Will Batman Rescue the Box Office?
17 June 2005 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news
Analysts are predicting that Batman Begins will earn $60-65 million in its opening weekend and, with a strong line-up of holdover players, end the 16-week slump that the box office has endured. (If it does not, it will equal the 17-week recession record set in 1985. "That's one box office record we don't want," Exhibitor Relations chief Paul Dergarabedian told CNN.) The Warner Bros. superhero movie earned a solid, if not exceptional $15 million on opening day Wednesday -- strong by most standards, but not close to the $40.4 million that another superhero franchise movie, Spider-Man 2, took in when it debuted on a Wednesday. The last Batman movie, Batman & Robin, earned $16.1 million when it opened on a Friday in June 1997. Some analysts noted that the film will be competing against final exams and graduation ceremonies in many parts of the country. The Hollywood Reporter observed that only 60 percent of schools will have broken for summer vacation by this weekend, with an additional 10 percent set for next weekend.
Michael Caine
