds that the film-ticket site reports some theaters have been adding 3:00AM and 6:00AM shows.