Disclaimer: The Batman contains violence, strong language, and other mature themes that may be disturbing.

As the newest installment in the Batman universe, The Batman, directed by Matthew Reeves, hit theaters Mar. 4 with a splash. Making over $250 million worldwide since its release, The Batman shows promising numbers in both domestic and international box offices. After making $128.5 million in the United States and Canada only this weekend and an additional $120 million overseas, the film seems to only look up in terms of viewership. 

After the first Batman movie was released in 1966, the DC franchise has released 14 sequels, spinoff movies, and animated series throughout the years. Similarly, this year’s Batman, is supposed to spawn multiple sequels and spinoffs, including an HBO Max show starring the villain Penguin played by Colin Farrell. 

The Batman contains a star-studded cast, with A-listers like Robert Pattinson, playing Batman, and Zöe Kravitz, playing Catwoman. Though the choice of Pattinson for Bruce Wayne was controversial, his role has brought an increase of viewership to the movie. 

“Honestly, I’m just going to watch it for Robert Pattinson,” said Arcadia High School (AHS) junior Kaanan Sahni. “I mean, I saw him in Twilight, and he was beautiful so I couldn’t miss the chance to see him again.”

With the release of The Batman, the emergence of price variance in theaters has begun to occur. In AMC theaters across the country, the price for a ticket to watch The Batman was about $1 more than other movies showing. The emergence of price variance based on the movie showing is not surprising and has been predicted by movie analysts and critics alike. 

“Eventually there’s going to be a price variance [with movies],” said world-famous director Steven Spielberg in a panel in 2013.“You’re going to have to pay $25 to see the next Iron Man. And you’re probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lion King.”

The Batman cost over $200 million to make, not including the marketing budget, and is the first film by Warner Studios since the pandemic to have exclusive theatrical distribution rather than a joint distribution with HBO Max. Additionally, Warner pledged to have a more traditional release on their next four upcoming superhero films with a 45-day period of exclusive theatrical play. 

Though film critics initially doubted the validity of another rendition of Batman, the reviews for the newest movie have been extremely positive and pleasant and most students at AHS seem to share this positive view of the film. 

“The movie was great!” said AHS sophomore Meg Green. “At first I didn’t want to see it, I mean another Batman movie, how different can it be? But after watching the movie, I loved it and I couldn’t be happier!”

All in all, the extreme success of The Batman in the box office seems to reflect its quality as a movie and we hope all AHS students continue to enjoy this film in the theater!