In another clear sign that moviegoing is alive and well despite ceasing during the pandemic, Warner Bros.’ The Batman is delivering the second-best opening since 2019. That’s after Spider-Man: No Way Home with $128.5M after a $43.2M Saturday, which was -24% against the pic’s opening Friday+previews. Around the globe, Batman made $248.5M. There’s a very good chance by tomorrow AM that Batman could rise beyond $130M.
As Discovery Communications is set to merge with WarnerMedia as early as next month, the success here of Batman should serve as a reminder to CEO David Zaslav as to how theatrical continues to work vibrantly for the studio, and how executives like Chairman Motion Picture Group Boss Toby Emmerich and DC President Walter Hamada are instrumental for the momentum of the studio’s success as the pandemic eases and moviegoing re-surges.
There’s been word around town that Zaslav is bound to make staff cuts at the new merger; even talk of some new overall conglom head. However, Zaslav should be cognizant that when it ain’t broke, you don’t fix it. Let’s keep the Warner Bros.’ theatrical machine going, as it sets the table for other spinoffs, such as Reeves’ upcoming Penguin series, to make waves on streaming service HBO Max.
When Emmerich became President and Chief Content Office of Warner Bros. Pictures Group in 2017, for both Hamada and him, Reeves was their first choice to take the reigns of the next iteration of the The Dark Knight franchise. Reeves was initially reluctant, as a high bar had been set on Batman with films by Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. However, the Let Me In filmmaker came around with a passionate pitch.
“When he pitched the first draft of the script, it harkened back to Batman as the world’s greatest detective,” Emmerich tells us this morning, “He talked about the Warner Bros. gangster movies of old and capturing that gangster DNA.”
Emmerich mentions that when he first sat down with Reeves, “I had his remake of the Scandinavian film, Let Me In, in my head.”
Batman was one of Emmerich’s first priorities in his promotion at Warner Bros, in addition to getting Joker greenlit. At the time of Emmerich taking over the Motion Picture Group, Patty Jenkins was in post on Wonder Woman, Zach Snyder was in post on Justice League, James Wan was shooting Aquaman, and Todd Phillips was writing The Joker.
In regards to the gripping near three-hour runtime of Batman, Emmerich shared the NYC premiere’s audience atmosphere earlier this week, “The last time I went to a premiere in Alice Tully Hall was Seven, and on Tuesday night, Batman reminded me of that: The audience was rapt.”
A shorter version of Batman was tested. However, that cut didn’t test as well as the 2-hour, 55-minute version.
In regards to Emmerich’s vision for DC at Warner Bros, he responds, “The secret of the movie business is quality. It’s the best business strategy for both theatrical motion pictures and superhero movies. The movies don’t have to all have the same tone, or interlock with other DC movies, or have an Easter egg that sets up another film. Quality is the most important factor for a studio, and the biggest thing you can do to influence quality is the filmmaker that you hire.”
And for Warners, that guy is Reeves, who fits in the triumphant group of superhero filmmakers before him, including Burton, Nolan, and Richard Donner.
Presales for The Batman remained strong throughout the weekend, meaning they weren’t front-loaded. It indicates that those moviegoers who came out to see a near 3-hour movie literally made an appointment to go to the cinema. That speaks volumes about the U.S./Canada moviegoing appetite right now.
Overall ticket sales look to be around $162M for the weekend for all movies, +166% from last weekend, and +40% ahead of weekend 9 in 2019 (using industry and Box Office Mojo stats). Bravo. There are no major studio releases opening next weekend after Disney decided to move Pixar’s Turning Red exclusively to Disney+ (are ya sure ya wanted to do that, Disney?). That means next weekend is Batman‘s to own. Competition doesn’t enter the marketplace until March 25, with Paramount’s The Lost City.
1.) The Batman (WB) 4,417 theaters Fri $57.1M/Sat $43.2M/Sun $28.2M/3-day $128.5M/Wk 1
2.) Uncharted (Sony) 3,875 (-400) theaters, Fri $3M (-49%)/Sat $4.9M/Sun $3.05M/3-day $11M (-52%)/Total $100.2M/Wk 3
3.) Dog (UAR) 3,507 (-320) theaters, Fri $1.6M (-35%)/Sat $2.7M/Sun $1.65M/ 3-day $6M (-41%)/Total $40M/Wk 3
4.) Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) 2,709 (-293) theaters, Fri $1.08M /Sat $2M/Sun $1.28M/ 3-day $4.4M (-24%)/Total $786.4M/Wk 12
5.) Death on the Nile (Dis) 2,565 (-855) theaters, Fri $772K (-36%)/Sat $1.22M/$728K/3-day $2.7M (-40%)/Total $37M/Wk 4
6.) Sing 2 (Uni/Ill) 2,026 (-356) theaters, Fri $330K (-21%)/Sat $720K/Sun $470K/3-day $1.52M (-32%)/Total: $153.5M/Wk 11
7.) Jackass Forever(Par) 1,981 theaters (-932), Fri $425K (-51%)/Sat $585K/Sun $350K/3-day $1.36M (-57%)/Total: $54.4M/Wk 5
8.) Cyrano (UAR) 797 theaters Fri $191K (-59%)/Sat $298K/Sun $194K/ 3-day $683K (-51%)/Total $2.57M/Wk 2
9.) Gangubai Kathiawadi (Hamsin) 280 (-205) theaters, Fri $160K/Sat $243K/Sun $189K/ 3-day $592k (-41%)/Total $1.7M/Wk 2
10.) Scream (Par) 853 (-713) theaters Fri $160K (-54%)/Sat $265K/Sun $145K/ 3-day $570M (-57%) /Total: $80.2M/Wk 8
11.) Marry Me (Uni) 1,246 (-1,864) theaters Fri $160K (-70%)/Sat $240K/Sun $130K/ 3-day $530K (-72%)/Total $21.4M/Wk 4