scorecard
  1. Home
  2. entertainment
  3. news
  4. 'The Batman' won the box office this weekend. Here's how it compares to every other Batman movie's premiere.

'The Batman' won the box office this weekend. Here's how it compares to every other Batman movie's premiere.

'The Batman' won the box office this weekend. Here's how it compares to every other Batman movie's premiere.
Robert Pattinson as Batman in "The Batman."Warner Bros.
  • "The Batman" opened over the weekend with $128.5 million in the US.
  • It's the second-best premiere since the pandemic began, behind "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

"The Batman," the latest reboot of the franchise with Robert Pattinson stepping into the role, topped the box office over the weekend with $128.5 million in the US.

Internationally, the movie opened to $120 million for a global total of $248.5 million.

It's the second-best US debut since the pandemic began, behind "Spider-Man: No Way Home," and the fourth-best premiere for a Batman movie.

Batman has been reliable box-office gold for the studio Warner Bros. since director Christopher Nolan resurrected the character for the big-screen with his "Dark Knight" trilogy that began with 2005's "Batman Begins."

Prior to that, the franchise had laid dormant for eight years after 1997's "Batman and Robin" flopped critically and commercially. "Begins" had an uphill battle to climb and made $373 million worldwide. But its two sequels, "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises," both grossed more than $1 billion.

Now, Warner Bros. is betting big on director Matt Reeves' take on the character with "The Batman," with plans for HBO Max TV spinoffs about the Gotham City Police Department and the villain Penguin, played by Colin Farrell in the movie.

Insider looked at every Batman movie released theatrically, from 1989's "Batman" to "The Batman," and ranked them based on their opening-weekend US box office adjusted for inflation (there wasn't reliable box-office data for 1966's "Batman: The Movie" starring Adam West).

11. "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993)

11. "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993)
"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm."      Warner Bros. Family Entertainment

Adjusted US opening: $2.3 million

Original US opening: $1.2 million

Adjusted US total: $11 million

Original global total: $11 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 85%

What critics said: "Closer to radio drama than kiddie fare, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is the strangest PG film of the year." — Washington Post

10. "The LEGO Batman Movie" (2017)

10. "The LEGO Batman Movie" (2017)
Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $60 million

Original US opening: $53 million

Adjusted US total: $201.8 million

Original global total: $312 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 90%

What critics said: "It's the Bat-spoof we didn't know we needed and it gives Batman a chance to loosen up." — Detroit News

9. "Batman Begins" (2005)

9. "Batman Begins" (2005)
Christian Bale as Batman in "Batman Begins."      Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $70 million

Original US opening: $48.7 million

Adjusted US total: $298 million

Original global total: $373.7 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 84%

What critics said: "It's not just the birth of Batman we're seeing in this triumphant interpretation, it's also the dawning of Gotham City's age of greed." — Entertainment Weekly

8. "Batman and Robin" (1997)

8. "Batman and Robin" (1997)
Chris O'Donnell as Robin and George Clooney as Batman in "Batman and Robin."      Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $75 million

Original US opening: $43 million

Adjusted US total: $188 million

Original global total: $238 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 12%

What critics said: "Of all modern Batmans, George Clooney bears the closest physical resemblance to the comic-book hero, but there isn't much to say about his performance because there isn't much performance to discuss." — Wall Street Journal

7. "Batman Returns" (1992)

7. "Batman Returns" (1992)
Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman and Michael Keaton as Batman in "Batman Returns."      Warner Bros Entertainment

Adjusted US opening: $91.5 million

Original US opening: $45.7 million

Adjusted US total: $326.5 million

Original global total: $267 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 80%

What critics said: "There are flashes of commercially oriented action and humor, but the overall feeling is one of a languid depression sprung straight from the heart of its author." — Chicago Tribune

6. "Batman" (1989)

6. "Batman" (1989)
Michael Keaton as Batman in "Batman."      Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $92 million

Original US opening: $40.5 million

Adjusted US total: $570 million

Original global total: $411.6 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 72%

What critics said: "It's an unforgivably flat ending for a movie of such astonishing contours. But its first two-thirds — which should be called The Joker's Big Misadventure — is probably the best film of the year." — Philadelphia Enquirer

5. "Batman Forever" (1995)

5. "Batman Forever" (1995)
Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as the Riddler in "Batman Forever."      Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $97 million

Original US opening: $52.8 million

Adjusted US total: $339.5 million

Original global total: $336.5 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 39%

What critics said: "Batman Forever is a visual tour de force, a knock-your-eyes-out effort. But it overdoes, overkills. And what starts out exhilarating ends up ... exhausting." — CNN

4. "The Batman" (2022)

4. "The Batman" (2022)
Robert Pattinson as Batman and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman in "The Batman."      Warner Bros.

US opening: $128.5 million

US total (so far): $128.5 million

Global total (so far): $248.5 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 85%

What critics said: "This interpretation is po-faced to the extreme, but Reeves's commitment to the material and Pattinson's preternatural grumpiness in the role make The Batman sing -- though the ballad is undeniably emo." — The Atlantic

3. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of the Justice" (2016)

3. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of the Justice" (2016)
Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman in "Batman v Superman."      Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $194 million

Original US opening: $166 million

Adjusted US total: $387 million

Original global total: $873.6 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 29%

What critics said: "A ponderous, smothering, over-pixelated zeppelin crash of a movie scored by a choir that sounds like it's being drowned in lava." — NPR

2. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)

2. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)
Tom Hardy as Bane and Christian Bale as Batman in "The Dark Knight Rises."      Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $197 million

Original US opening: $160.9 million

Adjusted US total: $775 million

Original global total: $1.08 billion

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 87%

What critics said: "At a time when Hollywood seems incapable of doing anything that isn't a grand-scale fantasy, Nolan has hijacked the form to bring it down to earth." — AV Club

1. "The Dark Knight" (2008)

1. "The Dark Knight" (2008)
Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."      Warner Bros.

Adjusted US opening: $207 million

Original US opening: $158 million

Adjusted US total: $698.6 million

Original global total: $1.006 billion

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 94%

What critics said: "The Dark Knight resounds with a throbbing topical undercurrent, its superficially good-versus-evil setup slowly revealed to be a complex examination of the ways in which democracies can, and must, combat zealotry." — Slant Magazine

READ MORE ARTICLES ON


Popular Right Now




Advertisement