Box Office Thread

[Silver Nemesis]

Predicting box office returns with any accuracy is a virtual impossibility at present. I have no idea how much The Batman could make, but it's off to a very respectable start with an opening weekend haul of $248.5 million worldwide.

Factors working against it: Covid, a lengthy running time and the fact it has a higher age rating in some territories than most superhero films. It's also got the Batman Begins problem of following a divisive screen version of Batman that failed to meet box office expectations (Justice League only grossed $657.9 million, and that was pre-pandemic).

Factors in its favour: strong reviews (85% on RT) and positive word of mouth (high user ratings and an A- CinemaScore). It's also got a more grounded tone than the DCEU movies, and gritty grounded Batman films tend to gross over a billion dollars (e.g. The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises and Joker). Though of course they were all pre-pandemic.

It should have better legs at the box office than BvS. Here's hoping the second weekend drop will be small.

[thecolorsblend]

Current US Tally: $128.5 mill
Current Intl Tally: $120.0 mill

The affection (i.e., positive word of mouth) for TB seems to be very real. The comparison to Begins is probably very apt. People love this character and want him back. I'd be very surprised indeed if TB doesn't hit $650-$700 million worldwide.

Also, TB was originally estimated to have a $100 million opening weekend (https://bleedingfool.com/movies-tv-film/the-batman-is-targeting-a-100-million-opening-weekend) in the States. So, it seems to me that the movie is outperforming the original estimates.

[Silver Nemesis]

I don't know how much money the studios get from streaming services nowadays, but I'd imagine the impending HBO Max release must take some of the pressure off the theatrical run. If that's the case, then a WW gross of $650-$700 million would definitely be a respectable result.

[The Dark Knight]

The US opening weekend has risen to $134 million. Long term the movie has legs because of the A- Cinema Score. It means a higher chance of repeat business or new viewers thanks to positive word of mouth. JOKER was much the same, I think. BvS had a bigger opening but the drop-off afterwards was depressing.

[Silver Nemesis]

By the end of this weekend the domestic total is expected to be $238.5 million, plus $224.7 million overseas for a global total of $463.2 million. It should cross the half a billion mark later this week. It opens in China on Friday.

[thecolorsblend]

By the end of this weekend the domestic total is expected to be $238.5 million, plus $224.7 million overseas for a global total of $463.2 million. It should cross the half a billion mark later this week. It opens in China on Friday.

I can only imagine what Reeves and Pattinson's text messages must look like now.

Well. Any doubt that TB is getting a sequel seems to be falling by the wayside. A lot of people suggested that weekend #2 would show a steep decline. But that doesn't appear to be happening.

[Silver Nemesis]

The Batman has now grossed more than half a billion worldwide: https://deadline.com/2022/03/the-batman-500-million-global-box-offfice-warner-bros-1234981255/

It'll be interesting to see how strongly it opens in China this weekend.

[The Dark Knight]

I can't see it reaching the one billion mark, but the movie is doing well in anyone's language. Fan and economic response justifies expanding this universe and thus I'm adding The Batman to the successful pile. As for China, I'm not expecting big numbers based on what I'm reading. And I'm fine with that. Ideally we'd be weaning ourselves off that market completely instead of jumping through their hoops and compromising ourselves.

[Silver Nemesis]

The Batman has grossed over $300 million domestically and is currently sitting at $600.4 million worldwide. It didn't open strong in China, which is only to be expected given all the lockdowns currently in effect over there.

We're approaching the point where I think the HBO Max release, which is less than a month away, might start to impact the box office performance. I imagine most people set on seeing The Batman on the big screen will have done so within the next week. Any later than that and anyone who's on the fence about seeing it will probably just wait for it to come out on HBO Max rather than rush to catch it in theatres. Which is a shame, because it's a film worth experiencing on the big screen.

It's already outperformed Man of Steel and Justice League domestically and it's definitely going to surpass Batman v Superman's domestic cume, which is impressive given the circumstances. It also had a smaller budget than any of those movies, which will further enlarge the return on investment. It's topped the US box office three weekends in a row and should pass $700 million globally by the end of its run. Had it been released in pre-pandemic times, I'm confident it would have passed a billion worldwide. If the sequel lives up to the quality of the first film, and assuming things have settled down globally by time it's released, then The Batman II should breeze past a billion.

[The Dark Knight]

It's topped the US box office three weekends in a row and should pass $700 million globally by the end of its run.

It's there now with the worldwide total currently at $710.5 million. I'm curious to see how much gets added to the total when the streaming option becomes available. And when the powers that be decide to officially announce a sequel.