Here's some great news as the sun sets off today, as it highlights the value of a 45-day theatrical window.
The Suicide Squad ($3.5 million) and Wonder Woman 1984 (3.2 million) were among the first seven days of the Warner Bros. films, including The Matrix Resurrections (3.2 million) and Dune (2.3 million) all of which were similar day theatrical day-and-date programs last year under Warner Bros.'s pandemic release plan. The Batman's first week was even greater than Zack Snyder's Justice League, which included 2.2 million people in the United States, making the pic
Only Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong grossed more than $100 million at Warner's domestic box office last year.
Under the same pandemic model, which began with Wonder Woman 1984 in December 2020 and ended with Matrix Resurrections, HBO Max and in theaters for their first 30 days, and then expanded to theatrical in their next month. WarnerMedia have accused the actor of putting 'project popcorn' on HBO Max very early on last year. They were again returning to a 45-day theatrical window with their release slate.
Samba surveys do not include mobile views, but this gives a similar appearance to The Batman as streamers do not disclose their viewership numbers (publicly in millions of US households). Typically, when confronted with Samba TV statistics, a streamer will say that their viewership is significantly larger than what the third-party source is measuring.
WarnerMedia was technically the first major Hollywood studio to reopen cinemas nationwide (outside of NYC and LA) with Christopher Nolan's Tenant in August 2020. While they continued to put their theatrical slate on HBO Max last year due to Covid, they still wanted to keep movies in theaters, as a result of the possibility for exhibitions. On our most famous occasions, the studio has seen generous terms.
According to Samba TV, Sacramento, CA over-indexed the most (+31%), followed by Philadelphia, PA (+26%) and Portland, OR (+22%).
Again, a positive sign on HBO Max on Batman, showing that when a studio creates a cultural event out of a movie, it turns down into other ancillaries, enabling the IP to flourish. Batman's current B.O. is $367.7 million in the United States, $754.3 million WW.
