‘The Batman’ Box Office in China Begins with a Slow Start
The world’s largest theatrical market has seen slower sales due to widespread cinema closures and declining local demand for imported Hollywood movies.
The release of ‘The Batman,’ directed by Matt Reeves and starring star Robert Pattinson in his first appearance as the Caped Crusader, has been delayed in China.
The film has earned $3.6 million as of 10:30 p.m. local time on Friday, including some presales for Saturday and Sunday. The Batman is expected to reach a total of $33 million through the end of its run, according to Beijing-based ticketing app Maoyan.
The brooding-superhero pics have received positive local word of mouth thus far. Still, the film’s earnings potential has been reduced by widespread cinema closures in response to COVID flare-ups across China. The nearly three-hour runtime isn’t helping, either, and there isn’t the spectacle that most awesome pics are known.
On Douban, China’s more discerning film fans congregate, The Batman has a rating of 7.7. User scores on major ticketing apps Maoyan and Tao Piao Piao are around 9.
Even if Batman’s income improves, it won’t approach the China earnings achieved by past bat-suited individuals. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises made $52.8 million in 2012 when China’s entire potential biggest market was far smaller than it is now. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earned $95.8 million in 2016, and The Dark Knight earned $37 million in 2008.
The lack of competition is undoubtedly working in The Batman’s favor — it is the only blockbuster-caliber film currently playing in most Chinese cinemas — but the overall box office conditions are far from ideal for any studio release.
According to exhibition business consultants Artisan Gateway, China is now experiencing its worst COVID outbreak in years, with more than 30 percent of all movie theaters closed for a week or more. Shanghai and Shenzhen, two cosmopolitan population hubs, have been particularly hard.
According to the source (The Hollywood Reporter), prior tracking suggested an opening of just $15 million to $20 million owing to China’s theater closures, compared with previously anticipated figures in the $25 million to $30 million range. However, compared to the film’s massive US debut of $134 million, those projections seem small.
Even though China’s box office has been on a downward trend in recent years, Hollywood studios had adjusted to considerably smaller grosses than during China’s box office boom several years ago. When Hollywood income totals for action tentpoles regularly exceeded North American ticket sales. Only two Hollywood films have surpassed $100 million in China over the last two years: Universal’s Fast & Furious 8 and Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight.
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