The Batman Breaks Half A Billion At The Box Office | Screen Rant
The Batman has officially soared past half a billion dollars in box office revenue just a week and a half after its domestic debut. The Warner Bros. title, directed by Cloverfield's Matt Reeves, takes an even edgier and darker approach to the Caped Crusader than previous films, following Bruce Wayne's early days of crimefighting. The film sees Batman encounter one of his eventual long-term nemeses, The Riddler, for the first time while navigating an intricate web of murder and corruption.
Despite bearing the ever-popular Batman name, some fans were initially skeptical of the film's moody atmosphere, Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, and the reveal of a nearly three-hour runtime. But that hardly seemed to matter as expanded marketing efforts and early rave reviews saw the film debut to an impressive $134 million during its opening weekend, the highest Warner Bros. DC opening since 2016's Suicide Squad. Nearing its third week at the box office, The Batman continues to pass pandemic-era milestones.
Deadline reports that The Batman has made $505.8 million globally throughout Wednesday, March 16, 2022. The sum results from a $258.3 million domestic performance and $247.5 million at the international box office. In response to the financial milestone, Warner Bros. Chairman Toby Emmerich had this to say:
"We couldn't be more thrilled to see people all over the world enjoying The Batman in theaters. Matt Reeves has delivered an extraordinary film that manages to honor the legacy of this global cultural hero while taking moviegoers into an experience that feels fresh and original. We congratulate Matt, Dylan, Walter, Chantal, Robert and Zoë, and the entire cast and crew on this wonderful benchmark."
While a fantastic achievement for DC's pandemic-era films, the 12-day total is half that of Spider-Man: No Way Home's, which crossed the $1 billion mark in the same timeframe. Still, The Batman had the largest debut for a DC film in several markets and is currently the most profitable 2022 release internationally. While there's no doubt the more mature tone of The Batman attracted different crowds than Marvel and Sony's No Way Home, its verifiable success indicates a strong interest in newer Warner Bros. and DC projects amongst moviegoers.
The Batman should continue to perform strongly for the studio, but various factors could keep it from crossing that $1 billion mark in record time, if at all. The tone and runtime of The Batman - while appealing to fans who want to see a despaired Bruce Wayne in the role of detective in essentially the superhero version of Se7en - could be deterring potential viewers. Furthermore, situations like COVID lockdowns throughout China could significantly impact the movie's performance in one of the biggest cinematic markets in the world. Even if it doesn't quite match up to the lifetime gross of The Dark Knight, The Batman is still breaking plenty of financial records for WB in uncertain times.
Source: Deadline