THE BATMAN WEEKEND THREAD | 134M OW DOM, 258.2M WW | Biggest WB opening since BvS. First non Disney-affiliated 100M OW since 2018

[Fox20]

1 hour ago, MikeQ said:

Every perspective is valid, but I do find it difficult to understand the notion that The Batman’s dark and serious tone is problematic and “not what we need right now”, etc. This doesn’t resonate with me when the vast majority of comic book films released in this era are on the opposite end of this spectrum. Why are we not allowed to have one darker, more serious film? Generally speaking, I find these kind of films can prove cathartic in a similar way that lighter, more “escapist” fare can be a relief during troubled times. I like having options and variety.

 

I say all this not having seen The Batman - just a general observation.

 

As usual, I hope the film does gangbusters so that the box office nerd in me gets to enjoy the film’s run. How lucky that we’ve had No Way Home (and to a lesser extent Uncharted) to sustain us over the last few months.

 

Peace,

Mike

People are talking the "dark and serious" as the main subject, if people read reviews even the positive would see that many people found that the 3 hours dragged.

[Notthereverseflash24]

4 minutes ago, Villain Legion said:

You didn’t, but the implication seemed to be that we might find out this weekend that audiences couldn’t handle it. If that wasn’t the intention then consider my response irrelevant 👍

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

There’s only 1 scene that absolutely could be cut, but I don’t think the 3 hours dragged at all, personally. The last half dozen blockbusters have had runtimes extend beyond 130 minutes and this was not an unentertaining slog like Eternals or something. Even prestige drama films have gotten unbearably long. Gucci was 150 min that dragged. Endgame worked for me because it was 3 hours and the entire second act consists almost entirely of character interactions and genuine dialogue. Feels like people forget the 10 min scene of Stark re-uniting with his dad. Its not even more “boring” than TDK or TDKR. I don’t see much difference between unless people need nonstop quips and snarks? Which even then, Catwoman and Penguin provide plenty. 

[MikeQ]

41 minutes ago, teard1972 said:

not speaking for the so-called RT critics, but for me personally, it's not the dark and gritty that’s problematic; the overall theme is actually quite positive, though it’s debatable that Bats is that type of hero by the end of the movie. The problem for the GA, I think, is that the movie is in essence of a genre that’s rarely if ever with a runtime of 3 hours and achieve popular superhero movie BO numbers.

Absolutely - this is completely legitimate to consider the impact of the film’s tone/style/length/etc on the film’s box office. Point taken. My comment was more in terms of the film itself and to question the idea that the film being dark and serious is somehow inherently problematic.

 

Peace,

Mike

[Joyous Legion]

30 minutes ago, BruiseCruise said:

We need the EmpireCity signal lit

[MikeQ]

10 minutes ago, Fox20 said:

People are talking the "dark and serious" as the main subject, if people read reviews even the positive would see that many people found that the 3 hours dragged.

 I certainly don’t mean to say that people cannot be critical of the film and any perceived flaws, only that I take issue with the assertion that a so-called dark and serious approach to the film is problematic in and of itself.

 

Peace,

Mike

[DAJK]

Yea this was great. I want another viewing to solidify everything I thought, but it ruled.

 

And it’s walkups tonight are MUCH stronger than I anticipated.

[Knights of Ren]

Really loved the film and my audience definitely did.  Also I don’t get the runtime complaints.  I couldn’t believe the film ended.  Felt like 2 hours. 

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

4 minutes ago, MikeQ said:

 I certainly don’t mean to say that people cannot be critical of the film and any perceived flaws, only that I take issue with the assertion that a so-called dark and serious approach to the film is problematic in and of itself.

 

Peace,

Mike

I feel like the one time those complaints were valid and warranted was BVS IMO. But mostly because it was a bad, incomplete movie and the darkness was misplaced and self-serving, robbing the film of pathos, misinterpreting the characters.

 

Also, it's funny and ironic how sometimes dark and serious is used positively like Logan lol. Though, I suppose that was because it was the first R rated version of the character

[excel1]

5 minutes ago, DAJK said:

walkups tonight are MUCH stronger than I anticipated.

 

$35m previews back on the table confirmed 

[cax16]

3 minutes ago, excel1 said:

 

$35m previews back on the table confirmed 

You’ve kept me quite entertained the last few weeks. 

[TigerPaw]

9 minutes ago, DAJK said:

Yea this was great. I want another viewing to solidify everything I thought, but it ruled.

 

And it’s walkups tonight are MUCH stronger than I anticipated.

I got IMAX tickets for tomorrow afternoon but these comments are making me want to buy regular tickets to watch it first tonight already before a 2nd viewing tomorrow..!

 

Here in Singapore, weekend IMAX tickets are almost all sold out.. first 2 rows remaining only.

 

[HouseOfTheSun]

This movie is opening to exactly what the trackers here and elsewhere said it would, and the people that thought it was headed for a massive blow up beyond that are doomposting like the world has committed some unspeakable atrocity against the movie lol 

[excel1]

4 minutes ago, HouseOfTheSun said:

This movie is opening to exactly what the trackers here and elsewhere said it would, and the people that thought it was headed for a massive blow up beyond that are doomposting like the world has committed some unspeakable atrocity against the movie lol 

 

just wait for The Batman Returns Forever in 2 years 

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

The concession girl thrilled to be cleaning the popcorn oil at 215am while the rest of America is asleep 

[HouseOfTheSun]

4 minutes ago, BestPicturePlutoNash said:

The concession girl thrilled to be cleaning the popcorn oil at 215am while the rest of America is asleep 

Are they even making money on this after the power bill and employee pay 

[BadOlCatSylvester]

I've been expecting a more modest opening weekend for this for quite some time. Again, this is a 3-hour slow-burn detective noir film, not a happy-go-lucky Marvel adventure. Any 3-digit figure would be a success IMO. And if word of mouth is good, then you'll get all the monster numbers you want when the sequel is released. I'm just hoping Warner doesn't overreact like they did when Man of Steel didn't reach the billion dollar mark.

[Eric is Anxious]

 

[grim22]

14 minutes ago, BestPicturePlutoNash said:

The concession girl thrilled to be cleaning the popcorn oil at 215am while the rest of America is asleep 

My local one has a 3am Dolby and IMAX which are both like 50% full. Who are these people going to the movies in OC at 3am??

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

1 minute ago, grim22 said:

My local one has a 3am Dolby and IMAX which are both like 50% full. Who are these people going to the movies in OC at 3am??

First Avenger at midnight was the only late show I ever did... back when those were a thing.