The film that arguably reinvigorated the superhero genre after Superman IV was 1989’s Batman. The movie was destined to be the year’s biggest picture and it attracted long lines of ticket buyers. The sky was the limit when it came to the movie’s grosses and the film was certain to be number one on its opening weekend. Obviously, no film would want to go against this juggernaut; even if a studio tried to go up against Batman it would be trounced and its film would be forgotten, right? Walt Disney Pictures didn’t think so.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids premiered on the same day as Batman and instead of getting trounced and forgotten, it became a hit for Disney, spawning sequels and theme park attractions. Disney’s strategy was to serve as counterprogramming to Batman and a second choice to people who couldn’t get into the bigger film. This bold strategy worked, giving Disney a quiet hit that became a classic despite its formidable competition.
Disney’s strategy would not work today. In 1989, Warner Brothers was limited by how many prints of Batman it could produce and make available. With finite resources, it was impossible to add many screens to Batman’s total. This opened up the opportunity that Disney took advantage of to quietly create a hit film. With Avengers: Endgame, however, crowded movie theaters could quickly add showings to meet demand. Rather than be forced to watch a different film, audiences could just wait for additional showings to get added. As a result, Avengers: Endgame took over 90% of the box office over the weekend, leaving mere crumbs for the other films. (Captain Marvel, strangely enough, took the majority of those crumbs.)
