The Batman crashed through the roof and landed on the audience table, which has been looking like something out of Oliver Twist. It made $12.8m off 738 screens in 300 cinemas. Mind you, Spider-Man came out last December with 1121 screens in 315 cinemas to make $35.5m, which has now risen to just over $80m.
But smaller exhibitors may be able to deal with some pesky bills and keep a brave face for anxious fans.
The Kenneth Branagh internal tussle continues as Belfast reaches $5.37m in four weeks from 204 screens, which harvested $422,000 last weekend, while Death on the Nile has taken $5.73m in five weeks, now on 279 screens. So Belfast (and art) is winning.
Older people’s rom-com Marry Me is in a similar ballpark, with $3.6m over four weeks, but it has underperformed against hopes, cruelled by Covid. King Richard has the same figure but over eight weeks.
Everything else is pretty well static, as Sing 2 and Jackass Forever potter around earning $200,00 or so over the weekend to reach $19.7m and $6.81m.
Cyrano is a complete train wreck, with $47,000 off 182 screens to reach all of $304,000.
Excellent animated documentary Flee has delivered $73,000 in three weeks, dropping from 20 to seven screens. Madman will feel a bit wounded, but these are hard times.
Here Out West has taken $51,000 in five weeks, though it gained 11% last weekend to stack up $2,700. Surely it is worth a lot more than this.
Read: Here Out West is more than diverse
Worst of all, Drive My Car is perhaps the best arthouse movie this year. But it has made all of $305,000 in a month, lost 15 screens last weekend to reach a mere 23, and dropped 44% over the weekend. It will hang in until the 28 March Oscars, in the hope of victory.
Read: Drive My Car is streets ahead
Overseas
The Batman, not streaming, pushed by Warners onto 4,417 cinemas, took $175m in its debut weekend in the US, which is just over half the launch figure for Spider-Man – No Way Home.
Read: The Batman Returns on a staggering scale
Running for three hours – a dismaying length for exhibitors – It has taken $335m across the world, with $25m of that from the UK. Everyone is very, very happy, though pundits have given up proclaiming the end of horror.
The Batman blasted across Korea, occupying 67% of the market, and taking $2.71m over the weekend, which tells us that very few of the 52m South Koreans went to the movies.
