This week was an important one for the 2022 box office. Though we have had big releases in January and February, this was different. This was the beginning of a new hero, the beginning of the 2022 blockbuster box office–this was the release of “The Batman.”
As expected, “The Batman” dominated this week’s box office, earning a year-high domestic opening weekend of $128.5 million. I went a bit high with my estimate of $150 million last week, but considering the film is the first of a new franchise and close to three hours long, an $128.5 million opening is absolutely insane. With a $200 million budget, this film has a strong chance to profit now. After factoring in marketing expenses and the theater’s cut, “The Batman” likely needs to gross north of $333 million domestically and over $660 million worldwide. This would put the film’s legs multiplier around 2.6x (total gross divided by opening weekend) which is very doable for this picture. With its strong reception and an “A-” CinemaScore, audiences are raving about this picture, which bodes well for its legs. What also helps is that there is no major theatrical releases until March 25th with action-adventure comedy “The Lost City” and sci-fi film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” With two clear weekends ahead of it and strong reviews, it is difficult to see “The Batman” not hold well these next few weeks.
Coming in second place is the last two weeks’ No. 1, “Uncharted.” The film grossed $11 million this weekend, a 52.2% drop, pushing its domestic total above the $100 million mark. Though a 52.2% third weekend drop is a bit steep, the film was facing a difficult box office foe in “The Batman.” With the lack of new major theatrical releases these next few weeks, “Uncharted” should also be able to prosper and put together a few good holds. I think this film can finish around $140 million domestically, though that can change depending on its legs these next few weeks.
In third is last week’s No. 2, “Dog.” The film grossed just above $6 million this weekend, making its domestic total now clear of $40 million. With this 40.6% drop on a competitive weekend, “Dog” has been a surprising success story of the 2022 box office. The film should continue to have impressive drops these next few weeks, perhaps even getting close to $60 million domestically.
In fourth and fifth this weekend are “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Death on the Nile” with grosses of $4.4 million and $2.7 million respectively. With only a 24.2% drop, “Spider-Man” vaulted past $785 million domestically, and will likely clear $790 million within the next few weeks. The movie is all but guaranteed to clear $800 million domestically, which is insane during the pandemic. “Death on the Nile” had a solid drop of 39.3%, pushing its domestic total to $37 million, which is fairly disappointing for the picture. If you told me five weeks ago, “Dog” would gross more domestically than the star-studded “Death on the Nile” I would not have believed you.
There are no new theatrical releases next weekend, though animated movie “Turning Red” and sci-fi adventure “The Adam Project” drop on Disney+ and Netflix respectively.
Ultimately, these next two weeks we will keep an eye on how high “The Batman” can continue to soar and how much “Uncharted,” “Dog” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” have left in the tank.
