Once you also account for the last actual live-action appearance of the Batman character on the big screen in 2017’s Justice League, a film which opened at a grim $93.8 million and went on to gross $658 million, it gets worse. For Snyder fans who still wonder why Warner Bros. ultimately moved away from the Snyder/Affleck approach to the character, it has more to do with the disappointing box office and word of mouth than critical reviews. And that disenchantment with general audiences began before Justice League was crudely reshot and reedited in 2017. In fact, the theatrical cut of Justice League curiously has a slightly better CinemaScore than BvS, earning a “B+” in its opening weekend.
That is a key reason audiences are seeing a new and rebooted Batman starring Robert Pattinson inside of a decade since Christian Bale hung up the cape in July 2012.
Rebuilding the Bat
All of this provides an interesting context for The Batman’s relative success. The new Batman movie was initially slated at a more modest budget for a modern superhero movie with $100 million, but according to Variety, Reeves’ superhero movie actually cost $200 million. On paper and in a vacuum, that would suggest $128 million is as soft in 2022 as $116 million was for Man of Steel in 2013. However, in addition to the fact that The Batman is battling the pandemic, it is also battling franchise perceptions in the public, with there being notable skepticism toward seeing a third live-action Batman in relatively quick succession. And one that’s marketing strategy seems to be, “You think you know dark? The Batman was born in it!”
Which is why that word of mouth is, again, going to be intriguing throughout the new movie’s run. At the very least, The Batman is off to a solid start. Unlike the two theatrically released superhero movies with Affleck as the Caped Crusader, The Batman has largely been embraced by critics, earning 85 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes as of the time of writing. And, more importantly to the studio, it’s being well-received by audiences which according to those polled by CinemaScore have awarded the movie an “A-” grade.
Assuming that word of mouth indicated by CinemaScore is vindicated by the weeks to come, The Batman could have a very long and healthy run throughout March wherein it will face no major competition until Sony Pictures’ Morbius at the end of the month. It also will have a lot riding on its Chinese opening.
No matter what, however, the perception of The Batman’s success suggests movie franchises are increasingly becoming like sports franchises: There can be ebbs and flows, dynasties and rebuilding years. This particular intellectual property has already seen this once with the aforementioned soft opening of Batman Begins in 2005. In the wake of events like Spider-Man becoming the first movie ever to cross $100 million in its opening weekend three years earlier, Begins was viewed as an initial disappointment for WB. In that exact moment in time, many suggested movie audiences were perhaps simply tired of the character after 1997’s abysmal Batman & Robin eight years earlier. Some even speculated Nolan would never even get to make a second Batman movie after that weekend.
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March 06, 2022 at 11:13PM
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The Batman Box Office: When 'Soft' Opening for Franchise Is Still Great - Den of Geek
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