Comment: Handicapping Batman Begins

As of Tuesday, June 21, Batman Begins has made $84,928,817 at the domestic box office, already ranking it as the 20th highest-grossing comic book adaptation ever. The Top 5 on that list are:

• Spider-Man: $403,706,375
• Spider-Man 2: $373,585,825
• Batman: $251,188,924
• Men in Black: $250,690,539
• X2: X-Men United: $214,949,694

Assuming a typical 50% dropoff this weekend, I’m guessing it’ll leapfrog into the 13th spot, just behind The Hulk at #12 with $132,177,234. From there, though, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out, especially with the Fourth of July holiday next weekend which should boost its take despite War of the Worlds opening that weekend.

My prediction? Thanks to great reviews all around and the fact that its actually a pretty damn good movie, coupled with the likely bomb that will be Fantastic 4, I’m thinking it’ll have some legs and pegging its final take at just under $200,000,000, beating out all of its predecessors except for Tim Burton’s initial effort, and settling in at #6 on the adaptation list where it will remain until the sequel comes out and pushes it down a notch.

Fantastic 4? $125,000,000
Ghost Rider? $90,000,000
Superman Returns? $165,000,000
X-Men 3? $90,000,000 (Assuming they stick to next summer’s intended release date.)

PS: Check out this piece about Marvel’s slate of upcoming movies, including everything from X-men 3 to Captain America to Cloak & Dagger.

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.