Warner Bros. certainly has a hit on its hands as Batman’s worldwide box office has already doubled its budget in just one week. The latest incarnation of the caped crusader received strong reviews from critics and audiences and earned $134 million in its first three days. The film also had an impressive worldwide debut of $258 million, making it one of the biggest openings since theaters closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Even though Batman has always been a big moneymaker for Warner Bros., there was certainly some hesitation in the air about the film’s release, particularly in early 2022 as COVID cases began to rise and that it seemed more and more moviegoers were less confident about returning to theaters. While initial estimates had The Batman’s budget at $100 million, the film’s final budget was found to be double the original estimate at $200 million, making it one of the Batman movies. the most expensive. With Disney pulling the Pixar movie Turning Red from theaters in favor of a Disney+ streaming release, it looks like The Batman would continue its box office dominance.
According to Deadline, The Batman has already recouped double its budget within a week of its release, having grossed $296 million worldwide in one week, including $172 million domestically. The film is expected to take the No. 1 spot domestically for the second weekend in a row, with a projected opening weekend of $66 million, and globally is expected to exceed $400 million worldwide, double the $200 million spent by Warner Bros. For the movie. . It should be noted that The Batman has not yet been released in China, and as of this time it will not be released in Russia as Warner Bros. pulled the film from release in the country after the invasion of Ukraine.
If estimates hold, Batman’s worldwide box office in just one week will put it above Batman Begins’ worldwide gross ($373 million). While that was seventeen years ago and at a very different time at the box office, this film had to overcome the stigma left behind by Batman and Robin. Still, even compared to other recent DC movies, The Batman is a hit. Without major competition for the next two weeks at the box office, The Batman will likely surpass the worldwide totals of 2017’s Justice League ($657 million) and 2013’s Man of Steel ($668 million).
With The Batman a box office hit, it now looks like a sequel announcement is likely any day now. Warner Bros. has already ordered the series from spin-off show The Penguin with Colin Farrell for HBO Max and is working on an Arkham Asylum series. With Warner Bros. having delayed and reshuffled many of their DC movie release dates, this could set the stage for a sequel release. It will be interesting to see if Warner Bros. keep the March release date for a sequel because it was beneficial for The Batman or move it to the more traditional summer release date in which the franchise found great success.
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