Total Worldwide Box Office Gross: $411.3 Million Tim Burton's twisted and darkly humorous take on The Dark Knight was released in 1989, and it was immediately a box office smash... and a game-changing film. In its first full week of release, the film grossed over $70 million dollars, more than doubling its $35 million dollar production budget. The film would also hold steady at the box office over the weeks to come, with only one week having dropped over 40% from the previous week for the next 9 weeks. With Michael Keaton cast as Batman, Burton then hit box office gold with the casting of Jack Nicholson as The Joker. By bringing Batman full-on to the silver screen at the tail end of big 80s cinema, Burton, DC, and Warner Bros. were all taking a huge risk in an era filled with big budget action films. But the film did not disappoint, becoming both a critical and commercial success. Nicholson's Joker would steal the film from Michael Keaton and everyone else on screen, something Christopher Nolan would also face with his Batman versus The Joker film in 2008. But Tim Burton had changed cinema forever, and he had opened the door for comic book films to come right on in and take take over for the foreseeable future - something that to this day we as fans are still reaping the benefits of. Batman ranks at #174 on the worldwide box office chart.
