The Batman becomes the second pandemic-era movie to top $100 million in its first weekend.
Throughout 2021, Warner Bros. would release each and every one of its new theatrical films day and date on HBO Max in an effort to boost the new service's subscription numbers. While at first the results were promising, by the end of the year, it was clear that the decision was a disaster for WB's theatrical numbers. So, with the end of the year came the end of the program, and The Batman, the first WB movie of 2022, is a theater exclusive. And it promptly outgrossed every single one of WB's 2021 titles in just one weekend.
The latest reboot of the Caped Crusader, giving us our sixth live-action Batman actor in 33 years in the form of Robert Pattinson (who was all of 3 years old when Michael Keaton put the cowl on for the first time in 1989's Batman, and is apparently putting it on again later this year in The Flash) opened to a most impressive $134 million. This is only the second $100 million+ opening since the pandemic began, and is probably enough to ensure a final gross higher than any of 2021's movies except for Spider-Man: No Way Home. And with excellent reviews and a very light March lineup, there's no reason to think Batman won't dominate this month the way Spidey dominated January. Expect this to finish above $300 million.
Unsurprisingly, Batman dominated the box office, accounting for over 80% of all ticket sales. But some holdovers held tough as well. Uncharted, which had won the previous two weeks and briefly reigned as 2022's highest-grossing film, did OK for itself in the runner-up spot, taking in $11.1 million, and became the second film of the year to pass $100 million, passing the milestone a few hours after Batman and finishing the weekend with a gross of $100.4 million.
In third, sleeper hit Dog took in $6.1 million. The Channing Tatum dramady is now up to $40.1 million and should finish its run above $50 million, and if the film's grosses remain relatively steady, could climb as high as $60 million. A nice comeback for Tatum, who has a more conventional blockbuster, The Lost City, set for the end of the month.
The aforementioned Spider-Man: No Way Home didn't suffer too much from the comic book competition, as it scored another $4.5 million in weekend #12, bringing its 3rd-of-all-time gross to $786.6 million. It should be at or above $800 million by the end of the month.
Death on the Nile isn't a big hit, but it has proven to be a steady performer, as the mystery stabbed another $2.8 million for a gross of $37.1 million. Sing 2, in weekend #11, also continues its impressively leggy performance, taking in $1.6 million for a total of $153.7 million. Jackass Forever won't be in theaters forever, but will leave with a nice profit, as it racked up another $1.4 million for $54.5 million.
Even with The Batman sucking up most business, the holdover films didn't suffer too much unless they lost a lot of screens. One notable exception was the second weekend of Cyrano, which didn't lose any of last week's theaters but still tumbled over 50%, to a gross of under $1 million and a ten-day total of $2.6 million. At least it fared better than fellow second-weekender Studio 666, which couldn't even make the Top 10 this weekend and has a ten-day total of $2.3 million.
Opening in ninth was the Bollywood female gangster drama Gangubai Kathiawadi. It finished just ahead of Scream, which was able to top $80 million this weekend, finishing with $80.2 million.
What was supposed to be this weekend's big opening, Pixar's Turning Red, was instead regulated to Disney+. Weirdly, no other movie stepped in to fill the gap, even though next weekend has three wide openings scheduled. So expect this weekend's Top 10 to be very similar to last weekend's Top 10. Will the lack of competition mean a relatively small drop for Batman, one that might allow it to stay above $100 million for the second weekend in a row? We'll find out next week.
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