‘The Batman’ Three-peats At No. 1, Flies Past $300 Million At Domestic Box Office
Robert Pattinson’s The Batman continued to soar over both Gotham and the nation’s multiplexes for the third consecutive weekend, taking the No. 1 spot yet again with a muscular $36.8 million haul that pushed the latest outing from the Caped Crusader past the $300 million mark in North America. Meanwhile some fresh competition from the lower-profile worlds of anime and indie horror finally helped to nudge Sony’s blockbuster, Spider-Man: No Way Home, out of the top five for the first time in three and a half months.

Playing in 4,302 theaters, Warner Bros.’ dark, PG-13-rated superhero spectacular co-starring Paul Dano as the Riddler scored a strong $8,554 per-screen average in its third frame—a drop-off of -44.7% from the previous weekend. Despite the flick’s lengthy, three-hour running time and bruise-black tone, it has managed to rack up $300.1 million domestically to date, making it only the second film to accomplish that feat since the pandemic began, following No Way Home. One reason for the film’s robust business may be that it is Warner Bros.’ first theatrical exclusive since Christopher Nolan’s Tenet back in September 2020 (fans will not be able to watch the film on the HBO Max streaming service until it’s been on big screens for 45 days). The movie, which also stars Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred, and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, continued to clean up internationally as well, pulling in $298 million so far. Still, that foreign number was expected to be bigger since the film finally debuted in the lucrative Chinese market over the weekend. However, a recent spike in COVID cases there, which has closed around 30% of China’s movie theaters, resulted in an underwhelming $12.1 million in receipts there. Nevertheless, The Batman’s three-week global cume now stands at $598.1 million.

In the runner-up spot was the weekend’s biggest out-of-left-field shocker, FUNimation’s Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie. The PG-13-rated anime title about a cursed spirit and a high school for sorcery bowed to a jaw-dropping $14.8 million in North America, racking up a $6,482 per-screen average at 2,286 locations. It has pulled in $17.7 million domestically so far. Jujutsu’s success is the latest proof that the anime audience is bigger than many in Hollywood previously thought, especially coming on the heels of the same studio’s $21.2 million opening for Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train back in April 2021. Overseas, Jujutsu has taken in $112.1 million, putting the domestic sleeper’s combined global haul at $129.8 million.

While Tom Holland saw one film bounced from the top five over the weekend (that would be Spidey), the young star was still a dominant presence closer to the top of the box office thanks to the continued success of Uncharted, which landed in third place with $8 million. Sony’s PG-13-rated action-adventure videogame adaptation slipped just -13% in its fifth weekend, earning a $2,162 per-screen average in 3,700 theaters. To date, Uncharted has pulled in $125.9 million domestically and has tacked on an even-mightier $211.4 million internationally. Its combined worldwide gross now sits at $337.3 million.

In fourth was the weekend’s only other rookie in the top five—Ti West’s indie horror film X—which scared up $4.4 million its opening session. The latest from West, the acclaimed writer-director of such low-budget chillers as House of the Devil, earned a $1,538 per-screen average in 2,865 theaters over its freshman frame. The R-rated homage to such ‘70s horror classics as Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre follows an adult-film crew (including Mia Goth and Brittany Snow) as they attempt to make their latest naughty Me Decade opus on a creepy farm in one of the more abandoned corners of the Lone Star state. The movie, which is riding positive buzz out of the South by Southwest Festival and a 95% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, has not opened yet internationally.

Rounding out the top five was Channing Tatum’s Dog, which took in $4.1 million in its fifth weekend, slipping 21.4% from the previous frame. United Artists’ feel-good, PG-13-rated tale of an army ranger who travels cross-country with a military canine to attend the funeral of its former handler unspooled at 3,307 locations and scored a $1,238 per-screen average. So far, Dog has dug up $54.2 million in North America and $7.9 million overseas (where it got a later start), putting its worldwide cume at $62.1 million.

As previously mentioned, Spider-Man: No Way Home landed just outside of the top five in sixth place. The superhero mega-hit tacked on another $3.2 million in North America over the weekend, but there’s no reason to shed a tear for Spidey. To date, No Way Home has racked up a staggering $1.88 billion worldwide, including $797.5 million on the domestic front, where it is now poised to become just the third movie of all time to pass the $800 million barrier following Avengers: Endgame ($858.4 million) and Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens ($936.7 million).

Finally, a small handful of indies entered further down on the charts over the weekend: Focus Features’ Mark Rylance-starring mob tale, The Outfit, landed in eighth place with $1.5 million; Zee Studios’ Hindi-language historical drama The Kashmir Files bowed in ninth with a hair under $1.5 million; Stage 6 Films’ Sandra Oh supernatural thriller Umma finished in eleventh place with $915,000; and Roadside Attractions’ Keke Palmer-led time-jumping race-revenge film, Alice, debuted in twelfth place with $176,120.