The Batman Worldwide Box Office Climbs to $516 Despite Slow Start In China

The Batman hit theatres this month, and while it's not quite earning the intense numbers of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the film did have the second-biggest opening of the pandemic and has already crossed the $500 million mark at the global box office. While the movie has not had the strongest opening in China due to COVID-19, it's still managed to hit $516 million as of Saturday, $252.7 million of which is from the international box office. 

The Batman has only earned $3.7 million in China so far since about 35% of the market's theaters have been temporarily shut down. However, according to Deadline, the movie has a strong 9 score on Tao Piao Piao and Maoyan, and the latter is predicting the movie will take in $30.5 million. At least The Batman is playing in China, which isn't the case for all new movies. Deadline reports that more Warner Bros. films are set to be released in the country, including Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore. 

"We couldn't be more thrilled to see people all over the world enjoying The Batman in theaters," Warner Bros Pictures Chairman, Toby Emmerich, recently said in a statement. "Matt Reeves has delivered an extraordinary film that manages to honor the legacy of this global cultural hero while taking moviegoers into an experience that feels fresh and original. We congratulate Matt [Reeves], Dylan [Clark], Walter [Hamada], Chantal [Nong Vo], Robert [Pattinson], and Zoë [Kravitz], and the entire cast and crew on this wonderful benchmark."

Currently, The Batman is "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes with an 86% critics score after 438 reviews and an 88% audience score after 10,000+ reviews. While a sequel to The Batman has not been announced there is an HBO Max spin-off in the works that's set to be a "Scarface story" that follows Penguin's (Colin Farrell) rise to power in Gotham's criminal underworld.

"I really believe in what we've done and I'd be excited to tell more stories... We are already telling other stories in the streaming space, we're doing stuff on HBO Max, we're doing a Penguin show with Colin [Farrell], which is gonna be super cool," director Matt Reeves recently shared with The Independent at The Batman's premiere. "And we're working on some other stuff, too, but we have started talking about another movie."

The Batman is now playing in theaters.