Holy ticket sales, Batman!
Robert Pattinson’s pitch-black superhero adventure “The Batman” collected a mighty $128.5 million from 4,417 North American theaters in its box office debut, marking the best opening weekend of 2022 by a landslide. More impressively, it’s only the second pandemic-era movie to cross the $100 million mark in a single weekend, a feat first achieved by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and its huge $260 million launch in December.
"The Batman" is shaping up to be a commercial hit for Warner Bros., thanks to favorable reviews, a robust reception from ticket buyers, and a high degree of interest in seeing Pattinson's somber take on the Caped Crusader. That's wonderful news because the studio spent a whopping $200 million on the film's production and many millions more on marketing and distribution. Bringing Batman to the big screen isn't cheap, and making money won't be easy.
"The Batman" garnered $120 million from 74 international markets, bringing its global total to a healthy $248.5 million. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week, Warner Bros. canceled the film's distribution in Russia.
"It's exciting to see the people enjoy the film," says Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' president of domestic distribution. "Because the film is three hours lengthy, it became an appointment viewing." That bodes well for the film's run in theaters. It helps that word of mouth is so powerful.
"The Batman" is also likely to have benefited because the comic book adaption is only available in theaters. "The Batman" marks a departure for Warner Bros., which chose to release its full 2021 theatrical film slate simultaneously on HBO Max, as the studio's first movie since Christopher Nolan's twisting thriller "Tenet" (which also starred Pattinson) that is exclusively available to watch in theaters. "The Batman" will be available on HBO Max in 45 days.
It's impossible to quantify the exact box office impact of releasing movies on streaming on the same day, but "The Batman" has made more money in its first weekend than any other Warner Bros. pandemic-era picture has made in its entire theatrical run. Prior to "The Batman," the studio's top-grossing films since March 2020 were "Godzilla vs. Kong" ($100 million).
Of course, the sparkly promise of a former "Twilight" heartthrob taking on one of the most iconic comic book characters in history helps. However, there were numerous variables that could have conspired against a different, less-popular version of "The Batman." For one thing, it's three hours long, which is a long time for even the most ardent moviegoer. In addition, due to the difficulties of its lengthy runtime, theater managers were forced to limit the number of showtimes per day. Fortunately for "The Batman," there was little competition on the marquees of movie theaters.
