Film industry banks on The Batman to mark start of ‘post-Covid’ cinema

UK box office sales forecast to double this year to 1.1bn - just short of pre-pandemic levels - after lifting of all coronavirus restrictions

The release of The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, is being heralded as the beginning of an anticipated post-pandemic blockbuster boom, with UK box office sales forecast to double this year to top 1bn for the first time since 2019.

While Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond in No Time to Die provided the UK with its biggest October in box office history, and Spiderman: No Way Home, which launched in December as the Omicron variant hit, has taken more than $1.8bn (1.4bn) to date to become the sixth biggest film of all time, both were released while Covid rules were in place or looming.