Bruce Wayne has once again saved the day, for now.
Warner Bros., which is owned by AT&T' (T), “The Batman” earned $134 million over the weekend, which is somehow both a remarkable achievement but also a bit of a letdown.
The box office total for the Robert Pattinson-starring film was enough to rank as the biggest box office opening for 2022, and it’s only the second time since the pandemic hit two years ago that a film has earned more than $100 million in a single weekend since “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
The film has been getting solid reviews, even if the consensus is that as good as it is, director Matt Reeves doesn’t quite reach the same heights as the Chris Nolan trilogy of “Batman” (2005), “The Dark Knight” (2008) and “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012). Taste is subjective of course, and every generation is, apparently, going to gets its own Batman.
But at least in terms of box office numbers, the latest Batman doesn’t quite measure up to its predecessor. And that’s a problem for theater chains such as AMC (AMC), which really needs people to start going to the movies more often.
How Did The Latest Batman Film Do?
The latest Batman box office gross is only a disappointment in comparison to the $155 million earned by “The Dark Knight” and the $160 million taken in by “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Now, some important caveats here. Though studios have been opening more blockbusters in springtime in recent years, March is not naturally as busy a time for movies as Christmas or the summer.
Even though the latest omicron variant seems to have subsided, some people might be worried that many cities, such as New York, are lifting in-door mask mandates, and are thus staying away from theaters.
But that said, it could be that though franchise blockbusters can still get people to come out, overall the allure of the movie theater experience just isn’t what it used to be.
The migration to streaming has already made viewers accustomed to watching smaller films at home, but last year audiences also got used to seeing new blockbusters at home as well.
In order to gain traction for its HBO Max streaming service, last year Warner Bros. premiered “Dune,” “The Matrix: Resurrections” and the DC Universe film “The Suicide Squad”, in theaters and on its streaming service at the same time. The result was that the last two films, at least, were considered box office letdowns, compared to previous Matrix and DC films.
Last year AMC struck a deal with Warner Bros. requiring a 45-day window before its new films can hit HBO Max, but now even people who are merely curious about the new Batman film know that it will be on HBO Max sometime in the next few months, so they may as well wait.
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What Does The Future Of Movie Theaters Look Like?
If “The Batman” is a sign that people are returning to theaters, but not quite to the extent that they were before the pandemic, then that’s not great news for AMC, which relies on people viewing the theatrical experience as something special that streaming can’t replicate. (Just ask Nicole Kidman.)
Even before the pandemic, AMC was struggling, as there are really only so many blockbusters Hollywood can make. Though 2019 saw the release of world-conquering films such as “Avengers: Endgame,” AMC still reported a net loss of $13.5 million that year, even as total revenue was up 2.4% to $1.44 billion from the year before.
So if there’s largely no going back to the box office of a decade ago, then AMC is likely to continue to find new ways to generate the revenue it needs to recover from the pandemic.
AMC has recently begun experimenting with variable ticket pricing, charging between $1 to $1.50 for “The Batman,” which didn’t seem to discourage the faithful that much. AMC is also planning on delivering popcorn and moving further into selling merchandise, including NFTs. (Always with the NFTs, these days.)
The analogy here is that AMC is fast becoming similar to a rock band that is still popular, but its days as a chart-topping act are behind it, so the focus turns to pleasing the hardcore fanbase and figuring out ways to monetize their support.
But the good news for AMC is that it does have a loyal army of AMC fans, or “Apes” as they like to be called, out there. It just needs to find a way to get the meme stock crowd to buy more tickets and popcorn, and maybe bring some friends along the next time they come out.
