Sam Raimi wants to make a Batman film: “I’d come running”

The biggest box office hit of the COVID era added $1.7 million this weekend in theaters to join “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Avengers: Endgame” as the only movies to hit that rare benchmark in the U.S. and Canada.

A global pandemic which closed a majority of the world’s cinemas from 2020-21 just won’t keep large format exhibitor Imax down.

The Batman remains a hit.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterRobert Pattinson’s gritty superhero adventure “The Batman” is the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office for the third weekend in a row.That feat is not surprising because March has been relatively light in terms of new releases.

“The Batman” earns its third No. 1 weekend with $10 million grossed on Friday and an estimated $39 million weekend total.

Earlier this week, “The Batman” became just the fifth Hollywood film in the past year to gross over $500 million worldwide and should pass the $300 million domestic mark and $600 million global mark by the end of this weekend. While the new COVID-19 infection surge in China has closed over 25% of theaters in that country as “The Batman” opens there, the film is still on pace to surpass the theatrical runs of “F9” and “No Time to Die” and become only the second Hollywood film to gross over $800 million since the pandemic began.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman has winged its way past the half a billion dollar mark worldwide to become the fourth highest-grossing studio release of the pandemic era. The global total is $505.8M through Wednesday, and there’s still plenty of gas left in the Batmobile.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has said. The sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange, this sequel will see Benedict Cumberbatch descend into the multiverse and star opposite Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong and Rachel McAdams. Doctor Strange 2 is directed by Sam Raimi, who worked on the horror franchise Evil Dead in the 1980s and 1990s.

After two weeks in theaters, Warner Bros./DC’s “The Batman” has passed $500 million at the global box office, with more than half of that total coming from domestic theaters. On Wednesday, “The Batman” added $5.75 million domestically, bringing its total to $258.3 million in North America and $505.8 million worldwide.

It’s not a surprise that Sam Raimi loves superheroes. Even before he directed three ‘Spider-Man’ films in the 2000s, the filmmaker already made “Darkman.” So, we’re not all that shocked that he came on board to helm “Doctor Strange in the Multiverses of Madness,” which is arriving in May.

In its sophomore outing, Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman kept a firm grip on the international box office, dropping just 42% to add $66.6M from 76 offshore markets. That brings the overseas cume through Sunday to $224.7M for $463.2M global. As the Robert Pattinson-starrer heads to $500M worldwide this week, in like-for-like markets and using today’s exchange rates, it’s currently tracking 132% ahead of pandemic comp Godzilla Vs Kong and is 44% above Wonder Woman, 36% ahead of The Dark Knight and 24% over Justice League.

This result signifies a weekend drop of just 51%, giving “The Batman” a better second weekend hold than any of the top 5 highest grossing films of 2021; and given the film’s ability to beat projections, that hold could improve further after Sunday actuals are reported. With this blistering pace, “The Batman” stays on track to reach $400 million in North America and potentially $1 billion worldwide, having already exceeded the domestic and global runs of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as it joins “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as the only film in the past year to top $225 million domestic.

Jane Campion is defending her movie.

Warner Bros.’ The Batman, as expected, is leading the weekend box office in what is expected to be a three-frame No. 1 streak with a very healthy hold of 51% and $66M on its way to $238.5M by Sunday. Already the Matt Reeves directed movie is over $400M WW.  Yesterday clocked $18.7M, -47% from last Friday (-67% if you compare against pic’s first Friday+previews).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefHollywood franchise movies “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” have both secured April theatrical release dates in mainland China.“Transylvania” will open in Chinese cinemas on Sunday April 3, 2022, a couple of days ahead of the Qingming or Tomb Sweeping holiday on April 5. “Beasts” will open, more conventionally, on Friday, April 8.Sony missed out on a China release for “Spider Man: No Way Home,” which was the biggest film worldwide in 2021. But the confirmation represents the studio’s second Hollywood film this year to receive approval from the Chinese authorities (after “Uncharted,” set for March 14 ).

Benedict Cumberbatch is coming to the defense of the LGBTQ+ community after Sam Elliott shared some seriously bigoted comments about the Oscar-nominated film The Power Of The Dog.

EXCLUSIVE: Famke Janssen (X-Men franchise), Brett Gelman (Stranger Things), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Quinn Copeland (Peacock’s Punky Brewster) and twins Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti (Big Little Lies) have joined the cast of Boy Kills World, an upcoming action-thriller produced by Sam Raimi and more.