*** The Batman (spoiler thread) ***

61,767 Views | 864 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by TCTTS
The Porkchop Express
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Into the top 85 for The Batman now on the domestic box office list at $308 million. Will likely surpass Dawn of Justice this weekend, although still well behind TDKR and TDK.

No-Way Home is $1.7 million short of hitting $800 million domestic, just the third movie ever to reach that lofty mark.
Quad Dog
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So was this movie a success money wise? Doesn't seem to be pulling in the big numbers.
canadiaggie
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Quad Dog said:

So was this movie a success money wise? Doesn't seem to be pulling in the big numbers.


Yes since it probably would have done over a billion had China not been shut down by COVID. Given that it's also the first in a standalone instalment, it's not bad.
The Porkchop Express
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Quad Dog said:

So was this movie a success money wise? Doesn't seem to be pulling in the big numbers.


I'd say it's an enormous success based on numerous factors. It's not a movie you would take most kids too like the marvel movies, it's not a movie a general audience will go see again on a random week night because it's so damn long, it's not full of laugh and emotional spots like no way home, and it comes from a very hit and miss studio. For a movie company, 3 hours of dark gritty goth batman Is a giant gamble since it flies 100% the other way of marvels patented success formula and still it is making great numbers and should hit $400 million domestic no problem. If the sequel has a buzz worthy villain, you can definitely envision the box office ballooning like the dark knight did.
TCTTS
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Quad Dog said:

So was this movie a success money wise? Doesn't seem to be pulling in the big numbers.

Warner Bros. is extremely happy with it.

Considering a March release at the tail end of Covid, the fact that it's performing in the Man of Steel range is damn good. I think it did even better than Batman Begins, if I'm not mistaken. It's also had really good legs with very little drop-off, relatively speaking. Third highest third weekend in Warner Bros. history, which is pretty crazy.

It'll be on HBO Max in less than a month, will do great numbers there, and it performed well enough to launch *two* HBO Max series, which will no doubt bring in even more viewers/subscriptions. And then the sequel, of course, now has the chance to be massive. Audiences loved this Batman and loved this world, and with the right villain(s), and another star or two facing off against Pattinson, it could reach Marvel-like hype/numbers.

In other words, everything Warner Bros. needed this movie to do, it did, and then some.
TCTTS
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You beat me to it, re: the sequel, but yeah, that's the main takeaway. It did well enough to pave the way for a multi-platform franchise and potentially massive theatrical follow-up.
TCTTS
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bangobango said:

TCTTS said:

This is such a great scene in and of itself, and I have to eat a little crow, because Keoghan's Joker looks WAY better/scarier/more disturbing here than in the glimpse at the end. I actually really like this depiction, and the way he was out of focus and then revealed at the end, etc.

The reason Reeves said he cut the scene is because he felt that the Joker basically gives away the rest of the movie here, but I don't quite know if I agree with Reeves in that regard. Sure, the Joker says Batman is the Riddler's "main course" (ends up being true) and that deep down Batman thinks all the corrupt officials deserve their deaths (he's still in "vengeance" mode, so that makes sense, but isn't really "plot" that's given away). Though, I mean, it's obvious from the jump that Batman is the key, seeing as all the Riddler's letters are addressed to Batman. That, and the Riddler *literally* tells Batman relatively early in the game that "you're a part of this too." So, in what other ways does this scene reveal anything about the rest of the Riddler's plan that we weren't already aware of/thinking? Am I missing something here? Am I interpreting the Joker's dialogue correctly?

Either way, personally, I think it's a really insightful scene on the Joker's part and reveals an interesting angle on Batman's own fears/psyche. Yeah, it might have felt a *little* repetitive when we eventually got to the Riddler interrogation scene at the same location, but that scene has a totally different energy/point, IMO, and almost feels like the next evolution of this scene, in a cool way.

It's a long shot, but I honestly hope fans are vocal enough about their love of this scene that Reeves considers reinserting for the Blu-ray/digital release. Because, personally, I think the movie would feel even more complete with it back in.
When he says gives away the movie, I don't think he means the plot, per se, but rather the theme/realization that Batman and Riddler are almost two sides of the same coin. It's really only Batman's code not to kill that separates him at this point of the story.

I think having this scene in too early would make you start thinking about it in every scene and then the confrontation with the Riddler where he is upset that they're not buddies as well as the "I'm Vengeance" moment loses a lot of its kick.

That's a good point/good way to look at it, and makes total sense.
fig96
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What's refreshing is that this is the first world from DC that I really want to see expanded on.

Nothing about MoS/BvS/JL got me particularly excited, but Reeves has created this dark gritty world that's so intriguing and rich. I feel like there's a history to Gotham and characters there that I really want to learn more about.
Quad Dog
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Do the people that make money decisions care about all of those factors? Or just the bottom line?

You guys have compared it to Man of Steel. But that movie is considered to have underperformed and didn't get a direct sequel because of that. Also, MoS came out 9 years ago, comparing them with inflation makes The Batman look even worse.
Brian Earl Spilner
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I will not stand for the disrespect of Man of Steel.
BenFiasco14
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As a related aside, "Something in the Way" is now one of Nirvanas top 5 streamed tracks. Never seen it in the top before now.
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Aggie_Boomin 21
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The song fit great into the movie, but I gotta say when it played near the beginning it did make me laugh. You could tell they were setting up for a song there, and I had the thought "I wonder what grunge song is about to play".
AgfromHOU
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Man of Steel was also not received nearly as well as The Batman. It not getting a direct sequel was a combination of Zack Snyder's 5 film plan of MoS, BvS, and JL 1,2,3 for a Superman arc and WB seeing The Avengers having a ton of success. Batman v Superman IS the direct sequel of Man of Steel in Zack Snyder's mind and plan.

I will say Man of Steel gets better each time I watch it. BvS gets worse, and I actually love ZSJL (in my mind I take out about 45 minutes of slo mo, the Joker and Martian Manhunter scenes, and the weird Icelandic women singing).

On RT, The Batman has 85% overall positive critic reviews and 88% audience reviews (with some of those upset it wasn't kid friendly or have funny moments). Man of Steel has 56% overall positive critic reviews and 75% audience reviews.

Additionally, Batman Begins barely made over $400 million worldwide, and their faith in a trilogy was more than rewarded with back to back billion dollar movies.
TCTTS
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Quad Dog said:

Do the people that make money decisions care about all of those factors? Or just the bottom line?

You guys have compared it to Man of Steel. But that movie is considered to have underperformed and didn't get a direct sequel because of that. Also, MoS came out 9 years ago, comparing them with inflation makes The Batman look even worse.

You're ignoring the first part of the sentence where I compare its box office to MoS... "Considering a March release at the tail end of Covid..." MoS was a huge June/summer release, no pandemic, etc. The Batman, on the other hand, came out during a time of year when blockbusters don't usually release, when certain people still weren't/aren't cool with going to the theater due to Covid, certain theaters are still closed, etc. And even though, yes, MoS was a relative disappointment at the box office at the time - mainly compared to The Dark Knight trilogy, considering the Nolan connection - it still made a sh*it ton of money and spawned the entire DCEU. So, when you consider all those factors, The Batman doing roughly the same numbers, in a much worse box office environment, is pretty damn good. Especially for a three-hour movie, which typically allows one fewer screening per day than most other blockbusters.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Box office grosses to do not exist in a vacuum. A movie's success depends not just on box office but on budget, release date, competition, and myriad other factors.

Halloween (1978) is considered one of the biggest success stories not because of how much it grossed or how much it opened to, neither of which is all that impressive on their own. But when factoring in the tiny $300k budget, $70M is an insane success.
The Porkchop Express
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A real Man of Steel sequel with a legit villain like Brainiac or a proper incarnation of Luthor would have been a big hit. But DC wanted to catch up to Marvel by shoving Bats and WoWo in there with him and effed everything up. Cavil was a really great Superman in MoS
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Brian Earl Spilner
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Cranston as Luthor is all I wanted.
The Porkchop Express
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

Cranston as Luthor is all I wanted.
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Madmarttigan
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MoS up until this movie was still the best thing DC has done since Nolan.

Eisenberg…. Sigh*
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TyHolden
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watched again tonight.
great movie.
still 30 minutes too long.
The Porkchop Express
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Passed Suicide Squad and Dawn of Justice domestically this weekend, will knock off Joker & Aquaman in the next couple of days. Then it's the longer climb to $400 m and Wonder Woman and TDKR.

The Dark Knight $534.9m
The Dark Knight Rises $448.1m
Wonder Woman $412.8m
Joker $335.4m
Aquaman $335.1m
The Batman $331.9m
Dawn of Justice: $330.4m
Suicide Squad $325.1m
Man of Steel $291.0m
Batman $251.4m

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TyHolden
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It was sold out at 9pm last night
Living Legend
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It cost $200 million to make and will be nearing $700 million worldwide. I'd say it's a success.
Lathspell
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Good. I want a sequel, but I want them to lean even heavier on the noir narration, like we had in the first 10 minutes. They should have kept doing that for the entire movie, letting us actually know what he was thinking.
TyHolden
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Living Legend said:

It cost $200 million to make and will be nearing $700 million worldwide. I'd say it's a success.
they probably could have saved $50 million and 30 minutes of everybody's life and cut that damn water scene down....
The Porkchop Express
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TyHolden said:

Living Legend said:

It cost $200 million to make and will be nearing $700 million worldwide. I'd say it's a success.
they probably could have saved $50 million and 30 minutes of everybody's life and cut that damn water scene down....
The city's flooding, get away from the skyscrapers and head for the below-street level arena!
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TheDoctor
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Finally saw it last night. Pretty good movie. Am excited to come back to this universe and this Gotham. By far the most interesting DCEU film made. This is a world and characters I actually want to know more about. Couldn't say that for all the other DCEU films.
AgfromHOU
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You're in luck. This isn't the DCEU.
Living Legend
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TyHolden said:

Living Legend said:

It cost $200 million to make and will be nearing $700 million worldwide. I'd say it's a success.
they probably could have saved $50 million and 30 minutes of everybody's life and cut that damn water scene down....


Water scene was perfect for me
The Porkchop Express
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Up to 58th all-time domestic at $349 m. Needs another $20 m to get inside the top 50. needs to reach $400 m to hit top 40.

Next on the DC list is Wonder Woman at $412.8m in 32nd.
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Canyon99
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Loved the movie (a bit too long) and the score but nothing beats Danny Elfman's Batman 1989 Theme. Of course, I might just be showing my age. I think it is timeless.

The scene in which Mayor Mitchell is murdered by The Riddler was my favorite of the movie. Dark, rainy evening at his home office and you know this event is about to set it all in motion. Quietly hiding in the shadows in plain sight.
ATM9000
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Really enjoyed it. Nice looking movie and the acting between Pattinson, Kravitz, Dano, and Turturro was very good.

My only real beef is you could have done 2 movies out of this one… the corruption story and Riddler story were just too loosely intertwined for me to understand the value of telling them both in a single film. Both plots were very good though.
AgfromHOU
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The Riddler plot IS the corruption plot. His whole motive was to expose the corruption of the Renewal fund that was being picked apart by Maroni and Falcone, then to do his own renewal with the flood. All of his victims were related to the corruption within the Renewal fund.
fig96
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I gotta say as a comic reader I loved that about this film.

Gotham is historically, notoriously corrupt, and it's the theme of Batman: Year One (that Batman Begins heavily borrowed from) and so many other stories in the Batman universe. But Nolan chose to expand that into a much bigger story that involved the League of Shadows and a whole lot of other things that felt very "big" for new hero Bruce to be taking on IMO.

Reeves and the other writers embraced that and made this film all about Gotham and it was fantastic.
AgfromHOU
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fig96 said:

I gotta say as a comic reader I loved that about this film.

Gotham is historically, notoriously corrupt, and it's the theme of Batman: Year One (that Batman Begins heavily borrowed from) and so many other stories in the Batman universe. But Nolan chose to expand that into a much bigger story that involved the League of Shadows and a whole lot of other things that felt very "big" for new hero Bruce to be taking on IMO.

Reeves and the other writers embraced that and made this film all about Gotham and it was fantastic.


Huge agree. I also loved that the corrupt cops were legit corrupt. In TDK the cops that end up being dirty or corrupted are ones who were acting out of fear for their family members. Here, cops like Kenzie are just straight up dirty.

This is basically the Gotham of the comics, especially from the early stories you mentioned.
 
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