LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Dark Knight Rises was on track to earn US$160 million, which would be a record for 2-D films, over the weekend following a mass shooting at a Colorado screening of the Batman film.

Citing box office insiders, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and other media outlets reported Sunday that the latest Batman sequel earned US$160 to US$162 million.

That amount would best the US$158.4 million debut of The Dark Knight in 2008 and give Dark Knight Rises the third-highest domestic weekend opening ever after the 3-D films The Avengers with US$207.4 million and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 with US$169.2 million.

Tickets for 3-D films cost a few more dollars than 2-D screenings, netting extra cash at the box office. Movies released in 3-D typically earn under half of their income in 3-D screenings, sometimes as little as a third.

Sony, Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Lionsgate joined Dark Knight Rises distributor Warner Bros in publicly withholding their usual revenue reports out of respect for the victims and their families.