Christian Bale skirted questions about the assault allegations against him Tuesday at the Japanese premiere of “The Dark Knight.”

British media has reported that Bale’s mother and sister told police he assaulted them at the hotel a day before attending the film’s European premiere.

But the Batman star managed to make it through the hugely successful Warner Bros. movie’s premiere in Japan with virtually no comment on his personal problems.

“It’s a private matter,” he told a crowded news conference. Last week, in Spain, Bale brushed off reporters with a similar comment.

Bale has said through his lawyers that the assault allegations are false. The 34-year-old Welsh actor’s personal drama hasn’t hurt the movie. It crossed the $300 million mark in just 10 days in the U.S. and is expected to do well in Europe and Asia. Bale and his co-stars were at no loss for words over the performance of the late Heath Ledger, who stole the show with his eccentric and highly charged portrayal of the Joker.

“You could see how much glee and pleasure he got out of playing this character,” Bale said of Ledger, who died in January. Bale was the child star of Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun” in 1987. His screen credits also include “American Psycho,” “The Machinist” and “Batman Begins.” “The Joker claims the only things you can believe in are chaos and disorder,” Bale said. “There is some truth to that.” [Yahoo]

The new Batman film has broken another box office record in North America as it spends a second week at number one.

The Dark Knight passed the $300m (£151m) mark quicker than any other movie, doing so 10 days after release.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest held the previous record, which was set in 16 days in 2006.

The Dark Knight took $75.6m (£38.1m) over the weekend in the US and Canada, with comedy Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell, new at number two. It took $30m (£15.1m), knocking last week’s runner-up, Mamma Mia!, into third place. Ferrell and co-star John C Reilly reunited with director Adam McKay, who had been responsible for their earlier collaboration Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

“It really is a terrific start,” said Rory Bruer, the head of distribution for Sony. The chemistry between the stars was “great”, he added.

The Dark Knight had already set a record for revenue on an opening weekend and is now the second-biggest film of 2008 in North America, just behind Iron Man, which stands at $315m (£159m). Starring Christian Bale as Batman and the late Heath Ledger as The Joker, it “seems to be unstoppable”, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking company Media By Numbers.[BBC NEWS]

Batman film The Dark Knight has set a box office record for best opening weekend ever at the US box office, distributor Warner Bros has said.

The sequel took $155.3m (£77.7m) surpassing the previous opening weekend record set by Spider-Man 3 last year, which took $151.1m (£75.5m).

Batman, which opened on Friday, took $66.4m (£33.2m), which was also a single-day box office record.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, it cost $185m (£92.5m) to make. Critics have praised the film, which stars Christian Bale as Batman and the late actor Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker.

‘Proud’
“We have been thrilled by the response to The Dark Knight, first from the critics and now from audiences,” said Dan Fellman, Warner’s head of distribution.

Ledger died following a drug overdose in January aged 28. Some supporters have suggested that he should get a posthumous Oscar nomination. Last week Ledger’s co-stars paid tribute to him at the world premiere of the film in New York. “We’re very proud of the film,” said Fellman.

“It’s the magic of the movie business, how one film just stands out above the others.” The Dark Knight will be premiered in the UK on 21 July. The last Batman movie, Batman Begins, in 2005, grossed nearly $49 million (£24.5m) in its first weekend in North America. It went on to collect about $372 million (£186m) worldwide. [BBC NEWS]