The Batman hit theaters this weekend and opened with more than $100 million at the U.S. box office, so it's fair to say that it has already found an audience. One particular segment of that audience, though, is made up of former Twilight fans who followed star Robert Pattinson from the vampire dramas to his indie darlings and now over to the superhero blockbuster that seems likely to define the next chunk of his career. Whether it's simply turning up at the box office or taking over social media with some hilarious memes, Twilight fans are making themselves known as Pattinson's performance as the Dark Knight draws praise from fans and critics.
The Twilight films earned more than $3 billion globally at the box office, and inspired a rabid fan base, mostly of young women. The fans of the franchise reshaped geek-centric pop culture spaces to open up more niches for girls and women, and found themselves frequently clashing with other fan bases that found them annoying or frustrating.
Most of that, in hindsight, has been attributed to a women-centric fan base encroaching on largely male spaces like Comic Con International in San Diego. In the time since Twilight was dominating at the box office, there has been a backlash against that kind of gatekeeping, and movies like Twilight, or even Spice World and Josie and the Pussycats, have held onto cult classic status in spite of early reviews and reactions that boiled down, in a lot of cases, to "Ew! Girls!"
Because the films were aimed squarely at a teenage audience, many of the original Twilight fans are now in their 20s and early 30s, making them prime consumers in the 18-34 demographic that audiences and movie studios covet.
Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman sees Robert Pattinson introducing a new cinematic take on DC Comics' Dark Knight. The cast also includes Colin Farrell as The Penguin, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Real, Barry Keoghan as Officer Stanley Merkel, and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth.
The Batman is in theaters now.
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