Batman Begins Breaks 200 Million & Sets Imax Record

As of Thursday, Warner Bros' Batman Begins has crossed the $200 million mark, as it continues its run as the third highest grossing film of 2005.

The Christopher Nolan directed film, which stars Christian Bale under the cowl, has already passed the box office gross of the Joel Schumacher directed sequel Batman Forever--not accounting for ticket price inflation--to become the second highest grossing film in the popular franchise.

The movie has defied expectations with its run at the box office, as its total domestic gross is more than four times its opening weekend, something which is unheard of for this type of genre movie.

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IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience is now IMAX's highest grossing digitally re-mastered 2D release, reaching the milestone in less than nine weeks. With total grosses of $14.5 million on 72 worldwide IMAX screens, it eclipses the record set by The Matrix Reloaded: The IMAX Experience, which grossed just over $14 million in twenty-two weeks. For the three day period from Friday, August 12 to Sunday, August 14 - its eighth weekend of release - Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience grossed an estimated $203,000 in 51 North American IMAX® theatres, an increase of eight per cent over the prior weekend. The film has now achieved a cumulative domestic per screen average of nearly $215,000 and continues to show extraordinary staying power.

"The fact that Batman Begins set this box office record so quickly and continues to post great results underscores how perfectly suited the picture is for The IMAX Experience®," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "This film's strong performance is a key reason why IMAX's grosses are up considerably this summer and we're delighted so many moviegoers are exploring the origins of the Batman legend in IMAX theatres. IMAX continues to further solidify its position as the place to see the biggest Hollywood event films in both our unparalleled 2D and IMAX® 3D formats."