Since 1989, Batman has cast a shadow over the box office, with the various imaginings of the Caped Crusader racking up billions of dollars worldwide. Arguably the most rebooted character on the silver screen, not every new version of Bruce Wayne has been a resounding success. 

Using data from Box Office Mojo, we’ve adjusted the worldwide gross of each Batman movie for inflation and ranked them from worst to best. Click or scroll on to discover the highs and lows of Batman at the box office.

All dollar amounts in US dollars

First up, let’s take a look at three big-screen Batman outings that we’ve decided not to include in the ranking. 1966’s Batman was released shortly after the first season of the flamboyant TV show finished airing, with Adam West and Burt Ward reprising their roles as Batman and Robin, along with a host of villains already introduced on the small screen. It’s difficult to pin down accurate box office data, but most estimates suggest it grossed somewhere in the region of $4 million, the equivalent of around $41 million (£31m) in today’s money.

We’ve skipped the DC Extended Universe ensemble outing Justice League (sorry Zack Snyder fans), while The Lego Batman Movie also fails to make the cut, despite its inflation-adjusted box office gross of $426 million (£317m), which isn’t far off the first Batman movie on our list…

We begin our countdown proper with the final instalment of the original film series. While Chris O’Donnell returned to play Robin, Val Kilmer walked away from the fast-tracked project, with producers eventually settling on George Clooney to play the Caped Crusader. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman were drafted in to play villains Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy, with Alicia Silverstone making her debut as Batgirl.

Despite a strong opening weekend, Batman & Robin’s domestic take plunged by over 60% in its second week, with poor word-of-mouth reviews contributing to its spectacular drop. Critics hated it, with everything from Joel Schumacher’s frantic direction and studio pressure to include merchandising tie-ins blamed. Widely cited as the worst superhero movie ever, it staggered to a $238 million worldwide gross, putting Batman on the big screen on ice.

The Dark Knight was thawed out eight years later, but hopes for a reboot helmed by the relatively unknown Christopher Nolan were low. Starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, this origin story went back to basics, delivering a darker and more realistic vision of Batman.
The film did decent box-office business, generating $373 million worldwide against a $150 million budget. It became the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year and the second-highest-grossing Batman film at the time.

Arguably, it's one of the most influential movies of the decade, helping to popularise the concept of the “reboot” and encouraging filmmakers to inject a more serious tone into superhero fare. It raised Nolan’s profile significantly and made Bale a bona fide star.

The success of Tim Burton’s first movie (more on that later) understandably sparked studio interest in a sequel. Burton was initially reluctant to return, but signed on when Warner Bros. promised him greater creative control. Danny DeVito agreed to play iconic villain the Penguin, with Michelle Pfeiffer appearing as Catwoman.

Despite a mixed critical reception, Batman Returns made an explosive start at the box office, becoming the second-fastest film to reach $100 million domestically. However, it couldn’t sustain its rapid start, and it soon became apparent it lacked the legs of its predecessor, ultimately waddling to a $266 million worldwide gross. It’s fair to say that the performance horrified Warner Bros., which took a very different approach to the next movie…

Warner Bros. reportedly received thousands of complaints about Batman Returns’ dark and violent themes, with companies that had signed on for kid-friendly promotions and toy tie-ins also feeling the wrath of consumers. Determined to steer the Caped Crusader in a more family-friendly direction, the studio dispensed with Burton and installed Joel Schumacher at the helm. Val Kilmer stepped in as Batman after Michael Keaton decided not to return to the role.

Schumacher’s interpretation of Batman was much closer to the camp and zany 1960s TV show, and the abrupt shift in tone from Tim Burton’s work proved too much for some critics. Moviegoers weren’t put off though, and Batman Forever broke a raft of domestic box office records on its way to a worldwide gross of $336 million, significantly outperforming its predecessor. 

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Matt Reeves’ gritty reboot introduced us to a younger Batman in his early years as a crime fighter, jettisoning the baggage of the DCEU outings. As much detective as feared vigilante, Robert Pattinson’s take on the Caped Crusader under Reeves’ direction made for a Batman not seen on screen before. Critics generally loved the new approach, although the film’s hefty runtime didn’t go unnoticed.

Delayed due to COVID-19, The Batman was finally released in 2022, becoming one of the best performers of the post-pandemic era and earning $772 million worldwide. It finished the year as the seventh-highest-grossing movie, not bad when you consider three films racked up over a billion: Jurassic World: Dominion ($1bn), Top Gun: Maverick ($1.5bn) and Avatar: The Way of Water ($2.3bn). The first film in a proposed “Batman Epic Crime Saga” trilogy, The Batman: Part II is scheduled for release in October next year.

At the time, most people’s touchpoint when it came to Batman was Adam West’s biff-bang-powing superhero of the 1960s. Tim Burton’s darker, gothic imagining with Michael Keaton in the title role and Jack Nicholson stealing the show as the Joker offered something refreshingly different. Audiences loved it. 

The movie raced to a $401 million worldwide gross, breaking several box office records along the way and earning the mantle of highest-grossing superhero film ever, a title it held on to for over 10 years. Amazingly, Warner Bros. claimed the movie lost well over $30 million despite a modest $48 million budget. “Hollywood accounting” was blamed for the loss, although Nicholson’s rumoured $90 million payday (he took a lower fee in exchange for a cut of Batman’s earnings) probably didn’t help matters.

Batman had to share top billing with Superman in this second DCEU movie, which also served as something of a Caped Crusader reboot. Marking the first time the two had appeared together in a live-action movie, with an added sprinkling of Wonder Woman, anticipation was off the charts. 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice got off to a flying start with a worldwide opening of $422 million, becoming just the fourth movie to boast a global opening above $400 million. But that momentum didn’t last, and with a poor critical reception, the film experienced a staggering box office drop in its second and third weeks. While still making a profit north of $100 million, the movie was widely seen as a disappointment for failing to breach the $1 billion mark.

Considered the blueprint for modern superhero movies, Nolan’s return to the Batman franchise was nothing short of spectacular. The first major film to be shot with high-resolution IMAX cameras, Nolan was backed with a $185 million budget to bring his vision to life, with the director avoiding the use of CGI wherever possible and opting for spectacular real-life stunts, including flipping an 18-wheeler truck and blowing up a factory.

Heath Ledger's death in the build-up to the film’s release inevitably led to widespread interest in The Dark Knight. It grossed just over $1 billion worldwide and broke several box office records, becoming the highest-grossing superhero movie at the time. Ledger received a host of posthumous awards for his role as the Joker, including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Edging out its predecessor by $81 million on its original release, The Dark Knight Rises takes the top spot as the highest-grossing Batman film to date. Despite receiving a less warm critical reception than The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan saw out his trilogy with aplomb, and the movie racked up $1.08 billion worldwide.

As with The Dark Knight, records tumbled. Rises broke the IMAX opening weekend record and became the fastest movie ever to make $50 million in IMAX cinemas. At the time it was the seventh-highest-grossing movie ever and the thirteenth film in history to pass the $1 billion mark. Remarkably, three other films achieved the feat in the same year: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Skyfall and The Avengers.

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