Indiana Jones and the box office slump

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If "Iron Man" doesn't satisfy your need for movies about wealthy playboys who are also superheroes, never fear. Batman is back and given the amount of buzz surrounding "The Dark Knight," he could give his lead-booted counterpart a run for his money.

"Batman is definitely the one to beat this summer," said Bock, who expects the film to gross between $80 million to $100 million in its first weekend.

"The Dark Knight" is the second Batman movie to be directed by Christopher Nolan with Christian Bale in the staring role. The film is a sequel to Nolan's "Batman Begins," which brought in $205 million in 2005.

But the tone of this year's Batman is sure to be colored by the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger, who plays the film's villain. It was rumored that certain scenes depicting the death of Ledger's character, The Joker, would be cut from the film out of consideration for fans of the late actor.

Ledger's death prompted a huge outpouring of sympathy from the public and fascinated the media. Despite the rather morbid implication, "The Dark Knight" could have an unintended draw for moviegoers interested in seeing Ledger in one of his final roles.

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