The modern age of comic-book cinema has largely been defined by the idea of “cinematic universes,” where all the stories and characters of a particular brand or franchise are intermingled and frequently cross over with one another. Clearly, the most famous use of this has been with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that enormous and ever-expanding franchise isn’t the only comic-book movie universe out there. There has also been the universe of films developed byDC, first referred to as the DCEU or the Snyderverse, but recently retitled to the DCU.
However, given the current state of comic-book movies, it can be hard to imagine a time when every new superhero movie wasn’t connected to a much wider universe or story. However, that approach is responsible for many of the most well-received and financially successful superhero movies in history. DC, in particular, used to thrive with this kind of storytelling. While the studio has produced some one-off standalone films – such asJokerorThe Batman– in recent years, they haven’t been the focus of the company. That mindset looks like it will continue in the new DCU under James Gunn.
DC has a long history of success at the box office, stretching back decades before the idea of a cinematic universe would become well-known. Many of the first major superhero films came from DC, ranging from 1978’sSupermanto 1989’sBatman, as have some of the best modern entries in the genre, such as 2008’sThe Dark Knight. With this in mind, we’ve decided to look back at DC’s box office history (with numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo) and highlight the ten-highest grossing films based on DC characters that do not exist within the confines of the DCEU or any other broad cinematic universe. Here’s how they stacked up:
10Batman Returns (1992) – $266,934,688
Batman Returns
Batman Returns sees the return of Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne after his victory over the Joker. This time, the Dark Knight faces a new threat in the form of The Penguin, an outcast who wants revenge on Gotham City. Featuring Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot, Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman, and Christopher Walken as Max Schreck, Batman Returns is Tim Burton’s second and final movie based on the iconic DC comics character.
First on the list is 1992’sBatman Returns, which served as a sequel to Tim Burton’sBatmanfrom 1989. After the immense success of that first film, development quickly began on a sequel. Burton returned to direct the movie, and Michael Keaton reprised the lead role of Bruce Wayne / Batman. The cast was expanded to include Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman, as well as Danny DeVito’s Penguin and Christopher Walken as the evil businessman Max Shreck.
The film was the lastBatmanfilm that Burton and Keaton would be involved with – not including Keaton’s return to the role in 2023’sThe Flash– and it has developed a reputation as one of the strangest comic-book movies of all-time, thanks to its grimy and relentlessly bizarre aesthetics.
How Batman Returns Fared at the Box Office
Batman Returnsfared decently well at the box office, largely because of the immense goodwill that was generated by the preceding movie from 1989. However, the film did take a pretty sizable hit as the result ofbacklash from some audiencesfor the film not being appropriate for children. Ultimately,Returnsgrossed $162 million in North America and $104 million overseas, which brought its global total to just over $266 million.
This was enough to makeBatman Returnsthe highest-grossing movie of the year in North America, while it took the #3 spot on that list globally. However, its box office performance saw a sharp drop from the ’89Batmanfilm, though it was still enough to turn a profit on a budget of $80 million. Based on the reaction to the film, WB and DC continued makingBatmanfilms in the ‘90s, though they made dramatic changes in tone and general approach moving forward.
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9Superman (1978) – $300,478,449
Superman, directed by Richard Donner, stars Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent, an alien from the planet Krypton living on Earth who adopts the persona of Superman to protect humanity. Released in 1978, the film features Gene Hackman as the villain Lex Luthor, who creates a plan that threatens millions of lives. Margot Kidder co-stars as Lois Lane, a journalist at the Daily Planet and Clark Kent’s colleague.
1978’sSupermanis the movie that started it all with regard to comic-book movie cinema. While there had been a few superhero movies prior to its release, such as the 1966Batmanfilm with Adam West,Supermanwas the one that really showed the immense potential of the genre.
Directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve,Supermantruly captured the awe and wonder of its eponymous character and provided a cinematic experience that instantly became one of the most memorable of the ‘70s. To this day, almost every superhero movie that releases is inspired in some way by Donner’sSuperman.
Why Was Superman Such a Financial Success?
In the lead-up to its release,Supermanwas seen as a bit of a gamble. With a budget of $55 million, which was fairly high for the time, WB had bet big on people’s desire for this kind of superhero action flick. This ultimately paid off, asSupermanbecame the second-highest-grossing movie of the year in North America. It flew to an impressive $134 million domestically, while also pulling in an additional $166 million internationally. With a worldwide total of $300 million,Supermanwas one of the biggest hits of the decade.
Related:1978’s Superman: The Dawn of Superhero Spectacle
8Batman Forever (1995) – $336,567,158
Batman Forever
After the release ofBatman Returnsin 1992, the sequel that WB developed was a stark departure from the oddities of Burton’s films. Instead, they brought in director Joel Schumacher to completely refresh the series withBatman Forever. With Val Kilmer stepping into the role of Batman and Chris O’Donnell being introduced as Robin, with Jim Carrey’s The Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face as the main villains, the thirdBatmanmovie brought the family-friendly and cartoony energy that WB and some audiences had been looking for withReturnsa few years prior.
Despiteits poor reputation these days,Batman Forevergenuinely excited audiences at the time of its release, and it was able to tap into the cultural zeitgeist almost as effectively as the 1989Batmanhad six years prior.
How Big of a Success Was Batman Forever?
On a sizable budget of $100 million,Batman Forevergrossed over $184 million in North America alone. Internationally, it nearly matched the gross of 1989’sBatmanwith $152 million. This madeBatman Foreverthe highest-grossing movie of the year domestically, beating out other solid hits likeApollo 13,Toy Storyand, another Jim Carrey flick,Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. With its global total of $336 million, the thirdBatmanwas the sixth-highest grossing movie of the year worldwide. Though, there was only $30 million separating it from the top movie of the year,Die Hard with a Vengeance, which grossed $366 million.
7Batman Begins (2005) – $375,298,946
Batman Begins
The follow-up toBatman Foreverwas 1998’sBatman & Robin, which was a trainwreck both critically and financially. That disaster led WB and DC to give theBatmanseries a bit of a break. Seven years later, the caped crusader eventually returned to the big screen with Christopher Nolan’sBatman Begins, a complete reboot of the character that took a much more grounded approach to the character and the world he exists in. The movie introduced Christian Bale as Batman, and it also featured Liam Neeson as Ra’s al Ghul, Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordan, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
How Did Batman Begins Do at the Box Office?
While it was nowhere near the heights of where Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogy would end up,Batman Beginswas a strong start that successfully revived theBatmanbrand at the box office. With a budget of $150 million,Batman Beginsbrought in $206 million in North America. This made it the seventh-highest grossing movie of the year domestically, behind the likes ofThe Chronicles of Narnia,War of the Worlds, the fourthHarry Potterfilm, andStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. It grossed an additional $168 million overseas, which totaled its global run out to $375 million, establishing it as the ninth-highest grossing movie of the year worldwide.
6Superman Returns (2006) – $391,081,192
Superman Returns
The very next year, after the release ofBatman Begins, WB and DC also attempted to revive their other marquee superhero at the box office, Superman. This revival came in the form ofSuperman Returns, which was clearly inspired by and attempting to replicate the atmosphere of Donner and Reeve’s originalSupermanmovies. StarringBrandon Routh in the lead role, with Kevin Spacey playing the villainous Lex Luthor, the film was directed by Bryan Singer, who had recently received acclaim for his work on the first twoX-Menfilms as well as other works likeThe Usual Suspects. Although the film grossed more thanBatman Begins, it failed to bringSupermanback to the big screen as effectively and for as long as Nolan’sBatmanfilms did for that character.
Why Superman Returns Was Such a Financial Success
Superman: Returnsgrossed a solid $200 million in North America, making it the fifth-highest grossing movie of the year domestically, though it was just short ofBatman Begins’ $206 million. Overseas, however,Superman: ReturnsoutperformedBatmanby bringing in $191 million. With a global total of $391 million,Superman: Returnswas the ninth-highest grossing movie of 2006 worldwide, behindX-Men: The Last Stand,Casino RoyaleandPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
Given the movie grossed more thanBatman Begins, it may be confusing at first glance whyReturnsdid not get a sequel. That comes largely down to the absurd $270 million production budget of the movie. While it was a decent hit, it was not nearly the success it needed to be to justify such a hefty price tag.
5Batman (1989) – $411,569,241
The breakout success of Tim Burton’sBatmanfrom 1989 cannot be understated. We’ve already discussed several major hits on this list, andBatmanstill managed to out-gross them all years before most of them were released. WB and DC had largely relied on the success of theSupermanfilms in the late ‘70s and throughout the ‘80s, but after that franchise lost steam, they shifted to a revival ofBatman. At the time,Batmanwas still most well-known for the campy depiction of the Adam West film and TV series, which had concluded two decades prior. Burton’sBatmancompletely reinvented the character in the eyes of general audiences, introducing some degree of the darkness from the comics that the character is now most famous for.
How Big of a Hit Was Batman ‘89?
On a budget of just $35 million,Batmangrossed $251 million in North America and $160 million overseas, totaling to a global haul of $411 million. This easily madeBatmanthe highest-grossing movie of 1989 in North America, landing over $50 million ahead of the second-place film,Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Worldwide,The Last Crusadeperformed a bit better, pushingBatmandown into the second spot, but it was still far ahead of the rest of the list, which included films likeBack to the Future Part II,The Little MermaidandDead Poets Society. Burton’sBatmanbecame the highest-grossing film ever produced by WB at that point, and it would hold the title of highest-grossing DC film for nearly two decades until the release of Nolan’sThe Dark Knightin 2008.
4The Batman (2022) – $772,245,583
The Batman
Batman is forced to investigate the city’s hidden corruption and question his family’s involvement when The Riddler starts killing key political figures. Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano star.
The most recentBatmanfilm at the time of writing this is 2022’sThe Batman, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson. The film is arguably the darkest take on Batman that has been put to screen, as it is directly inspired by comics such asBatman Year Oneas well as the noir-tinged cinematic style of directors like David Fincher. It was a breath of fresh air to the comic-book movie landscape when it released in early 2022, as it was so thoroughly disconnected from anything else and featured such a markedly different approach and aesthetic.
Why The Batman Was Such a Success
WhenThe Batmanhit theaters, the world was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut everything down about two years prior. The box office still wasn’t quite as strong as it had been pre-pandemic, but it was doing much better than it had been throughout 2020 and 2021. In this environment,The Batmanmanaged to make a major splash upon its release. It opened with $134 million in North America, where it ultimately went on to gross a total of $369 million. Overseas, the film brought in an additional $402 million.
This totaled the film’s box office out to a worldwide haul of $772 million, which, at that time, made it WB’s highest-grossing movie since the onset of the pandemic. Both a direct sequel and a spin-off seriescentered on Colin Firth’s Penguinare in the works.
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3The Dark Knight (2008) – $1,029,266,147
The Dark Knight
While 1989’sBatmanchanged the idea of what a comic-book movie could be upon its release, Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knightwas the first film to broadly showcase that superhero movies could also be genuinely compelling and awards-worthy cinema. The sequel toBatman Beginsfamously introduced the Joker into the rebootedBatmanseries, in which he was played by Heath Ledger, who tragically passed away prior to the film’s release.The Dark Knightwas the biggest cinematic event of 2008, and its lack of widespread recognition at the Oscars prompted such extreme backlash that the Academy expanded its number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten starting the next year.
How The Dark Knight Fared at the Box Office
The Dark Knightwas an absolute juggernaut at the box office when it was released. Domestically, it pulled in $533 million, which made it the highest-grossing movie of the year in North America, as it came in more than $200 million above the likes ofIron ManandIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Internationally, the movie grossed an additional $470 million, which brought its global total to $1.003 billion.
This madeThe Dark Knightonly the fourth film in history to gross more than a billion dollars at the box office, and it was easily the highest-grossing movie of the year globally as well. With several re-releases over the last 15 years,The Dark Knight’s box office total has now grown to $1.029 billion.
Related:These Were the First 10 Movies to Gross More Than One Billion Dollars at the Box Office
2Joker (2019) – $1,078,958,282
In 2019, amid the crumbling of the wider DC cinematic universe, WB and DC released an entirely new standalone film that was completely disconnected from anything else they were doing. This movie wasJoker, which was an origin story of sorts for the iconic Batman villain. Inspired by the works of Martin Scorsese, likeTaxi DriverandThe King of Comedy, the film was directed by Todd Phillips, and it starred Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. It quickly became a lightning rod for political and social conversations in the US and throughout the world.Jokermay have been a divisive film, but it was nonetheless an immensely successful one.
Why Joker Was a Massive Hit
On an estimated budget of just $55 million (and an R-rating that restricted the size of its audience),Jokerstill managed to out-gross all but one of the big-budget films that existed within the continuity of the DCEU. Worldwide, the movie pulled in $1.078 billion, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. Interestingly, though, nearly 70% of that came from overseas markets, where it grossed a whopping $743 million.
In North America,Jokergrossed just $335 million, less than both whatThe Dark KnightandThe Dark Knight Riseshad as well as whatThe Batmanwould a few years later. Nevertheless, the film was one of the biggest hits DC had ever produced, and it went on to be nominated for and even win several Oscars. Despite grossing more than $1 billion,Jokerwas only the sixth-highest grossing movie of 2019 worldwide (and the ninth domestically), but that’s to be expected in a year with massive hits likeAvengers: Endgame,The Lion King,Frozen IIandSpider-Man: Far From Home.
1The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – $1,085,067,637
The Dark Knight Rises
Finally,The Dark Knight Risesis the highest grossing DC film that wasn’t produced as part of the DCEU. The film was the climactic final chapter in Christopher Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogy, which introduced Tom Hardy’s Bane as the villain. It was released in the summer of 2012, following a four-year gap after the release ofThe Dark Knight. The anticipation forThe Dark Knight Riseswas immeasurable, as the love for its predecessor had only continued to grow in the years since its release. While some people were dissatisfied withRisesupon its release, it was still a massive hit and generated more conversation than many of the comic-book movies that are releasing today.
The Dark Knight Rises Is the Most Successful Non-DCEU Film
The Dark Knight Risesopened with $160 million in North America, where it went on to gross a total of $448 million. While that was less than the $534 million that its predecessor brought in domestically, it was still a smash hit. Its gross overseas, however, increased substantially, from $494 forThe Dark Knightto $636 forRises. This brought its overall global total to $1.085 billion.
2012 was a busy year at the box office though, as, even with that impressive number,Riseswas just the third-highest grossing movie of the year worldwide, where it was beat out bySkyfallandThe Avengers. In North America, it took the second-place spot behindThe Avengers. It became the highest-grossing DC movie of all time at that point, and it would hold that title until it was dethroned byAquamanin 2018.
