The Batman Was Not a Flop

Social media is chock-full of people with their say, not always correct or objective. Most of the time, it is toxic-fueled hate for something buried in the reasoning of I am right, you are wrong. One example is the bitter, immature Robert Pattinson haters who declare The Batman a box office disaster. They have not moved on from his Twilight films of ten-plus years and bellyache over the lack of a Ben Affleck Batman film.

Summary of The Batman

Matt Reeves' The Batman opened in over 4,000 theaters on March 4, 2022. It debuted at #1 with over $134 million at the domestic box office. Robert Pattinson remained at the #1 spot in the cowl for three weeks! Meanwhile, it opened to over $124 million total in foreign markets. The Batman stayed in theaters for over three months, for a grand total of $369 million domestically. The movie has a 2.75 multiplier, meaning the film obtained decent word-of-mouth. Internationally, the film brought in a total gross of over $401 million, which gives us a 3.23 multiplier. Hence, it is fair to say the movie was more popular in the rest of the world, outside of Batman's creative homeland. The Batman delivered a worldwide gross of over $770 million!

Look at that worldwide box office gross. Most of us will never even make that amount in our lifetime, so who are we to say anything? Unfortunately, this is where the deniers come into play. They have it in their minds that The Batman needs to make $1 billion to profit, let alone to break even. Yet, the production budget was $185 million but inflated to $200 million due to covid. Let's understand that the $770 worldwide gross has to offset the production budget, marketing costs, overheard, ticket sales, distribution, and percentages paid to cast and crew. In the end, the film did almost four times its production budget. Hence, I think it's safe it turned a profit. At this point, forty-seven films have made $1 billion or more at the worldwide box office. One of those is Batman with The Dark Knight Rises. Since 2009, there has been one film, if not more breaking the $1 billion point at the box office, except in 2020 due to the covid lockdown. Many naysayers say or believe Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice was a flop due to not making a billion. When in fact, that's not true.

In Comparison to The Other Batmen

In this biz, it is hard not to draw comparisons. We do it to see if there is any growth. It helps give some context. Domestically, The Batman is the third highest-grossing film, losing out to The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. What can one expect, though? Even people outside do not expect Matt Reeves to outperform Christopher Nolan. No matter what your preference is. Hence, The Batman beats all the Tim Burton & Joel Schumacher films, including Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. When adjusted for inflation, it is the fifth highest-grossing domestic film.

#1) The Dark Knight - $534.9 million

#2) The Dark Knight Rises - $448.1 million

#3) The Batman - $369.3 million

#4) Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - $330.3 million*

#5) Batman - $251.4 million*

#6) Batman Begins - $206.8 million

#7) Batman Forever - $184 million

#8) Batman Returns - $162.9 million

#9) Batman & Robin - $107.3 million

*$407.7 when adjusted for inflation

*$600.6 when adjusted for inflation

Internationally, The Batman is the fourth-highest grossing film. Again, it loses out to The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Yet, it also loses out to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice this time. Matt Reeves' Caped Crusader is such an international hit that it beats everything below it, even when adjusted for inflation. In this day and age, you need to be a success overseas to make money. Good luck trying to break even at the box office in an autarky.

#1) The Dark Knight Rises - $633 million

#2) Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - $543.2 million

#3) The Dark Knight - $471.1 million

#4) The Batman - $401.4 million

#5) Batman Begins - $166.8 million

#6) Batman - $160.1 million

#7) Batman Forever - $152.4 million

#8) Batman & Robin - $130.8 million

#9) Batman Returns - $103.9 million

On a worldwide basis, The Batman is the fourth-highest grossing film. It loses to The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight, and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. You can certainly see a trend here. Again, the film easily beats out Batman Begins and the Burton/Schumacher era. When adjusted for inflation, The Batman is the fifth-highest-grossing Batman film worldwide.

#1) The Dark Knight Rises - $1,081.1 billion

#2) The Dark Knight - 1,006.1 billion

#3) Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - $873.6 million

#4) The Batman - $770.8 million

#5) Batman - $411.5 million*

#6) Batman Begins - $373.6 million

#7) Batman Forever - $336.5 million

#8) Batman Returns - $266.9 million

#9) Batman & Robin - $238.2 million

*$983.2 million when adjusted for inflation

On average, this is the fourth-highest-grossing Batman film at the box office. That is nothing to scoff at, my friends! We see it beat the last live-action film domestically! If it is such a flop, why does it beat out the Schumacher films every time? Yes, the film has a few hiccups with people afraid to go out due to covid. In addition, the China numbers are lacking due to covid as well. The Batman saw no release in Russia as a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Had it not been for the problems in China and Russia, then The Batman would have broken $840 million worldwide I argue. Finally, people with HBO Max are thinking - I'll wait to stream the film rather than pay for a ticket. Do not forget ticket prices are going up for a plethora of reasons.

Even with all of these comparisons, we have to hold the film independently to some degree. Does Batman Begins outgross Batman & Robin? Yes, but not by leaps and bounds. The film made a profit and outdid the previous installment, but importantly it washed out that awful taste of Schumacher's last movie. Hence, Warner Bros can jumpstart a new franchise off of this point. One can take a chance on Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale here. Look back at those numbers, and did Batman Begins beat Tim Burton's first film? No, but that is okay! Did the film hold fine on its own? Absolutely! It held so fine to create one of the critically and financially best trilogies of our time. Yes, you have those obnoxious Robert Pattison haters still stuck in 2012, but The Batman has no real negative press of actual means. With some of these drawbacks, $770 million is hardly a miss. Critics and fans are pleased with what Matt Reeves delivered. Now they want more! If you think it's still a flop, why did Matt Reeves get a first look film deal and a sequel greenlit?