The Dark Knight had its European premiere in style as a giant batmobile raced down the red carpet along with the cast.

The movie is the follow-up to Batman Begins and has taken a US box office record of $55.34 million (£77.7 million) in its opening weekend.

Christian Bale returns as brooding Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne is the Dark Knight.

Brokeback Mountain star Ledger plays his arch-villain The Joker and calls for a posthumous Oscar nomination for the late star have continued.

Bale said of his co-star: "He did an incredible job with The Joker ... I enjoyed watching him perform."

Ledger, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Brokeback Mountain in 2006, died aged 28 of an accidental drugs overdose at his home in New York in January. He would become the first actor to win a posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for Network in 1977.

The premiere in London's Leicester Square saw stars of the film led up the carpet by a 2.5 ton six-wheeled batmobile which recently featured at the Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Eerie music played in the background as flames shot up from the roof of the cinema.

Stars Aaron Eckhart and Christopher Nolan also attended the premiere.

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