The Caped Crusader is already making some magic at the box office, based on advance ticket sales.

Cineplex Entertainment, Canada’s largest theatre chain, says pre-sales had reached record levels of nearly $1-million for Warner Bros’ much buzzed-about Batman flick The Dark Knight, which bows on more than 4,300 screens in North America Friday.

‘[It has] been unprecedented, breaking all previous records for pre-sales,’ said Cineplex president Ellis Jacob in a Thursday release, adding that the exhibitor has scheduled additional screenings across the country to meet demand.

The sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins stars Christian Bale as the superhero, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and the late Heath Ledger, who has generated Oscar heat for his performance as Batman arch-rival The Joker. Both films are helmed by Brit Christopher Nolan.

Dark Knight is expected to far exceed the US$50-million opening of Batman Begins during the June 15, 2005 weekend. The earlier film went on to gross $205-million in North America, according to Box Office Mojo.

Other U.S. releases for the frame are Universal Pictures’ musical Mamma Mia! , starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, while 20th Century Fox bows the animated comedy Space Chimps.

Meanwhile, Mongrel Media is releasing noteworthy documentaries A Jihad for Love, and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson on Friday.

Parvez Sharma’s Jihad, which premiered at TIFF last year, explores homosexuality and Islam. It will play at Toronto’s Royal theatre, while Gonzo, about the iconic American journalist and writer Thompson, will screen in Toronto and Vancouver.

Mongrel director of theatrical releasing Tom Alexander tells Playback Daily the documentaries counter nicely against Dark Knight.

‘No question Dark Knight will dominate the weekend across the board. But the audiences are very different…our work is very targeted,’ he says. ‘We expect their respective audiences to seek them out.’

Alexander says the documentaries will expand next week if weekend box office warrants.

Also on Friday, Seville Pictures is bowing the thriller Stuck, starring Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea, at Toronto’s Bloor Cinema.