Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament took a hiatus during the pandemic as movie theaters closed for the majority of 2020-2021 and theatrical day-and-date titles on both the big screen and studios’ respective streaming platforms became more prevalent. Coming back from that brink, the studios have largely returned to their theatrical release models and the downstream monies they can bring. Not to mention their power in launching IPs around the world with big global marketing campaigns. When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn’t about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that mysterious end of the equation, Deadline is repeating our Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament for 2022, using data culled by seasoned and trusted sources.
THE FILM
If there was one tentpole that willed itself to existence during the pandemic, it was Matt Reeves’ reboot The Batman starring Robert Pattinson. What high stakes did this movie not face? In addition to following in the shadow of Christopher Nolan’s revered Dark Knight trilogy and the lesser-received Zack Snyder Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Reeves boldly created a noir version of the Caped Crusader that harkened back to the Batman Year One comics and Alfred Hitchcock movies. The other selling point in addition Twilight fan fave Pattinson’s casting was Batman contending with villains, those being Paul Dano’s Riddler, Colin Farrell’s Penguin and Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman. The result? A two-hour, 56-minute film, the longest Batman movie ever. The Batman saw production shuttered in mid-March 2020 with the breakout of Covid, marooning Reeves in London with a quarter of the film in the can. He didn’t spend his downtime re-writing, but rather mapping out larger production sequences and reconsidering the film’s tone — which is arguably the darkest of any Batman film. Production would resume in September of that year, only to be shut down three days later due to Pattinson catching Covid; a standard behind-the-scenes tale for any production braving a shoot before movie theaters reopened. However, as Batman geared up for production again, Warner Bros made a controversial move to shift its 2021 theatrical slate to a day-and-date strategy with HBO Max. After great ire around town, Warners returned to a theatrical release window strategy with The Batman, and moviegoers promptly flocked back to the cinema to see it. The film became the fifth-biggest domestic opening ever in March with $134 million, and a $225M global debut. Newly installed Warner Bros motion picture bosses Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy soon signed Reeves to a multi-year first-look deal; he is spinning off his Batman universe into an HBO Max series centering around Farrell’s Penguin. Despite James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over DC from former head Walter Hamada and planning their own Batman movie, Brave & Bold, Reeves’ Batman 2, which is currently in script stage, remains on track. The sequel is billed as an else-world part of Safran and Gunn’s DC universe and has set a theatrical release of October 3, 2025.
THE BOX SCORE
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Batman arrived on HBO Max on April 18, 46 days after its theatrical release, and in its first week on the service pulled in 4.1 million viewers per Samba TV — more than the day-and-date viewership of 2020’s The Suicide Squad (3.5M) and Wonder Woman 1984 (3.2M). By that point in time, The Batman had amassed close to 99% of its $369.3M domestic box office, underscoring the worth of delayed home windows on a blockbuster title. Global streaming TV revenues of $150M includes the amount that Warners pays itself to put the movie on HBO Max. Note that each studio has a rate card for calculating that cost based on a percentage of box office. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav has abandoned the day-and-date business philosophy preached and practiced by former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, believing such window collapsing damages a pic’s ancillary revenues and longevity. Zaslav is correct as The Batman nets $177M in profit.