The Batman starring Robert Pattinson as the titular Dark Knight has finally hit theatres and has soared to the top of the box office with the biggest international opening of the year.
The anticipated reboot of the popular comic superhero gathered $248.5mil USD ($377mil AUD) in 75 markets in its opening weekend, with people all around the world rushing to cinemas to catch the three-hour comic book film.
Australia was the movie’s fourth most successful territory, with the reboot of the popular franchise earning a reported $12.5mil from box office sales over the weekend.
The release excluded Japan, China and Russia.
The film will hit China’s theatrical market on March 18, while Warner Bros. confirmed in February that it will halt the release of the film in Russia as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. It will open in Japanese cinemas on March 11.
The film exploring Bruce Wayne’s early days as the Batman earned the second-largest cinematic pandemic debut to date, behind Spider-Man: No Way Home, which grossed $260mil USD ($353mil AUD) from US theatres during its December debut last year.
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The decision from Warner Bros. to avoid the film’s release in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine comes as a growing number of multinational businesses cut off Russia from financial services, technology products and media platforms.
The Batman has opened to a lot of reviews already, with one receiving a lot of backlash for its ‘racist’ commentary.
The Rolling Stone has called this version of Batman a “walking, talking open wound”, and provides commentary that in order to protect society, “you have to engage with it as well”. Talking of R-Patz himself, “there’s an undercurrent of pathos and vulnerability that he brings this moody-blues interpretation of Bruce/Batman”.
The Batman can be seen in cinemas now.
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