We’ve had to wait longer than expected for the arrival of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, with the latest of the Batman movies having previously been slated for June 2021, followed by October of the same year. Now though, the Matt Reeves-directed feature film is just a month away from release, and since it follows one of the most popular superheroes ever, it’s safe to say it’ll pull in a lot of money. However, even by Batman movie standards, the latest box office projections indicate The Batman could have an especially big opening weekend.
According to Box Office Pro, The Batman is currently estimated to make between $135-180 million domestically during its first three days in theaters. Should this end up happening, The Batman would have the fourth highest-opening domestic weekend of the live-action Batman movies, trailing behind The Dark Knight in third place with $158.4 million, The Dark Knight Rises in second place with $160.8 million and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at the top of the list with $166 million. But even if The Batman ends up on the lower end of this prediction or manages to just barely hit $100 million, it’ll still surpass what’s currently in fourth place: Batman Forever at $52.7 million.
As far as why The Batman is predicted to do well beyond simply taking into account the title character’s popularity, for one thing, Robert Pattinson is playing Bruce Wayne, and he already has an established fanbase from his time as Edward Cullen in the Twilight movies and from smaller-scale movies like Cosmopolis and Good Time. Matt Reeves also has a solid directing track record with movies like Cloverfield, Let Me In and the last two Planet of the Apes movies.
It also helps that The Batman is the first Warner Bros. tentpole picture since Tenet in 2020 (which also starred Robert Pattinson) to be released exclusively in theaters, as all of the studio’s 2021 movies, as well as Wonder Woman 1984 at the end of 2020, were simultaneously made available on HBO Max for one month. Additionally, The Batman doesn’t have any major competition on its opening weekend, let alone the rest of March.
Now this isn’t to say that it’ll all be smooth sailing for The Batman during its theatrical run. The movie being nearly three hours long could limit the amount of times it is shown per day and also might turn some people off from seeing it on the big screen, instead waiting for it to become available on HBO Max. The Batman also looks like it’s the darkest cinematic take yet on the Caped Crusader’s mythology, so some parents might not want their kids to see it just yet. Overall though, The Batman has more working for it than against it, and as far its entire domestic total goes, Box Office Pro predicts it could rake in anywhere from $340-540 million.
Taking place outside of the DCEU, The Batman follows Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne clashing with Paul Dano’s Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, with this version of the supervillain being, as Matt Reeves put it, “molded in an almost Zodiac Killer sort of mode.” Along the way, our main protagonist will team up with Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, a.k.a Catwoman, as well as encounter trouble from Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin, who shares similarities with Fredo Corleone from The Godfather. The main cast also includes Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone and Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson.
The Batman casts its shadow in theaters on March 4. CinemaBlend will continue to keep you apprised with news on it and other upcoming DC movies.
