Heath Ledger deserves all the credit for The Dark Knight’s massive box office haul, according to the movie’s director Christopher Nolan.

Ledger plays The Joker in the movie, the last full film role he completed before his death in January from an accidental drug overdose. And Nolan insists Ledger made the movie a hit.

Speaking at The Dark Knight’s Japanese premiere on Monday, the British filmmaker said, “(He was) what The Joker in our film would need to be. (We were) looking for an actor with the fierceness, excitement and teeth to do our version of the Joker.”

Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the record-breaking film, also found time to praise Ledger, telling a press conference, “It’s satisfying to see people celebrating the incredible talent of Heath. I just want him to be recognized.”

In just 10 days since the film’s release in America, The Dark Knight has taken an astonishing $440 million at movie theatres worldwide, breaking almost every box office record in the U.S.

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Maggie Gyllenhaal is backing the campaign to have her late The Dark Knight co-star Heath Ledger posthumously honored with an Oscar.

Christian Bale and Michael Caine have both supported calls for Ledger to receive a gong at next year’s Academy Awards for his portrayal of The Joker.

And the actress believes Ledger deserves an award because his role was inspiring to other actors.

She tells WENN, “In order to be a good actor you have to find a place where you are free, but it’s very unusual to be absolutely free in the way that he was in this movie. It was inspiring working with him. It was such a pleasure. In a way I feel funny about thinking about Oscars when he isn’t alive, but at the same time I’m a member of the Academy and I would vote for him.”

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WENN

The Dark Knight grossed a behemoth $155.3 million from Friday through Sunday, according to early estimates, to score the biggest three-day opening in box-office history, while leading the way on a weekend for the record books.

The second Batman movie from star Christian Bale and director Christopher Nolan finished at No. 1 (as anticipated, duh!), and, assuming the early estimates hold, it set new standards in just about every category imaginable. It scored the biggest three-day opening weekend of all time (beating Spider-Man 3′s $151.1 mil bow). It achieved the best opening day and single day in history ($66.4 mil, shattering Spider-Man 3′s mark of $59.8 mil). It brought in the most money from Friday midnight shows of any release ever ($18.5 mil, passing Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith’s $16.9 mil). It banked a record $6.2 mil from 94 IMAX venues over the weekend (Spider-Man 3 had the old record, $4.7 mil). And it did it all with the biggest theater count, 4,366 locations, of all time.

Oh, but for Bale, Nolan, costars Maggie Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger, Warner Bros., DC Comics, and everybody else involved (all of whom scored career-best bows, naturally), things get even better. The Dark Knight is already more than three-quarters of the way to passing the $205.3 mil that 2005′s Batman Begins earned during its entire domestic run. This followup film also drew raves from ticket buyers, scoring a solid A CinemaScore review from a crowd that skewed slightly male and older. And if you add that to the critical coos that The Dark Knight had already been earning, as well as the fact that it’s really the last mega-blockbuster movie to hit the multiplex this summer, the film should continue its remarkable run for weeks to come.

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Ralph Fiennes’ Lord Voldemort character in the Harry Potter films has been named the best movie villain of all time – beating Heath Ledger’s Joker into fifth place.

Ledger’s performance in new Batman sequel The Dark Knight, the last movie he completed before his death in January, has been lauded by critics and tipped for an Oscar nomination.

But editors of Moviefone rank him behind Fiennes; James Earl Jones and Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader; Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West and Sir Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lector in the onscreen evil stakes.

A Moviefone editor explains the decision to crown Voldemort the most dastardly, “He is the most powerful dark wizard to ever wave a wand. What’s more, he schemes to dominate the whole world. Without his slithering presence, would J.K. Rowling be the best-selling author of all time? The answer, a resounding “No.”

The top ten is as follows:
1: Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter – Ralph Fiennes
2: Darth Vader, Star Wars -James Earl Jones, Hayden Christensen
3. Wicked Witch Of The West, The Wizard Of Oz – Margaret Hamilton
4. Hannibal Lecter, Silence Of The Lambs – Anthony Hopkins
5. Joker, The Dark Knight – Heath Ledger
6. Goldfinger, Goldfinger – Gert Frobe
7. Chigurgh, No Country For Old Men – Javier Bardem
8. Hans Gruber, Die Hard – Alan Rickman
9: Queen, Snow White And The Seven Dwarves – Lucille La Verne.

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WENN

Heath Ledger’s family attended Monday’s The Dark Knight premiere in New York, where the late actor’s father left the theater giving a thumbs-up sign.

Kim Ledger and his wife Ines – Heath’s stepmother – bypassed the red carpet and ducked into the theater to watch his late son play The Joker in the latest Batman film.

Also attending the premiere were Heath’s mother Sally Bell and her husband, and Heath’s older sister, Kate.

As his father Kim left, he was asked how it felt to attend, responding with the thumbs-up. He also told reporters it was “very good.”

Heath Ledger’s costars, meanwhile, used the occasion to pay tribute to him.

“Working with Heath was fantastic,” said Christian Bale, 34, who reprises his role as the Caped Crusader. “He steals the movie and I’m quite happy to say that. He’s a hell of a talent and created a joker that’s very iconic and one that will become a classic portrayal of the ages.”

Michael Caine, 75, who plays butler Alfred Pennyworth in the film, which opens July 18, noted the “intensity and ferocity of the performance.”

“But when we were sitting down between takes, he was completely ordinary,” Caine added. “He wasn’t preparing himself or saying ‘Please leave me alone, I’ve gotta do this.’ Instead he was talking to me.

“We would sit and chat and have a cup of coffee, then suddenly they’d say, ‘We’re ready, Heath,’ and he’d go straight into The Joker,” Caine continued. “His energy was astonishing, especially when it came from this kind of calm. He’s certainly the best villain I’ve ever seen.”

Melbourne-based Robert Collins, a Ledger family friend for 30 years and co-executor of the Ledger will, told Who magazine in Australia he saw The Dark Knight preview in Perth last night and described it as “a eerie feeling” watching him.

“I am aware that Kim Ledger and the family are over in New York for it, it was something they felt they had to do and it was a personal thing from their point of view,” said Collins.

Ledger, who died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose on Jan. 22 has garnered Oscar buzz for his role as the smiley yet sinister Joker. Anticipation for The Dark Knight has been at a fever pitch with midnight shows having sold out so quickly that theater owners have had to continue to adding 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. showtimes.

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Heath Ledger will be honored with a posthumous Oscar nomination for his role as the Joker in Batman movie The Dark Knight, his co-star Michael Caine insists.

Ledger’s performance has been lauded by castmates and preview audiences, and his name is already being mentioned as a contender for next year’s Academy Awards – which will take place shortly after the first anniversary of his death.

And Caine is sure he’ll get a mention. Speaking on Friday as he unveiled his hand and footprints outside the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the 75-year-old says, “I think he’ll get a posthumous Oscar nomination at least. I just watched him and talked to him for three days and I thought he was extraordinary.”

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Michelle Williams is reportedly set to make a personal film about her late actor boyfriend Heath Ledger.

The actress is said to be keen to keep his memory alive for the sake of their two-year-old daughter Matilda.

A source tells the Australian Daily Telegraph, “It makes Michelle’s heart ache that Matilda was so young when Heath died and she’s unlikely to retain any memories of her father. She (Williams) wants to keep his spirit alive with something Matilda can treasure all her life.”

The proposed film will feature friends and colleagues sharing their memories of the Brokeback Mountain star.

Ledger died in January in his New York apartment from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

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WENN