The Batman Has Hit $700 Million At The Global Box Office, Morbius Opens To $84 Million

It was a good weekend for superheroes at the box office (what else is new?), albeit one that comes with a couple of caveats for Marvel's latest. But before diving into "Morbius" and how it fared in its global debut, Warner Bros.' "The Batman" passed a big benchmark in its fifth weekend, cruising past the $700 million mark worldwide. If it wasn't clear that a sequel is going to happen before now, it's a downright guarantee at this point.

According to Box Office Mojo, with the most recent weekend factored in, including another $10.8 million domestically, director Matt Reeves' "The Batman" now stands at $710.5 million worldwide. What's interesting is that the split currently is 49.1% domestic and 50.9% international, which is not at all common for this franchise. Typically, it would be weighed a little heavier from overseas markets but, for some reason, it's much closer to an even split this time around. That's made all the more intriguing when factoring in the release in China, an increasingly rare thing for American movies these days. Unfortunately, lots of theaters in the country are closed again due to the pandemic, which has hammered the movie's earnings in the Middle Kingdom.

In any event, this is an absolute win for Warner Bros., Reeves, and Robert Pattinson, as the gritty, three-hour take on this franchise has succeeded both critically and commercially. "The Batman" is an unquestionable hit that should easily top $750 million, if not finishing closer to $800 million before all is said and done. Expect a formal sequel announcement any day now (and it's downright surprising it hasn't been announced already to be honest).

Moving from DC to Marvel, Sony's "Morbius" starring Jared Leto as the so-called Living Vampire finally hit theaters around the world after being delayed for literally years. While critics were very much unkind to the film, it still managed to rake in $84 million in its debut, including $39.1 million domestically. Admittedly, that is on the low end for a Marvel film, especially when we consider that "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" opened with $90 million domestically back in October of 2021. So this is a decent debut and money movie theaters are surely happy to have, but this run at the top is likely going to be very short-lived.

"Morbius" was absolutely destroyed by critics upon arrival and audiences have seemingly been lukewarm on the flick. And with Michael Bay's "Ambulance" and "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" both hitting theaters this weekend, the prospects look bad for the movie's week-to-week holdover, at least in North America. The saving grace here is that director Daniel Espinosa's comic book adaptation comes with a relatively small $75 million budget, meaning the financial pressures are not as great as they were for "The Batman," which carried a huge $200 million budget. It's all relative. Even so, with the response being what it is and the financial prospects not exactly great, it's getting harder to imagine a sequel to "Morbius" being in the cards. 

"The Batman" and "Morbius" are in theaters now.