Matt Reeves’ blockbuster was also released in China this weekend, but nearly half of cinemas there are closed due to Covid. (Source: French Film)
The Batman crossed the bar of the 300 million dollars of receipts in the United States in three weeks, including 36 million harvested this weekend in 4302 cinemas of the country. By comparison, at the same time, Joker with Joaquin Phoenix accounted for 335 million in the fall of 2019. No record for Warner Bros, therefore, but these scores are still important and leave little room for competition: the following film, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, won half as much money in 2,286 cinemas in the country: 17.6 million green tickets. Then Uncharted closes the podium thanks to an additional 8 million dollars collected for 3,700 screens, or 15.8 million in 5 weeks.
Matt Reeves’ blockbuster starring Robert Pattinson is also doing well abroad. It passed the 2 million admissions mark in France, and got off to a good start in China, an increasingly crucial market for the success of American blockbusters. Since Friday March 18, and despite the closure of 43% of cinemas in the country due to an upsurge in the Covid epidemic there, The Batman won 12.1 million dollars there this weekend, or already more than 1/5th of the 50 million collected outside the United States for the moment. Warner Bros should therefore succeed in reimbursing its 200 million budget (excluding promotion) … and preparing the sequel.
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Despite this juggernaut, the anime prequel Jujutsu Kaisen got off to a good start by taking second place. variety recalls that adaptations of manga have more and more success in American theaters, that of Demon Slayer having for example raised 21.2 million dollars in the country a year ago, which was all the more impressive since the rooms then welcomed fewer spectators because of the restrictions put in place in the midst of the Covid epidemic. The recent merger between Funimation and Crunchyroll should make it possible to distribute this type of animated film even more widely, and thus contribute to accentuating this phenomenon.
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The horror movie X, by Ti West, started in fourth position with 4.2 million dollars collected in 2,865 theaters, which is also important knowing that this horrific film, a genre by definition not recommended for younger audiences, takes place during the filming of a pornographic film. Receiving good reviews, especially for its main actress Mia Goth, it should quickly pay for itself, this type of production generally costing a handful of millions of dollars.
Finally, it’s dogby Channing Tatum, who completes the top 5 thanks to an additional 4 million dollars, which brings his total to more than 50 million in five weeks, then the biggest card of recent times, Spider-Man: No Way Home, clings in the ranking. With 3.2 million more in the fourteenth week of operation, it is approaching 800 million dollars in the United States alone. Note that the rest of the leaderboard remains above $1 million in revenue this weekend.
US weekend box office from Friday March 18 to Sunday March 20, 2022: