"With a fluid story structure, perfect action design, imaginative hero gadgets, and extensive use of groundbreaking technology, 'Batman Begins' creates an unprecedented big-screen visual feast" — Variety
…"Simon Westeros once again proves his genius filmmaking talent" — San Francisco Chronicle
…"A must-see superhero movie, you definitely won't regret going to the cinema for it" — Los Angeles Times
…"I can only think of words like 'great' to describe Simon Westeros's new film" — The Washington Post
…"Simon Westeros perfectly brought the superhero image in my heart to the big screen, and beyond imagination" — The Hollywood Reporter
…"For DC comic fans, this Christmas will be a carnival of 'Batman Begins', and for non-comic fans, 'Batman Begins' is still a must-see movie" — Chicago Tribune
…"After watching 'Batman Begins', I'm already strongly looking forward to the sequel, and… well, no spoilers" — New York Post
The next day, reviews for 'Batman Begins' on major mainstream print media platforms in North America were almost universally acclaimed, with a few dissenting opinions failing to make any waves.
According to media feedback from all sides, this superhero movie achieved an impressive overall score of 9.6 out of 10.
At the same time, television, radio, and other media platforms also saw a large number of discussions about 'Batman Begins'.
Due to the strong media affirmation of the film's reputation, a large number of comic fans across North America organized various carnival activities to welcome the release of 'Batman Begins', as if Christmas had arrived early.
On Friday, December 22nd, 'Batman Begins' finally opened on a large scale across 2,613 screens.
Meanwhile, the North American box office data for the past week was officially released.
In the week from December 15th to December 21st, preceding 'Batman Begins', a total of six new films were released in North America.
Among them, three films opened on over 1,000 screens: Sylvester Stallone's action blockbuster 'Tango & Cash' Sean Connery's crime comedy 'Family Business', and Universal Pictures' family comedy 'The Wizard'.
Stallone's 'Tango & Cash' cost $55 million, with a budget even higher than 'Batman Begins', which was originally a selling point for the film.
However, this important film of the December 15th slot saw its critical reception collapse immediately after its opening, with an average media score of only 3.3 points.
The Los Angeles Times mercilessly described the film as 'a complete waste of actors, time, and money'.
'Tango & Cash' was originally incubated by Guber-Peters Entertainment Company, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Warner Bros. abandoned the project to make way for 'Batman Begins', and it eventually landed in the hands of TriStar Pictures, a Columbia subsidiary.
Due to overwhelmingly negative reviews, 'Tango & Cash' only grossed $12.20 million at the North American box office in its opening week.
Relative to its 1,409 opening screens, the average per-theatre gross for the first week was less than $10,000, which was completely unworthy of the film's massive budget and prime release slot.
With a first-week box office of $12.20 million and the upcoming challenge from 'Batman Begins', the total North American box office for 'Tango & Cash' is projected to be only around $50 million.
Sony originally had high hopes for this project, but with the release of 'Tango & Cash' first-week box office, the Japanese electronics giant's first foray into Hollywood ended in failure.
Although the first week's box office was only $12.20 million, 'Tango & Cash's market performance was not the worst.
Among the other two films that opened on over 1,000 screens during the same period, Sean Connery's 'Family Business' earned $3.19 million in its opening week on 1,201 screens.
Universal Pictures' 'The Wizard' opened on 1,155 screens and only grossed $2.97 million in its first week.
Because all the new films fizzled out, the box office chart for the week of December 15th to December 21st was still dominated by a host of older films.
'Look Who's Talking', co-produced by Daenerys Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures, maintained its top spot for single-week box office in its fifth week of release, bringing in another $13.96 million, with its cumulative North American box office reaching $115.21 million.
'The House of Gucci' saw a 23% drop in box office this week, taking in another $4.93 million, ranking fifth on the list.
This fashion documentary, aimed at brand promotion, has accumulated $28.79 million in box office over four weeks of release, making it highly profitable relative to its cost.
'Scream 2', solely produced by Daenerys Entertainment, earned another $3.98 million in its eighth week of release, ranking eighth on the weekly box office chart.
At the same time, the cumulative box office for 'Scream 2' reached $102.15 million, also successfully breaking the hundred million dollar mark.
Just as many new films avoided 'Back to the Future Part II' during the previous Thanksgiving holiday, 'Batman Begins'' release also dominated the week starting December 22nd.
The other two new films released concurrently had fewer than 10 opening screens each, not even qualifying as supporting acts.
Meanwhile, due to Daenerys Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures' arrangement of midnight screenings in major North American cities on Thursday morning, the media buzz for 'Batman Begins' intensified further on its wide release day, Friday.
Inside the hillside mansion in the Bel Air community.
The date was already Saturday, December 23rd, 1989.
After days of busy work, Terry Semel, CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures, ultimately couldn't stay up until after midnight to see the first day's box office results.
However, due to his excitement, Semel woke up at four in the morning after less than five hours of rest.
Not wanting to wake his wife, Terry Semel carefully got out of bed and, still in his pyjamas, went to his study.
He turned on the light, and a report was already in the fax machine.
Pulling out the report, Terry Semel didn't look at the detailed data for each cinema chain, but instead scanned directly to the end.
$15.37 million?!
For a moment, Terry Semel completely thought he had misread it.
'Tango & Cash' only grossed $12.20 million in its first seven days, and Terry Semel was still celebrating yesterday that he hadn't taken on that project.
How could 'Batman Begins' possibly rake in $15.37 million on its opening day, which was more than 'Tango & Cash' made in a whole week?
Hmm.
This figure, it seems, also included the midnight screenings.
However, that still doesn't make sense.
The box office for the midnight screenings came out yesterday, and because only a small number of midnight screenings were arranged in core cities for media publicity purposes, the box office was actually only $1.2 million.
Now, the first day is $15.37 million.
What's going on?
Let alone the first day, in this era, not many Hollywood films could exceed $15.37 million in their first week.
Or, $1.53 million... that's even more impossible.
Forcibly suppressing a certain excitement in his heart, Terry Semel picked up the phone and directly dialled Amy Pascal, CEO of Daenerys Entertainment.
Although it was very early, the call was answered quickly, and there was no hint of sleepiness in her voice.
Hearing it was Terry Semel, Amy, from her Palisades residence, immediately said, "Terry, have you seen the first day's box office figures?"
"$15.37 million", Terry Semel repeated the number on the report, still suppressing his excitement, and said, "Amy, is this real?"
Amy on the other end of the phone couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Terry, you guys did the distribution, so you shouldn't be asking me about this. However, I've already called Jim to inquire, and yes, it is $15.37 million".
Confirming the news, Terry Semel clenched his free hand, saying, "Amy, perhaps we should convene a meeting immediately".
When Terry Semel and Amy Pascal spoke, it was already past seven in the morning on the East Coast of the United States.
Early risers opened their newspapers, and what greeted them were mostly bolded and enlarged box office figures for 'Batman Begins' on its opening day.
The $15.37 million box office performance stunned countless eyes.
It should be noted that 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' set the record for the first full-week box office in the summer, reaching $46.01 million, which was heavily hyped by the media at the time.
Now, with 'Batman Begins' grossing $15.37 million on its opening day, how much will its first-week box office be?
While Hollywood was immersed in excitement and confusion, the fan base of 'Batman Begins' erupted in jubilation after the film's first-day box office was released.
Furthermore, many viewers who were not originally interested in 'Batman Begins', after being bombarded with intense surrounding information, also began to enter cinemas, which further boosted the film's box office.
A phenomenal viewing trend quickly formed.
Thus, following its $15.37 million box office on opening day, 'Batman Begins' took in another $18.23 million on Saturday.
On Sunday, December 24th, being Christmas Eve when families gather, the single-day box office for 'Batman Begins' saw a significant drop, but still reached a high of $11.96 million.
Because Monday, December 25th, is Christmas, a national holiday, this week's 'weekend' box office is calculated over four days.
Moreover, compared to Christmas Eve the day before, 'Batman Begins' saw its box office rebound again, reaching $14.53 million.
In its first four days of release, the total North American box office for 'Batman Begins' quickly accumulated to a staggering $60.09 million.
This alone far surpassed the highest single-week box office record of 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' set during the summer.
In the subsequent three weekdays, the single-day box office for 'Batman Begins' continued to hover between $7 million and $8 million.
Ultimately, 'Batman Begins' achieved a shocking first-week box office of $82.39 million.
Looking at it, with its first-week box office of $82.39 million, 'Batman Begins' left behind a string of box office records.
Highest opening day record: $15.37 million
Highest single-day box office record: $18.23 million.
Highest first three-day box office record: $45.56 million.
Highest first four-day box office record: $60.09 million.
Highest first seven-day box office record: $82.39 million.
In addition, the average per-theatre box office for 'Batman Begins' in its first week reached $31,530.
The mere figure of over $30,000 per theatre is not the highest in history.
However, considering the film's wide release scale of 2,613 screens, such an achievement makes all previous films with comparable opening scales difficult to match.
Stimulated by the box office of 'Batman Begins', the total North American single-week box office for the week of December 22nd to December 28th broke the $150 million mark, nearly doubling the total box office of over $80 million from the previous week.
However, because 'Batman Begins' alone took more than half, many older films that were expected to see a box office rebound during the Christmas week experienced significant declines.
Last week's box office champion, 'Look Who's Talking', saw a 22% drop in box office this week, with its earnings falling to $10.88 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $126.09 million.
Due to this decline, some box office tracking agencies lowered the projected total North American box office for 'Look Who's Talking' by $10 million from over $170 million to an estimated $160 million.
Sylvester Stallone's 'Tango & Cash' already had a poor reputation, and under the strong impact of 'Batman Begins', even fewer audiences bought tickets to see it.
Consequently, it saw a 36% drop, with its second-week box office plummeting to $7.81 million, accumulating only $20.01 million in two weeks, which was dismal.
Its projected total North American box office was also lowered to around $35 million.
Although Stallone's films usually perform well overseas, considering 'Tango & Cash' production budget of $55 million and equally high marketing and distribution costs of $15 million, it will be difficult for Columbia to recoup the total cost of $70 million even through all post-release channels.
If two major box office earners suffered such a fate under the crushing power of 'Batman Begins', the situation of other films on this week's chart is imaginable.
Meanwhile, on December 29th, the box office prospects for the new films opening in the new week, Tom Cruise and Meg Ryan's 'The Rocketeer' and Steven Spielberg's fantasy romance film 'Always', were also cast under a thick shadow by the impact of 'Batman Begins'.
On the other hand, while 'Batman Begins' raked in a staggering $82.39 million in its opening week, sales of merchandise for this rapidly evolving phenomenal film also quickly soared.
Thanks to meticulous preparations in the early stages, various types of merchandise toys and soundtrack albums for 'Batman Begins' had already been distributed before the film's release.
On December 22nd, the day of the film's release, corresponding merchandise began to be sold simultaneously.
Due to the extremely high popularity of 'Batman Begins', even with sufficient early preparation, the most popular Batman and Catwoman action figures, as well as the very eye-catching Bat-Pod from the film, were once sold out, with retailers everywhere calling for replenishment.
Additionally, although multiple official movie posters were developed for sale, due to the immense popularity of the Catwoman character, incidents of Catwoman poster theft occurred in various locations after the film's release, with some even attempting to steal oversized advertising posters.
Warner Bros.' marketing and distribution department had to scramble to reissue movie posters.
Finally, even the pure music soundtrack, which was not initially favoured, unexpectedly sold 260,000 copies in its first week of release.
According to preliminary statistics, in its opening week, the sales of merchandise and soundtracks for 'Batman Begins' were even higher than its record-breaking $82.39 million box office, reaching an astonishing $130 million.