‘The Batman’ Begins With Promising $57 Million Opening Day at Domestic Box Office

variety.com:

J. Kim Murphy The 2022 box office has its first juggernaut. After years of promotion and more than few delays due to COVID-19, “The Batman” finally hit movie theaters this weekend.

The Warner Bros. release grossed a hefty $57 million from 4,417 locations in its opening day, a sum that includes grosses from Thursday preview screenings.The DC adaptation is tracking to open somewhere between $120 million and $130 million for the weekend.Big-budget spectacles (and comic book adaptations, especially) can tend to be front-loaded in their box office hauls, though “The Batman” hopes to have longer staying power due to its positive reception.

The dark take on the famed superhero has earned very positive reviews, with Variety‘s Peter Debruge naming it a critic’s pick and writing that the “grounded, frequently brutal and nearly three-hour film noir registers among the best of the genre, even if — or more aptly, because — what makes the film so great is its willingness to dismantle and interrogate the very concept of superheroes.” Audiences are also being extremely receptive, with the film scoring an “A-” CinemaScore, indicating strong approval from general ticketbuyers. “The Batman” sees Robert Pattinson as the seventh actor to don the cowl of the Caped Crusader in a live-action movie.

The film also stars Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth and Colin Farrell as the Penguin.