Other fictional characters that surpass Batman in adaptations are Frankenstein’s monster, with some 120 titles, and Tarzan, with over a hundred. On the other hand, other characters that have also been filmed since the silent period, such as Zorro or Robin Hood, did not have as many versions over the years as to surpass Batman, who not only seems to be destined to be the most filmed comic superhero of all time, but also the highest grossing.
Precisely the rise of superheroes so apt to fight evil as to win in the box office began with “Superman”. The main character of DC Comics was not actually adapted to the cinema first but to the brilliant cartoons of the brothers Max and Dave Fleischer -the same as Popeye and Betty Boop-. And then to the primitive TV of the 50s, with the famous “The Adventures of Superman” starring George Reeves – who, just as or more than Lugosi playing Dracula, was so absorbed by the character that he died believing he was the man from the planet Krypton. -.
It was the “Superman” directed in 1978 by Richard Donner, with the then unknown Christopher Reeves as the protagonist, but with a Marlon Brando who earned 3 million for appearing only a few minutes in the film’s prologue, the film that managed to introduce these comic book characters at the top of the world box office. With an estimated budget of about 50 million dollars, it grossed more than 300 worldwide, which with the inflation that occurred over more than 40 years could perfectly be compared to the figures of the blockbusters of the 21st century.
However, the success did not accompany the sequels of the character in the same way, despite the brilliant intervention of Richard Lester who in “Superman III” introduced comedy and political satire, with Richard Pryor as the first hacker in the history of cinema and the man of steel fighting an evil version of himself.
That’s why despite successes like Zack Snyder’s with “Man of Steel” in 2013, with Henry Cavill as Superman raising 700 million dollars, Superman can’t beat Batman either in number of movies or in revenue. That’s if you take into account that “Batman the Dark Knight” alone grossed more than a billion at the worldwide box office. Just as convincing were the figures for the first “Batman” by Tim Burton in 1989, one of the most profitable films in the DC franchise with almost 500 million (which would also have to be recalculated according to inflation) in the global box office, that without count the sales to new businesses of those days like cable, VHS and the imminent DVD.
The new “The Batman” has already managed to exceed 676 million dollars at the global box office in a few weeks, so everything seems to indicate that the new hooded man played by Robert Pattinson could become the highest-grossing Batman in history, although that is something that we will know at the end of its commercial performance in movie theaters around the world. What can be announced is that with the number of animated by-products or videogames that emerge after each of these successes, it will not be long before Batman beats Sherlock Hoklmes in number of versions, perhaps not on the big screen, but yes through the new types of formats that arise from the digital age.
–
