“The Batman” landed a $128.5 million blockbuster in theaters across the United States and Canada this weekend, demonstrating the enduring power of one of Hollywood’s most overworked superheroes and ending — movie owners hopes — studio experimentation with movie release patterns.
“This is an excellent opening,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a subscription newsletter by box office numbers. “Keeping this series fresh – moving characters forward, maintaining story quality, adding new worlds, new antagonists, new set pieces – is as difficult as any creative challenge in the business.”
The first full-length Batman movie came out in 1966. “The Batman,” starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz and directed by Matt Reeves, is the 14th installment in the Batman universe, including animated entries. It would spawn multiple sequels and spin-offs, including a series for the HBO Max streaming service that focuses on the villainous Penguin, who is now played by Colin Farrell.
By successfully rolling out “The Batman,” which received positive reviews, senior executives at Warner Bros., including Toby Emmerich, the chairman, and Walter Hamada, the president of DC Films, cemented their position at a pivotal moment: Warner Bros. . is about to be acquired by Discovery Communications. Warner’s recent film series includes clunkers like “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and “The Matrix: Resurrections.”
Overseas, “The Batman,” which runs for nearly three hours, collected another $120 million from 30,559 screens in 74 markets, according to Comscore, which collects box office data.
The many different versions of Batman
The hero’s incarnations have fluctuated between campy and dignified over the years on various media.
At the domestic box office, “The Batman” benefited from an unorthodox pricing decision by AMC Entertainment, the No. 1 theater chain, and some competitors. Contrary to standard practice, they charged about $1 more for standard “Batman” tickets than for other movies playing in the same theaters at the same time. Theaters have long wanted to move to this practice, known as variable pricing and based on basic supply and demand. But they were afraid to scare away price-sensitive customers.
(“Eventually there will be a price difference,” director Steven Spielberg predicted at a future-of-cinema event in 2013. “You’ll have to pay $25 to see the next ‘Iron Man.’ And you’ll probably have to. Pay $7 to see ‘Lincoln.'”)
“The Batman,” which cost an estimated $200 million to make, not counting marketing costs, marks a return to exclusive theatrical distribution by Warner, which has released movies in theaters and on HBO Max for the past year. The studio pointed to the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for those controversial policies; it was designed to boost HBO Max, which was struggling at the time. Going forward, Warner has pledged to release its biggest movies — including four more superhero movies in the coming months — with an old-fashioned 45-day “window” for exclusive theater play.
Hollywood’s theatrical release calendar will remain sparse for the coming weeks. After that, a steady stream of big-budget movies should hit theaters for the first time in two years. “The Lost City” (Paramount), starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, is slated for March 25, featuring “Morbius” (Sony), “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” (Paramount), “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” (Warner) and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Disney) follow.
Last week, AMC’s colorful chief executive, Adam Aron, told analysts on a quarterly conference call that moviegoing is finally poised to recover from the pandemic, citing these exclusive theatrical performances and others as proof.
“There’s so much conventional wisdom floating around that movie theaters can’t coexist and thrive in a streaming world,” he said. “What a lot of cow dung.”
