Can 'X' Beat the 'The Batman'?

A new horror film from indie director Ti West, X, will do its best to win the weekend at the box office over reigning champion The Batman. That's not likely to happen, though. Even though The Batman is settling in as the third or fourth highest-grossing Batman movie, it still has enough steam to stay on top of weekends without an real competition joining the fray. Read on for details.

Via Box Office Mojo.

The Batman has had the box office largely to itself in its first two weeks, and it will rule the roost again in its third week, likely to yet again be the only film to even cross $10 million. While the pitch black superhero reboot faces no competitors gunning for the top spot for another week, the rest of the top ten should be shaken up this weekend with a slew of small-ish newcomers entering into the arena. Horror audiences have multiple options with the wide releases X and Umma, and the limited releases The Outfit and Alice both have some buzz.

While The Batman’s $134 million opening was the fourth best in the series (behind The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Batman v Superman), its strong hold gave it the second best second weekend in the series with $66.5 million, behind only TDKR’s $75 million. Though its post second weekend total is still behind those films, another strong hold could put it past BvS by the end of the weekend. Comparing the 12-day grosses, The Batman has a $15 million gap to close before it catches up to BvS, which is a solid possibility considering the weekday grosses of The Batman are running around $3 million ahead of BvS’ at the same time in its release. The Robert Pattinson starrer looks like it is headed to be the third highest grossing Batman film domestically, though the international numbers are harder to predict.

The Batman releases in China on Friday, but what could have been a nice boost to the film’s international numbers is now less certain given the Covid wave and string of lockdowns hitting the country, which has caused around 30% of theaters to temporarily shut down. The past weekend was the year’s weakest yet, and Uncharted did not set the box office on fire when it opened on Monday, taking in $3.2 million when combined with its Saturday and Sunday preview showings. To get a sense of The Batman’s (now unlikely) potential, BvS grossed $95.8 million in China, making it the second best market for the film.

The Batman has been a boon to an otherwise sluggish first quarter box office, and the question now is what will step up to be the next major box office success. April should be the year’s biggest yet, with big releases such as Morbius, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore all having strong box office potential, though none are expected to hit the Bat-osphere (let’s say $300m+ domestic and $1b+ worldwide). May’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could be the next bonafide box office smash, being the first MCU release since Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which Strange played a prominent role. However, if the film plays more like the first Doctor Strange ($233 million domestic, $678 million worldwide), the next potential mega grosser is Jurassic World Dominion in June.

As for this weekend’s new releases, the one gaining the most traction on IMDb is A24’s slasher film X, which so far is at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 1970s based shocker follows an adult-film cast and crew to their filming location at a farmhouse in Texas. While the location at first seems ideal, the situation quickly turns from X-rated fantasy to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Horror auteur Ti West (House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, The Sacrament) writes and directs, and though he has built a cult following over the years, it is his first wide release yet and potentially his first to see box office success. Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Scott Mescudi, and Brittany Snow star in the film.

Get the rest of the story at Box Office Mojo.