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Streams boost for Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’ after ‘The Batman’ feature

The song has seen a 734 per cent increase in US streams

By Charlotte Krol

Robert Pattinson as The Batman
'The Batman'. (Photo: Warner Bros.)

Streams of Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’ have jumped after the theatrical release of ‘The Batman’, which features the ‘Nevermind’ cut in the film.

According to initial reports to MRC Data, in the first four days of movie’s release the song earned 3.1 million on-demand streams in the US.

The figure is up from 372,000 on-demand US streams from the previous four days (February 28 through to March 3), which is a 734 per cent increase over the given period [per Billboard].

In September 2020 the song received a boost when the trailer for ‘The Batman‘ was released, which also features a snippet of the song. The track entered the Billboard charts for the first time ever, reaching Number Two on Rock Digital Song Sales and Number 45 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales ranking in the first tracking week after the trailer’s release.

The highest daily streams of the song in the US to date was on Tuesday (March 8) with 1.6 million.

‘Something In The Way’ appears on Nirvana‘s classic second album ‘Nevermind’, which was released in 1991. It spawned three Billboard Hot 100-charting singles: ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, ‘Come As You Are’ and ‘Lithium’.

‘The Batman’ director Matt Reeves last year explained why the track is used in the film. “When I write, I listen to music, and as I was writing the first act, I put on Nirvana’s ‘Something in the Way,’” he told Empire.

“That’s when it came to me that, rather than make Bruce Wayne the playboy version we’ve seen before, there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, and the idea of this fictionalised version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor,” he said.

‘Something In The Way’ has been used in other movies before including Sam Mendes’ 2005 film ‘Jarhead’ and as a cover in Cameron Crowe’s 1996 comedy ‘Jerry Maguire’.

Zoe Kravitz and Robert Pattinson in 'The Batman'
Zoe Kravitz and Robert Pattinson in ‘The Batman’ (Picture: Press)

Meanwhile, Robert Pattinson has said that he was “shocked” that he didn’t get even more flak for his casting in ‘The Batman’.

The actor, who portrays the caped crusader in ‘The Batman‘ (released last Friday, March 4), said in a new interview that although he knew that fans had launched a petition lobbying DC to reconsider his casting, he was still surprised at the level of upset.

He told The Los Angeles Times that he took the initial backlash in his stride. “I was actually mocked less than I usually am,” he said. “I was quite shocked. ‘Only 70 per cent negative? A-plus!’”

Pattinson‘s comments come in the context of his more recent, quirky arthouse roles such as in ‘Good Time’ and ‘The Lighthouse’, which were seen as bolder steps away from his early blockbuster career in the Twilight and Harry Potter franchises.