‘The Batman’ soars to second-biggest US box office debut of pandemic

Robert Pattinson (left) with director Matt Reeves during the filming of 'The Batman'. Photo: Handout

Holy box office revenue, Batman.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Batman has scored the second-biggest North American opening of the Covid-19 pandemic, grossing US$128.5mil (RM536.6mil) in the United States and US$120mil (RM501mil) internationally for a global cumulative of US$248.5mil (RM1.03bil), according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.

Since March 2020, only Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home – which launched at US$260mil (RM1.08bil) in December – has posted a bigger domestic debut than The Batman.

Robert Pattinson’s inaugural outing as the Caped Crusader soared above its already lofty expectations, which projected the superhero flick would collect US$100mil to US$125mil across North American screens.

Directed by Matt Reeves, the latest instalment in the DC Comics franchise is also easily the most successful title of the pandemic for Warner Bros. – which, until now, had been releasing films simultaneously in theatres and on HBO Max. In one weekend, The Batman has earned more money than the studio’s most lucrative hybrid release, Dune, did in its entire run.

It’s also worth noting that the world’s largest cinema chain, AMC Theatres, charged moviegoers extra to see The Batman this weekend compared with other titles playing in the same theatres at the same time. For example, an adult advance ticket for a Friday night showing of The Batman at the AMC Burbank 16 cost US$19.49 (RM81.42), while tickets for Sony’s Uncharted were priced at US$17.99 (RM75.15) apiece at the same location.

In addition to dominating the box office, The Batman generally fared well with critics, receiving a solid 85% rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Even with a run time of 2 hours and 56 minutes, the DC tentpole garnered an A-minus from audiences polled by CinemaScore.

Originally slated to open in June 2021, The Batman stars Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman), on a dangerous mission to save Gotham City from a puzzling new threat. Rounding out the supporting cast are Jeffrey Wright as Lt. Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred, Colin Farrell as the Penguin and Paul Dano as the Riddler.

Pattinson is the sixth actor to portray Batman on the big screen, preceded by Michael Keaton (1989-1992), Val Kilmer (1995), George Clooney (1997), Christian Bale (2005-2012) and Ben Affleck (2016-2017).

As of Sunday morning, the Twilight alum’s first film as the Dark Knight boasts the fourth-biggest domestic opening of any Batman film.

In first place is 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (US$166mil), followed by 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises (US$160.9mil), 2008’s The Dark Knight (US$158.4mil), 2022’s The Batman (US$128.5mil), 2017’s Justice League (US$93.9mil), 1995’s Batman Forever (US$52.8mil), 2005’s Batman Begins (US$48.7mil), 1992’s Batman Returns (US$45.7mil), 1997’s Batman And Robin (US$42.9mil) and 1989’s Batman (US$40.5mil).

Next weekend, The Batman is all but guaranteed to extend its box office reign as no films are scheduled to open in wide release. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service