‘Batman’ latest superhero to best box office

“The Batman” packed a punch in its opening weekend, winning the domestic box office with a heroic $128.5 million haul.

The film — the first to star Robert Pattinson as the caped DC Comics crusader — turned in the biggest weekend of any movie this year.

It was the second biggest debut of any movie since the start of the pandemic, trailing only another superhero flick, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which opened to $260 million in December.

Directed by Matt Reeves, “The Batman” is set during Bruce Wayne’s second year of suiting up as Batman, and follows his pursuit of the villainous Riddler, who targets corrupt politicians in Gotham City.

In addition to Pattinson (photo below), “The Batman” stars Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as police lieutenant James Gordon and Paul Dano as the Riddler.

“The Batman” made an additional $120 million at international cinemas during the weekend, opening Friday with $57 million of its domestic earnings that day alone.

Warner Bros. opened “The Batman” exclusively in theaters, making it the studio’s first film since 2020 to not get a simultaneous release on the HBO Max streaming service.

AMC Theatres is experimenting with a variable pricing format for “The Batman,” charging more for tickets to see the long-anticipated blockbuster than other films.

The box-office win for “The Batman” ends a two-week streak for the Tom Holland-led adventure film “Uncharted,” an adaptation of a popular PlayStation video game series.

The pandemic has presented repeated challenges for movie theaters, including numerous postponements of film releases, but “The Batman” is the latest evidence that superhero movies rule Hollywood. Last year, five of the top six highest-grossing movies in North America were superhero films.

It’s one of the few major-studio theatrical releases in March. The adventure comedy “The Lost City” — which stars Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe — comes out March 25.