The Batman Is Staring Down A $100 Million-Plus Opening Weekend

I have seen "The Batman," and it is good. No, not just good. "The Batman" is a powerful piece of cinema, and I'm so excited for you all to see it! If projections are correct, you'll be doing that this very weekend. 

The film about everyone's favorite Caped Crusader is looking at a more than $100 million opening weekend, according to Variety. Some people may complain about superhero fatigue, but it looks like those same superheroes are about to fly in and save the movie theater business between "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (which debuted with $260 million) and "The Batman." The site says that some people are even speculating that Bats could bring in $140 million in its first three days. 

That's bat-tastic!

This is a pretty big deal for the Warner Bros. film, which is going exclusively to theaters rather than streaming on HBO Max at the same time. Of course, there are still people who don't feel comfortable in theaters, and that will leave them out for the 45 days it takes until "The Batman" hits the streamer.

Variety points out that this will generate more money for an opening weekend than any other Warner Bros. pandemic release so far in their entire theatrical run. For instance, the fantastic Denis Villeneuve film "Dune" hit $109 million in North America, and the less fantastic but still fun "Godzilla vs. Kong" hit $100 million. 

The PG-13 rating will also help the numbers, though I can tell you that "The Batman" absolutely skirts the edge of that rating. It's a very, very dark film and unless you know the rating rules, you might be surprised that it's PG-13 once you see it. What I'm telling you is that, if you don't want to be woken up with little kids crawling into your bed with nightmares, maybe keep the smaller ones from watching in a theater. Also, the film is nearly three hours long, and while I absolutely didn't know how long I'd been sitting, if your kids need bathroom breaks frequently, this would be better to watch with them once it starts streaming. The pause button is a wonderful tool. 

The site also points out that "The Batman" has a release date in China which will positively affect the box office, but its release in Russia has been pulled at the last minute by Warner Bros. 

I do hope you get to see it on a huge screen, but please friends, be as safe as you can, okay? 

"The Batman" stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, and Colin Farrell. It will hit theaters on March 4, 2022.