As recently as this past Friday, The Batman was being projected to score a worldwide box office opening of $225 million, but once again the insiders and analysts have underestimated just how much appetite audiences still hold for watching superheroes suit up and report for duty.
The latest numbers have Matt Reeves’ reboot sitting on $248.5 million globally, but it’s more than likely to nudge past the quarter-billion mark by the time the dust has settled. That means The Batman earned more in three days than Uncharted managed in three weeks, and it’ll surpass Tom Holland’s video game adaptation within a couple of days to comfortably become the top-earning Hollywood movie of 2022.
For well over a year, discussion and debate has swirled as to whether or not The Batman will be able to reach the coveted billion-dollar bonanza, and it’ll become one of a very small few DC blockbusters to have done so should it happen. Having come within touching distance of $250 million after 72 hours, you’d be foolish to rule it out.
Of course, it all depends on how audiences react to the idea of repeat viewings, which was one of the major driving forces behind the mammoth success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which still hasn’t dropped out of the domestic top five after almost three months in release.
Comic book stories often tend to be front-loaded, too, so we’ll have a much better and clearer picture of The Batman‘s long-term prospects by this time next week, where it could well have $500 million in sight.