‘The Batman’ Flies Past $750M At Worldwide Box Office As HBO Max Debut Dawns Tomorrow

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorIn today’s podcast roundup, “Batman Unburied” flies to the top of Spotify’s charts; HBO Max’s “The Staircase” gets a companion podcast; Slate’s “Slow Burn” Season 7 will unpack the history of Roe v. Wade; Audible set to release “Beast Master” investigative narrative podcast about “Ohio’s bear king”; and more.DC’s “Batman Unburied” superhero series soared to the top of the Spotify podcast charts in markets around the globe this week after its premiere — unseating “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the controversial show that is the streamer’s regular chart-topper. The thriller from David S. Goyer delves into the dark recesses of Bruce Wayne’s psyche with an all-new storyline.The first two episodes of the 10-ep “Batman Unburied” bowed May 3.

The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival announced its 2022 lineup including Disney’s documentary Mija and the Warner Bros. Pictures/HBO Max film Father of the Bride bookending the celebration. LALIFF will run from June 1 to 5 at the TCL Chinese Theater and TCL Chinese 6 in Hollywood.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Culture Minister Enrico Franceschini has announced plans to widen the window between a movie’s theatrical release date and the time it can drop locally on a streaming platform.The move comes after producers and distributors sounded alarm bells about their struggle to get audiences back into movie theaters.Speaking to the Italian industry gathered in Rome’s presidential Quirinale Palace ahead of the David di Donatello Awards — the country’s top prizes being held on Tuesday — the minister vowed to put in place new windowing regulations that will replace the current 90-day window established in March.He did not specify how wide Italy’s new window will be. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco and Giampaolo Letta, who heads Mediaset’s Medusa film unit, over the weekend launched a joint appeal in newspaper Corriere della Sera lamenting that Italy lags behind other top European territories in terms of post-pandemic box office recovery and urging the government to come to the rescue.The two top Italian industry execs noted that Italy is the only major European territory where box office in 2021 was was down, compared with 2020.The Italian industry has been contending with the harsh fact that the county’s box office in 2021 plunged more than 50%, compared to the average annual recent pre-pandemic intake, to €170 million ($192 million) in grosses for the year and 25 million admissions.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a hit!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAnother weekend, another new Liam Neeson action-thriller in theaters.“Memory,” the actor’s nth COVID-era caper to play on the big screen, debuted over the weekend to $3.1 million from 2,555 North American cinemas. Its eighth-place finish is a weak result, but one that’s close to Neeson’s recent theatrical releases like “Blacklight” ($3.6 million debut), “Honest Thief” ($3.6 million debut) and “The Marksman” ($3.1 million debut).Since Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Memory” is the only new nationwide release, last weekend’s champion “The Bad Guys” topped the box office again.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Dune” prequel series at HBO Max has brought Johan Renck onboard to direct the first two episodes.Renck will also serve as an executive producer on the show, currently titled “Dune: The Sisterhood.” It was ordered straight-to-series at HBO Max in June 2019. Previously, “Dune” director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve was attached to direct the pilot for “Dune: The Sisterhood,” but his work on the “Dune” sequel film will prevent him from doing so.The show is set 10,000 years prior to the events of “Dune” and follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.Renck won two Emmys for his work on the critically-acclaimed HBO limited series “Chernobyl” — one as an executive producer when the show won best limited series and another for best directing for a limited series, as he directed all five episodes.

Robert Pattinson will reprise his role as Batman in a sequel to the hit film, it has been reported.

The Batman. Makers Warner Bro.s revealed their plans during a presentation at CinemaCon, the annual trade show for cinema owners.The news was announced by The Batman director Matt Reeves who revealed that he will return to write and direct the DC follow up.Reeves said the news was “thrilling for me” and he was “excited to jump back into this world for the next chapter,” according to People.He also confirmed the “whole team” would return for the project according to People, including Pattinson.The first film is now available to stream in the UK, having been released on Premium Video on Demand from April 19 in the UK.The film sees Robert Pattinson play the caped crusader, alongside Paul Dano as the Riddler, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Colin Farrell as the Penguin and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone.In a four-star review of The Batman, NME wrote: “Director Matt Reeves has mixed up gritty mob drama with film-noir detective thriller – and thanks to Paul Dano’s ultra-creepy villain, some psychological horror too.“Most of the time it comes off brilliantly. Pattinson plays him with a dour fanaticism that only occasionally topples over into parody.” Meanwhile, in other The Batman news, Nicolas Cage pitched himself to play a villain in a sequel to the 2022 film.The actor was asked at SXSW festival if there’s any roles he’d like to play, and he proposed a deep-cut Batman villain from the 1960s TV series starring Adam West.“We have this new [movie with] Robert Pattinson as The Batman, which I’m excited to see.

Hacks,” which premieres on the streamer May 12 with two episodes, followed by two more each week until June 2. Picking up after stand-up legend Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) lost her Vegas residency, she and young comedian Ava (Hannah Einbinder) travel across the country to workshop her new act.Additional cast includes Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Jane Adams, Christopher McDonald, Kaitlin Olson, Paul W. Downs, Poppy Liu, Rose Abdoo, Mark Indelicato, Meg Stalter, Angela E.

If you watched the first season of the Emmy-winning and critically-acclaimed HBO Max comedy series “Hacks”—and you probably should if you didn’t, it’s a great conflict between two generations of comedians—you probably remember that things ended on a cliffhanger. The dark mentorship between legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her young, entitled writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) is still very much touch and go.

Batgirl star Leslie Grace has described Michael Keaton’s return as Batman in the forthcoming DC film as “surreal”.The actor said the first moment Keaton returned on set as Bruce Wayne/Batman, for the first time in 30 years, was “wild for everyone”.“Our directors were like two little kids. They’re legit Batman nerds openly,” Grace said of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah while in conversation with Variety.“He’s Batman, man! I couldn’t even believe that I was sharing space with Batman.”She added of working with Keaton: “It was insane, surreal, incredible.

A nearly three-hour Batman film, bordering on R-Rated, certainly not for kids, that’s nihilistic, darker than the Christopher Nolan films, and not really much of a traditional superhero movie released during a pandemic seemed like a risky endeavor for Warner Bros. earlier this year (read our review here).

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” welcomed a boost in ticket sales at the international box office, though the third installment in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series already seems to be running out of steam.Over the weekend, “Fantastic Beasts 3” added $71.7 million from 66 foreign markets, taking the film’s international tally to $150.4 million. After debuting to a less-than-enchanting $43 million in North America, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” has collected $193.4 million to date.Along with United States and Canada, the Warner Bros.

“The Batman” joins a list led by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($1.89 billion) and also includes the Chinese films “The Battle at Lake Changjin” ($902.5 million) and “Hi, Mom” ($822 million) as well as the James Bond movie “No Time to Die” ($774 million). “The incredible response we’ve seen at theaters across the country is a testament to both the enduring power of this iconic DC superhero and the huge appetite out there to experience great movies on the big screen,” said Warner domestic distribution head Jeff Goldstein in a statement.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the latest film in the Wizarding World universe and the third movie as part of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, brought in $6 million in its Thursday box office previews from over 3,350 screens. While “Fantastic Beasts” looked to be a once promising franchise when it launched in 2016, the third film, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” has been dogged by off screen controversy and is following up some tepid reviews for the previous film “The Crimes of Grindelwald.” And while independent trackers say that “Secrets of Dumbledore” could climb to between $47-50 million this weekend, that would be below the prior installment.

Warner Bros. which has traditionally ruled the Easter weekend box office is back, now a year later after Godzilla vs. Kong brought bread to reopening cinemas during the pandemic, with J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The pic’s stateside opening, and further expansion abroad into 44 markets, arrives days after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger went public.

many iterations of “Batman” movies over the years, it is only natural to compare and contrast different takes on the stories and characters. But the rankings may be a little skewed when coming from a former “Batman” star himself. Danny DeVito played the Penguin in Tim Burton’s 1992 version of the superhero’s story “Batman Returns” and recently gave his opinion on the most recent take on the notorious villain.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAn pack of intrepid wizards will duel against a tiny blue speed demon to lead domestic box office charts.The odds-on favorite “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third entry in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, is expected to debut to at least $40 million from 4,200 North American theaters. Those ticket sales should be enough to surpass the competition — unless last weekend’s champion “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” powers to another strong turnout at the movies.

The Batman is officially set to be made available to stream in the UK next week.Matt Reeves’ DC film will be released on Premium Video on Demand from April 19 in the UK, after fans will be able to watch the film in the US on HBO Max from April 18.The film sees Robert Pattinson play the caped crusader, alongside Paul Dano as the Riddler, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Colin Farrell as the Penguin and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone.Farrell is soon set to reprise his role as Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin, in a forthcoming HBO Max spinoff series.“The world that Matt Reeves created for The Batman is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot,” Farrell said.“I couldn’t be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin. Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem.” In a four-star review of The Batman, NME wrote: “Director Matt Reeves has mixed up gritty mob drama with film-noir detective thriller – and thanks to Paul Dano’s ultra-creepy villain, some psychological horror too.“Most of the time it comes off brilliantly.