If there was a lesson learned from last December’s cinema releases, perhaps it was this: when there’s a massive comic book movie incoming, it’s sometimes best to simply step out of the way.
Fans line up for a special screening of The Batman in London
Admittedly, the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home took many by surprise. Not that it did well, but that it did the level of business it did: nearly $2bn in cinema takings alone, with its home formats release due in April. All at a time when the pandemic has continued to depress cinema takings.
Amongst the films that struggled to gain ground in the slipstream of Spider-Man’s release? Hardly shabby contenders such as The Matrix Resurrections and The King’s Man, neither of which brought home as much box office bacon as had been expected. Spider-Man and his chums had simply smashed them out of the way.
As the first major comic book movie release since December, all eyes are now on Warner Bros and its gamble with The Batman. Set for release on March 4th, and with reviews going live next week, the three hour reboot of the Dark Knight on the big screen is expected to do mega-money. And it’s now telling, with box office tracking presumably suggesting a sizeable gross for the film, that other studios are getting itchy feet.
Thus far, just one has opted to move their film out of the way. STX had scheduled Guy Ritchie’s latest movie, Operation Fortune: Rue De Guerre, for March 18th. A potential franchise starter, co-starring Aubrey Plaza, the film is in the can and apparently ready to go. However, STX has shifted its release with no explanation. A new date hasn’t been announced as of yet, and the wide assumption is that it’s simply getting the film out of the path of Batman.
Everybody else seems to have already given it a wide berth. In fact, there’s not another live action major studio release that Warner Bros needs to worry about until Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum rock up in the terrific-looking The Lost City at the end of March. If anything, the unknown quantity on the UK release roster might just be another Warner Bros film, the long-delayed The Nan Movie, starring Catherine Tate.
That and the brilliant The Phantom Of The Open, it’s slim pickings for mainstream movies on the big screen in March. The hope for cinema owners will surely be that The Batman repeats Spider-Man’s trick: not only get people in for the opening weekend, but keeping people coming back, with repeat viewings too.
All eyes, then, on March 4th…
