The Batman is coming home. The latest entry in the Caped Crusader’s movie canon, which introduces Robert Pattinson as Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as The Riddler, and Collin Farrell as The Penguin, will be available to stream on HBO Max starting on April 18.
This streaming release is just the start of WarnerMedia’s plans for The Batman and its universe. The series also has at least two spinoffs in the works, one following the criminal rise of Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, and another about the various inmates of Arkham Asylum. Of course, with The Batman’s theatrical success, there’s also a good chance of a sequel in the future, and while director Matt Reeves has shared a deleted scene with a new villain, there’s been no word on a follow-up film just yet.
The Batman was released in theaters on March 4 and lavished with praise from just about everyone. So far in its theatrical run, The Batman has raked in more than $350 million domestically and nearly $750 million at the international box office. Perhaps even more impressively, the movie came in fifth at the U.S. box office last weekend, over a month after its release.
This quick turnaround to streaming is part of WarnerMedia’s new 45-day plan, which will see its theatrical releases hit its HBO Max streaming service 45 days after their debut in theaters. The 45-day window is an attempt to find a balance between the monthslong windows that theaters used to insist on and WarnerMedia’s disastrous 2021 strategy of releasing movies on streaming and in theaters on the same day.
Read more on polygon.com