‘The Batman’ Signals Another Big Return To Moviegoing Post ‘Spider-Man’ With $120M+

As movie theaters continue to pine for a rebound after being closed from 2020-2021, and desire more moolah post-Spider-Man: No Way Home, the domestic opening for Warner Bros.’ ninth Batman movie (tenth if you include Justice League) is nothing to complain about, with a $120M weekend.

RelishMix reports that The Batman social media universe swelled over the last two weeks, rising to 644.1M, above superhero movie norms. YouTube views was the driver, with 515.5M from a lean-and-mean four-owned trailers and spots, which were going viral “at an exceptional rate of 102:1.” While Spider-Man: No Way Home touted an SMU of 1.23 billion ahead of opening, the noticeable difference was Zendaya’s 150.2M social reach and the cast’s overall 253.9M followers. Spider-Man YouTube views were at 792.5M views, with a hefty stack of 14 videos.

Says RelishMix, “Social cast activation levels ran surprisingly moderate overall — with well-activated Andy Serkis at 1.2M and Jeffrey Wright at 426K. Most notable is the well-managed Zoe Kravitz Instagram with 11 posts now at 6.8M fans, adding 97K new fans per week — while Robert Pattinson, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, and John Turturro are off the grid — noting that director/writer/producer Matt Reeves has an activated 388K fans.”

Chatter for The Batman was overall good ahead of opening, but had its cynics, per RelishMix, with “fans wondering how much darker The Batman can be from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Night — with obvious comparisons to the tone of Christian Bale and how the visuals of the trailers feel closer to modern day and less of a fantasy world. The Nirvana song choice ‘Something In The Way’ is resonating well in convo, as materials deliver a spoiler-free storyline, but glimpses of Catwoman, The Riddler, and The Penguin, with hopes of a Joker cameo. On a big tentpole, chatter covers enormous ground, with intensely mixed highs for a return to normal post-Covid popcorn life — to skeptical, expectedly snarky nit-pickers, overall tracking mixed-leaning-positive. Date/date debates are nearly non-existent, along with complaints about vaxxing and masks. Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader and Zoe Kravitz onscreen moments are spiking chatter positively.”

FULL: https://deadline.com/2022/03/the-batman-box-office-1234970969/