The Batman has only been in theaters for two weeks, but Warner Bros. has announced today that Matt Reeves' DC Comics adaptation has grossed over $500 million at the worldwide box office.
More than half of that total comes from theaters in North America ($258.3 million, to be precise), a sign that the right release can still encourage paying moviegoers to embrace the big screen experience. The "pandemic era" may have led to irreversible damage to the box office, but between The Batman and Spider-Man: No Way Home, there's still hope...for superhero movies, at least.
The Batman is now Warner Bros.' highest-grossing movie globally since Godzilla vs. Kong managed to exceed expectations last year with an impressive worldwide haul of $468 million. Helping matters is the fact that this movie hasn't been made available immediately to HBO Max subscribers at no extra cost.
"We couldn’t be more thrilled to see people all over the world enjoying ‘The Batman’ in theaters," Warner Bros. Pictures Chairman Toby Emmerich said in a statement. "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."
Unfortunately, we also have some bad news. With new COVID-19 restrictions in place in China, the movie's predicted $25 million - $30 million opening has plummeted to around $15 million and could end up being even lower than that. While far from the end of the world at this point, it shows that not even a highly sought after release in the Middle Kingdom guarantees box office success.
The Batman is now playing in theaters.
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