Warner Bros. animated “Batman: The Killing Joke” has generated an impressive $3.8 million in its two-day theatrical run on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Warner Bros. and Fathom Events screened “The Killing Joke” at 1,325 locations on Monday night for a sterling $2,396 per site average — well above $1,592 number for box office leader “Star Trek Beyond.” It took in $600,000 in 810 locations on Tuesday night.
“Batman: The Killing Joke” premiered last week at Comic-Con. The graphic novel-turned-movie reunites “Batman: The Animated Series” executive producer Bruce Timm with voice actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, who are reprising their roles as Batman and the Joker, respectively.
The movie is based on DC Comics’ 1988 graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore, which provided the origin story for the Joker as a supervillain. The showings included a special introduction from Hamill, a never-before-seen documentary about the actor and his passion for this project, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the Joker’s song and dance number was recreated for this feature.
“It’s an exceptional result for an ‘alternate content’ special event,” said Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein.
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“Batman: The Killing Joke” was released digitally on Tuesday and will be launched via DVD and Blu-ray on Aug. 2.
Monday’s showings represented the biggest launch ever for an event by Fathom, which specializes in presenting live events for theatrical chains and is co-owned by AMC Entertainment, Cinemark Holdings and Regal Entertainment Group. It’s screened “The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary,” “Finding Noah: An Adventure of Faith” and “Ed Sheeran: Jumpers for Goalposts.”
