Post by UrbanLegend on Jun 17, 2005 16:10:12 GMT -5
Batman Begins" with Big Bucks
Friday June 17 2:10 PM ET
Holy box office, Batman!
Batman Begins grossed $15.1 million during its first day in theaters on Wednesday. While not in the same stratosphere as Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, which earned a whopping $50 million on its first day of release, the tally represents a return to box-office form for the Caped Crusader after Warner Bros. shut down the franchise following the 1997 stinker, Batman and Robin.
Based on early returns from 3,718 theaters, including Tuesday's midnight screenings, Batman Begins is projected to top the opening weekend performance of its predecessors this weekend, mopping up a potential $60 million Friday through Sunday, when it expands to 3,858 theaters and $82 million overall for the five-day period, according to BoxOfficeGuru.com.
Its biggest competition is going to come from Fox's two-week old caper Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Universal's The Perfect Man, a family comedy starring Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear and Chris Noth that hopes to benefit from counterprogramming.
"Die-hard fans and action-loving males are a lock for Begins," says Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. "The studio does not need to be concerned about them. The key to larger grosses will come from non-fans. How excited are they about this new Caped Crusader?"
The new batflick, exploring the origins of the Dark Knight, with Christian Bale as the fifth actor to don the cowl and cape, could also help reverse Hollywood's 16-week slump.
For its part, Warner Bros. was pleased with the results, which gave the studio its biggest Wednesday ever for the month of June.
The first Batman, helmed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, raked in $40.5 million its opening weekend back in 1989, when tickets were half the price they are now.
Those numbers increased steadily with the sequels: 1992's Batman Returns, also directed by Burton, debuted with $45.7 million; and 1995's campy Batman Forever helmed by Joel Schumacher and featuringVal Kilmer in a batsuit with nipples, scored a series high $52.8 million.
But the franchise took a turn for the worse with Batman and Robin, with George Clooney in the title role. The film drew the worst reviews of all the sequels, and quickly faded after opening with $42.9 million, prompting Warners to pull the plug on the series.
After an eight-year layoff, during which rivals Sony Pictures ( Spider-Man) and 20th Century Fox (X-Men) launched their own comic book-based behemoths, Warners decided to bring Batman out of mothballs. The studio hired cult director Christopher Nolan (Memento) to reinvent the Batman mythology by mining the dark storylines of Frank Miller's successful graphic novels.
Aside from the unheralded Bale, whose career highlights include the boy protagonist in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun and the serial killer in American Psycho, the cast includes Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and soon-to-be Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes.
The PG-13 film has received very good reviews (earning an 81 percent "fresh rating" on movie reviews round-up site RottenTomatoes.com) and the ending leaves open the possibility for, yes, another sequel.
Friday June 17 2:10 PM ET
Holy box office, Batman!
Batman Begins grossed $15.1 million during its first day in theaters on Wednesday. While not in the same stratosphere as Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, which earned a whopping $50 million on its first day of release, the tally represents a return to box-office form for the Caped Crusader after Warner Bros. shut down the franchise following the 1997 stinker, Batman and Robin.
Based on early returns from 3,718 theaters, including Tuesday's midnight screenings, Batman Begins is projected to top the opening weekend performance of its predecessors this weekend, mopping up a potential $60 million Friday through Sunday, when it expands to 3,858 theaters and $82 million overall for the five-day period, according to BoxOfficeGuru.com.
Its biggest competition is going to come from Fox's two-week old caper Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Universal's The Perfect Man, a family comedy starring Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear and Chris Noth that hopes to benefit from counterprogramming.
"Die-hard fans and action-loving males are a lock for Begins," says Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. "The studio does not need to be concerned about them. The key to larger grosses will come from non-fans. How excited are they about this new Caped Crusader?"
The new batflick, exploring the origins of the Dark Knight, with Christian Bale as the fifth actor to don the cowl and cape, could also help reverse Hollywood's 16-week slump.
For its part, Warner Bros. was pleased with the results, which gave the studio its biggest Wednesday ever for the month of June.
The first Batman, helmed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, raked in $40.5 million its opening weekend back in 1989, when tickets were half the price they are now.
Those numbers increased steadily with the sequels: 1992's Batman Returns, also directed by Burton, debuted with $45.7 million; and 1995's campy Batman Forever helmed by Joel Schumacher and featuringVal Kilmer in a batsuit with nipples, scored a series high $52.8 million.
But the franchise took a turn for the worse with Batman and Robin, with George Clooney in the title role. The film drew the worst reviews of all the sequels, and quickly faded after opening with $42.9 million, prompting Warners to pull the plug on the series.
After an eight-year layoff, during which rivals Sony Pictures ( Spider-Man) and 20th Century Fox (X-Men) launched their own comic book-based behemoths, Warners decided to bring Batman out of mothballs. The studio hired cult director Christopher Nolan (Memento) to reinvent the Batman mythology by mining the dark storylines of Frank Miller's successful graphic novels.
Aside from the unheralded Bale, whose career highlights include the boy protagonist in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun and the serial killer in American Psycho, the cast includes Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and soon-to-be Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes.
The PG-13 film has received very good reviews (earning an 81 percent "fresh rating" on movie reviews round-up site RottenTomatoes.com) and the ending leaves open the possibility for, yes, another sequel.
