Batman, despite pandemic, remains a box office draw

Poster for The Batman

The Batman, Warner Bros.’ latest take on the iconic comic book character, got off to a rousing start at the box office despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.

The Matt Reeves-directed film generated an estimated $128.5 million at the U.S. box office (including preview showings), according to Exhibitor Relations Co. The company tracks box office data.

Globally, The Batman is on track for an opening weekend of $248.5 million, ERC said.

In 2021, Warner Bros. was used by owner AT&T to drive business to streaming service HBO Max. Warner Bros. would release movies at the same time in theaters and on HBO Max.

Since then, AT&T has agreed to combine its WarnerMedia properties (including Warner Bros.) with Discovery. That deal is expected to close later this year.

Regardless, when I saw The Batman on Thursday night, it was preceded by a Warner Bros. trailer emphasizing how its major 2022 releases would be “only in theaters.” That trailer suggested an apology for 2021.

The Batman’s opening weekend reinforces Batman’s prominence in Warner Bros.’s collection of movie properties.

No Time to Die passes $150M in U.S., $700M globally

No Time to Die is forecast to become the sixth movie to pass the $150 million mark in the U.S. this year according to Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box office data.

At the same time, the film passed $700 million worldwide, The Wrap reported. The entertainment news site listed the figure as $708 million. No Time to Die opened in Australia on Nov. 11, one of the last major markets for the Bond movie. No Time to Die is close to catching F9: The Fast Saga’s $721 million.

In the U.S. the 25th James Bond film is estimated to generate $4.6 million for the Nov. 12-14 weekend. That’s down just 23 percent from last weekend. The movie has been available on video on demand (VOD) since Nov. 9. The rental price is $19.99 for 48 hours.

Only two 2021 movies, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, have surpassed the $200 million mark in the U.S.

The COVID-19 pandemic has, in effect, reduced the size of the U.S. movie-going market. In pre-pandemic times, 2012’s Skyfall generated U.S. box office of $304.4 million while 2015’s SPECTRE had $200.1 million.

COVID-19 also has held down the global box office. In 2019, Avengers: Endgame had a worldwide box office of almost $2.8 billion. No movie has reached $1 billion in 2021.

NTTD passes $500 million global mark

No Time to Die surpassed the $500 million global box office mark this weekend. (UPDATE: The worldwide figure is at an estimated $525.7 million, according to Box Office Mojo.)

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, that would have been cause for mourning after four weeks in theaters worldwide and three weekends in the U.S. Before COVID-19, Bond would have been a candidate for a billion-dollar global box office.

However, in a post-pandemic marketplace, the 25th James Bond film, already ranks as one of the most popular movies in terms of movie theater box office.

No Time to Die passing the $500 million mark was noted in a story by TheWrap.

The highest COVID era box office currently is F9: The Fast Saga at $716.6 million. No Time to Die has yet to be released in China, Australia and New Zealand.

No Time to Die completed principal photography in the fall of 2019, before COVID-19 began to spread across the world. It has been delayed three times because of the pandemic. ‘

Meanwhile, estimates of No Time to Die’s third weekend in the U.S. were released. The Bond film came in No. 3 behind Dune, the major new movie out this weekend, and Halloween Kills. Here’s a tweet from Exhibitor Relations Co.

TOP 5 DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE

1. DUNE ($40M)
2. HALLOWEEN KILLS ($14M)
3. NO TIME TO DIE ($11M)
4. VENOM 2 ($9M)
5. RON'S GONE WRONG ($7M)

All of these movies were released in October. Of this year. Of this decade. Big change from a year ago.

— Exorcist Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) October 24, 2021

If No Time to Die passes F9 globally , that will be a sign that James Bond remains very popular. At the same time, a movie can be popular while unprofitable at least during its theatrical release.

No Time to Die had a production cost approaching $300 million. There were additional advertising and marketing expenditures. What’s more, the studios involved (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Universal) only get about half of the box office. In China, it’s only 25 percent.

As ever, we will see.

UPDATE: The U.S. weekend box office estimate is $11.9 million. The final figure will be out on Oct. 25.

NTTD opens in the U.S. with good news, not-so-good news

BOND: Harumpf!

First the good news: No Time to Die is projected to be the No. 1 movie in the U.S. this weekend.

Not-so-good news: The 25th James Bond film’s estimated weekend take (including Thursday night preview showings) is estimated at $56 million, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., which track movie box office data.

That’s behind the U.S. opening of Skyfall ($88.4 million), SPECTRE ($70.4 million), and Quantum of Solace ($67.5 million). In U.S. terms, No Time to Die’s opening is the lowest since 2006’s Casino Royale ($40.8 million), when movie ticket prices were a lot cheaper.

The U.S. results for No Time to Die compare with an international opening of $121 million last week. That, of course, included the U.K., where going to a Bond movie is part of national pride.

Some context: Venom: Let There Be Carnage (a Spider-Man related movie) had an opening of $90 million last weekend.

To be sure: Comparing No Time to Die (released during the midst of a long pandemic) to earlier Bond films is dicey. No Time to Die’s release was delayed three times because of COVID-19.

On the other hand: U.S. audiences are turning out for movies. For whatever reason, in the U.S., Venom trumps Bond. I never thought I’d type that in a sentence.

I suspect Bond 26, whenever that comes out, will be shoved toward the end of the release dates. (joke/sarcasm)

UPDATE: Deadline: Hollywood reports that No Time to Die’s global box office is $313.7 million including this weekend’s U.S. results.

Not surprisingly, the U.K. paced the international results. Here’s the take from Exhibitor Relations Co.

NO TIME TO DIE kept the box office action at a fast clip, firing up another $89M overseas, $257M total.

Not surprisingly, UK is far and away the top market with $71M, where Bond flicks play like Marvel movies do in the US.

— Exorcist Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) October 10, 2021

Marvel’s Shang-Chi opens strong

Shang-Chi logo

Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings had a strong U.S. opening, providing hope for theaters that the fall movie season can remain viable despite COVID-19.

The opening also was being watched by James Bond fans, looking for No Time to Die to stick with its Sept. 30 opening in the U.K. and Oct. 8 in the U.S.

Shang-Chi is estimated to bring in $71.4 million for Friday-Sunday weekend and $83.5 million for the four days including Monday’s Labor Day holiday, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box office data.

Shang-Chi made his Marvel Comics debut in the 1970s and isn’t as well known to the general public as other Marvel characters. The movie also is opening only in theaters. Black Widow, another Marvel movie, opened in both theaters and as premium offering on the Disney Plus streaming service.

There are still questions related to Shang-Chi. A number of movies released during the pandemic era have fallen off sharply during their second weekend of release. Still, Shang-Chi’s opening seems to bolster Marvel’s reputation of making successful movies featuring lesser-known characters such as Ant-Man.

Last week, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Universal released what they called final U.S. and international trailers for No Time to Die. But there has been speculation the movie may not be out of the woods yet. No Time to Die has been delayed five times, three times because of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Marvel has another movie, Eternals, featuring lesser-known characters. The Eternals comic book was created by Jack Kirby in 1976, in a title he wrote and drew. Kirby co-created many other Marvel characters such as Captain America, Thor and The Avengers.

Here’s the tweet posted by Exhibitor Relations Co.

Legendary Labor Day weekend.

Marvel's SHANG-CHI rewrote the end-of-summer record books, scoring $71.4M in its domestic debut, and an estimated $83.5M over the extended holiday.

— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) September 5, 2021

Bond’s one undefeatable foe: COVID-19

Even James Bond seems unable to defeat COVID-19. Whatever the final outcome, the coronavirus, including its more infectious Delta variant, has wrecked marketing plans for the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die.

What once seemed possible, a global box office of $1 billion, now appears remote. The coronavirus also is a moving target and still is a wild card.

A newsletter from the former editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter said that the studios behind No Time to Die were committed to the current release window of Sept. 30 in the U.K. (and other countries) and Oct. 8 in the U.S.

Only hours after the newsletter by Matthew Belloni arrived at email in-boxes on Aug. 19, news came via MI6 HQ that the release date of the movie had been pushed back to Nov. 11 in Australia and New Zealand.

So far, excluding Australia and New Zealand, No Time to Die has been delayed three times because of COVID-19. The Australia-New Zealand situation raises the possibility of a fourth global postponement, contrary to Belloni’s reporting.

Now, studios generally are grappling with whether to press ahead or delay movies again. But delays are hardly a guarantee — witness the delays with No Time to Die alone. The movie still hasn’t been released almost two years after principal photography concluded.

Delays also drive up marketing costs as advertising campaigns have to be restarted each time. A lot of ads for No Time to Die — including a pricy Super Bowl ad in 2020 — came to naught.

The pandemic era began in early 2020. Since then, what had become almost common — $1 billion or more box office for movies — has gone away. That’s something expensive movies such as No Time to Die (its production budget was around $300 million) came to depend on.

Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box office data, put out this list of top Hollywood box office movies during the pandemic era.

TOP 5 HOLLYWOOD HITS (PANDEMIC TIMES)

1. F9: THE FAST SAGA ($681M)
2. GODZILLA V KONG ($467M)
3. BLACK WIDOW ($367M)
4. TENET ($363M)
5. A QUIET PLACE PART II ($295M)

TENET…not looking too shabby now, is it? Wait…did that get released already? Has this already happened? pic.twitter.com/tkQnvnKYTt

— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) August 18, 2021

Some day, No Time to Die will be out. Chances are it will do better at the box office than many films. At the same time, the cinema Bond has been bloodied. As the blog has said before, No Time to Die was conceived and filmed during one era. It will debut in another era where the rules changed.