RE: It won’t let me read this ?9 Feb 2022 20:35
Warner Bros. is reporting that the March 1 IMAX-specific preview screenings for The Batman have already sold out in every key market throughout America. The preview showings, whose grosses will I presume be included in the March 3rd preview screenings or at least the overall opening weekend (as was the case with Aquaman and Shazam!), make up 350 theaters nationwide, with a single 7:00 pm showing of Matt Reeves’ 175-minute Dark Knight Detective murder mystery flick. Regular tickets will go on sale tomorrow. Needless to say, interest among the devoted is quite high, and there’s little reason not to expect mainstream/general audience excitement as well.
Look, is it possible that the Robert Pattinson-starring grimdark crime flick, featuring villains we’ve already seen (Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman) played by lesser-known actors (Paul Dano, Colin Farrell and Zoe Kravitz are not butts-in-seats draws) in milieu that seems only slightly removed from Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins will only earn “most of the money?” Sure. I will remind you that Nolan’s terrific Christian Bale/Cillian Murphy/Liam Neeson flick “only” earned $205 million domestic (after a leggy and buzzy run following a slightly underwhelming $72 million Wed-Sun debut) and $371 million worldwide on a $150 million budget. It only made that much by being damn-well spectacular.