It was no big surprise that Uncharted got unseated by The Batman. It is a big surprise, however, that the number three spot is steadfastly held by the female-driven German film Wunderschön. 

There is barely any movement in the rest of the top ten: Sing 2 is still a high-pitched contender in fourth and Spider-Man: No Way Home will not let go of the fifth place. Death on the Nile – in other markets long since on a downriver course – only drifted to number sixth (from third) in Germany. Moonfall landed in seventh, with Belfast, Around the World in 80 Days, and Marry Me – Verheiratet auf den Ersten Blick rounding out the top ten.

It is interesting to see how Sir Kenneth Branagh, due to the unforeseen circumstances of pandemically delayed release schedules, is now in competition with himself. His Death on the Nile was supposed to sail into theaters more than a year ago in the summer of 2020 giving him and his passion project Belfast, this very personal film for the Irish-born director, writer, and actor a year-long window for the awards marketing strategy. It panned out nonetheless with seven Oscar nominations.

But let’s look at the box office numbers for the leading films. Normal is different. If we keep comparing even 2022 revenue with that of pre-pandemic 2020, we realize that the business part of the movie industry has not rebounded. Sure, there is a slight upwards trend but add in Russia’s war on Ukraine – geographically too close for comfort for Germany and Austria – and you will see that the state of the world certainly has its impact on the way people embrace or reject old pleasures like a trip to the cinema. The economic fallout such as a dramatic increase in energy prices makes a family of four think twice of whether spending € 100.- (popcorn included) is sensible.

Sure, The Batman’s flight to glory with 460.000 sold tickets is not bad. Compared to The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises it is rather sad, though. And this is not a reflection on quality either: the reboot of the franchise with heartthrob Robert Pattinson donning the black rubber suit and Zoë Kravitz inhabiting a particularly multi-faceted version of Catwoman has garnered excellent reviews everywhere including the German-speaking media. But while Batman pulverized the box office in the US, he may need a better week in the news to catch up in Germany.

The overall verdict: € 1.04 million total could have been easily at least 200.000 more had there been a second big release. But the re-release of The Godfather to celebrate its 50^th anniversary did not even make it into the top ten and brought only 6000 fans to the theaters. It ended up in 15^th place with no chance of climbing higher. You will be hard-pressed to find one Godfather aficionado who does not own a deluxe DVD of the classic film. Also missing from the mix is a new family film or a truly great comedy. Both genres have always worked well in times of (political) trouble when people needed an escape, a little laughter, and a whole lot of heart.

In Austria, the results were barely better. 129.000 people bought movie tickets last week with no change in the top spot. Uncharted stayed in number one with The Batman premiere landing in the second spot. Maybe Tom Holland (and Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas) are a bigger draw for (female) Austrian audiences than Robert Pattinson?