There is no doubt that The Dark Knight is going to be a massive hit. In Silicon Valley, cash-rich venture capital firms and fast growing startups are hosting movie nights. Accel Partners, for instance has invited many nearest-and-dearest to them for a showing tomorrow at San Francisco’s Metreon Cinemas. Box.net is being a little more sedate and hosting a movie night down in Mountain View.

And judging by the number of press releases with the Batman theme and infographics on the web, it goes without saying that the Dark Knight is going to kick some serious box-office ass. Another way to judge this movie’s success: the advance ticket sales. Here is a press-release Fandango, the ticket booking site shared today: 

“The Dark Knight Rises,” on the eve of its opening weekend  is outpacing the summer blockbuster “The Avengers” in ticket sales at the same point in the sales cycle. The final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy has sold out on Fandango more than 2,000 showtimes nationwide and it’s currently on track to become one of Fandango’s top-selling movies of all time. “The Dark Knight Rises” currently accounts for 91% of daily ticket sales, selling out coast-to-coast from big cities like New York and Los Angeles, to smaller towns like Sunrise, Florida to Puyallup, Washington. Nearly 30% of the site’s fans on Thursday using Fandango’s mobile site and apps to buy their tickets in advance.

In comparison, the day before The Avengers, one of the top grossing movies of the years opened, Fandango said that it has sold out “more than 1,000 showtimes” and that the “The Avengers” represented 95 percent of total sales a day before the movie opened. Already, The Dark Knight Rises is beating the showtimes number.

The Dark Knight is going to be shown on over 4,400 screens. The Avengers opening weekend number brought in about $207.4 million. So what is your take: Dark Knight beats the shit out of Avengers on the opening weekend? My guess is it does.