The new box office projections for The Batman point towards a massive opening for the DC film and Warner Bros. The first major cinematic event of 2022 arrives this week with The Batman, the long-awaited reimagining of the iconic DC hero. Matt Reeves directs the gritty pic, which promises to be more of a crime drama in the vein of Seven than a spandex-covered superhero film. Robert Pattinson plays Bruce Wayne, and when the movie begins, he's in his second year of being Gotham's famed vigilante. A masked killer (Paul Dano's Riddler) is hunting the members of Gotham's elite, forcing Bruce to use his detective skills to save the day.
Due to The Batman's highly anticipated nature, it already felt like a forgone conclusion that the movie would rake in the big bucks at the box office. The past year has been a mixed bag when it comes to how much movies make through theaters; the box office has recovered somewhat from the pandemic, but there are still genres and demographics that have yet to make a full return to normal figures. The Batman has several things working in its favor, which is why the latest estimates have it scoring a pretty great opening.
Per Variety, the current projections suggest The Batman could earn anything between $100 million and $125 million, which would make it the second film of the pandemic era to cross that three-figure milestone (Spider-Man: No Way Home blew past that in December). However, there are even some experts who believe those numbers are quite low and say they wouldn't be surprised if The Batman could actually open to something closer to $140 million.
Since the box office is still inching back to normalcy, any opening weekend gross for The Batman around those numbers would be cause for celebration. As mentioned before, only one film during the pandemic has managed to open to a figure over $100 million, and The Batman is very likely to be the second. This is spurred by its status as a superhero movie, Reeves' much-hyped new take on Bruce Wayne, and an eagerness to see Pattinson take on the role. Plus, as of Monday, The Batman has scored some very positive reviews from critics.
Beyond its place in the DC universe, The Batman is an important release for Warner Bros. In 2021, the studio kept up a strategy where each new film debuted both in theaters and on HBO Max. As a result, some movies almost certainly underperformed, though WB stood by the plan and confirmed other films brought in impressive streaming numbers. The Batman will be Warner Bros.' first theatrical-only movie since 2020, so a profitable debut will be exciting news for the studio. Stay tuned for more concrete numbers once the weekend gets underway.
Source: Variety
