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A superhero with abandonment issues did it.

So did a bunch of pirates with chronic halitosis.

What's their secret?

Christopher Nolan's second entry in the Batman series, "The Dark Knight" just became the fourth film in the history of the world to cross the $1 billion threshold in worldwide revenues, joining "Titanic," "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

But really, with those films as competition, how hard can it be to make your very own billion dollar baby?

We talked to Chris Thilk, writer/publisher of MovieMarketingMadness.com, to learn the reel secrets behind making mega-mega successful films.

PHOTO ESSAY: The 10 Secrets to $1 Billion Success.