Box Office: The Batman Takes A Slow Start In China Amid Covid-19 Surge

Mumbai, March 19 - Warner Bros.' one of the most talked-about films, "The Batman" debuted in the biggest movie market in the world, China, on March 18.

With the Robert Pattinson-fronted superhero film ruling the worldwide box office, the studio had hoped for the same in China as well, but that was not the case this time. From the last few days, China is witnessing a sudden rise in the covid-19 cases, forcing the closure of some cinema halls.



While it is true that Hollywood films have struggled at the box office of late in China, "The Batman" was still expected to take a decent to a good start. However, contrary to the huge expectations, the film opened to a worryingly slow start on Friday, grossing $3.7 million, as per Hollywood trade expert Luiz Fernando.

The opening of "The Batman" in China is low compared to "A Quiet Place" ($3.9M), and "Free Guy" ($5.2M), which were released in 2021. The movie, however, did surpass "Avatar's" re-release last year with a $3.5M opening. "The Batman" also outscored Tom Holland's recently released "Uncharted" ($2M).

China is one of the key markets for the "Batman" franchise. The previous Batman films have reasonably done well in China. Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" earned $53 million in 2012 while "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" scored $97 million in 2016. Even "Justice League", which was not received well by the critics, grossed $106 million in China in 2017.



According to Variety, "The Batman" will struggle to even come close to these aforementioned films with the film is currently tracking an RMB215 million ($34 million) lifetime total in China. The film showed improvement on Saturday, but it is unlikely to make any change in the lifetime forcast.

Keeping aside China, "The Batman" is going very well in other domestic and international markets. It has grossed $516 million after two weeks at the box office. Domestically (North America), the Matt Reeves-directed grossed $263 million while overseas, it has minted $253 million.

Stay tuned...