Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice - Domestic Box Office At $330 Million

[key2win]

Im probably going to see it on Sunday. I love Batman, but am more a Marvel fan than DC fan. Reviews have been very horrible on this movie. If anyone watches it, post what you think about the movie.

[MichelleAnn]

I would like to watch the movie but I might wait until the newness wears off.

[key2win]

OMG this movie was horrible. Out of the 2 hrs and 30 min, the first 2 hours were slow, horrible plot, horrible acting, and too cluttered to fit all ties to JLA movie for next year. There was about 10 minutes total of good scenes, when Batman fought Superman and when Wonder Woman was introduced. Lex was horrible in this movie. Snyder needs to be fired or Justice League will also get horrible reviews next summer.

[key2win]

'Batman v Superman' Dominates the Box Office, Opening Over $420 Million Worldwide - Box Office Mojo

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ruled the box office this weekend, both in international and domestic markets, bringing home an estimated $424.1 million worldwide. The record-breaking performance saw the film set a new domestic March opening weekend record and it also serves as the largest domestic opening for Warner Bros. ever.

With an estimated $170.1 million, Batman v Superman topped the March opening weekend record previously held by The Hunger Games at $152.5 million. Should estimates hold, and WB seems to be confident they will, this also tops the $169.1 million Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 opened with in 2011, making it the largest domestic opening for the studio. This is also the largest Easter opening, topping the $147.1 million brought in by Furious 7 last year as well as the largest opening for a film based on a DC Comics property, a record previously held by The Dark Knight Rises at $160.8 million. But this weekend's records are one thing, how the film will hold up is another.

Heading into the weekend the swath of negative critical reviews were a major focus as the film now sits at a 29% rating on RottenTomatoes and no film with a rating lower than 63% on the site had ever opened over $150 million. Clearly Batman v Superman bucked that trend as it is now one of only five live action films to have ever grossed over $100 million on opening weekend with a RottenTomatoes rating lower than 30%. So does this say something about critics, about films with baked in audiences... or both?

From an audience perspective, Batman v Superman received a so-so "B" CinemaScore with a "B-" coming from males, which made up 62% of the audience, and "B" from females. Audience members under the age of 18, however, scored it an "A-", which brings our attention to next weekend. Recent films such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Batman v Superman predecessor Man of Steel saw 59.4% and 64.6% second weekend drops respectively. It's also worth noting a large drop should be expected no matter what, if only because $27.7 million of Batman v Superman's opening came from Thursday previews.

From a historical perspective, a second weekend drop around 62% is a safe bet at this time, and anything better than 60% would show the film is holding well in the face of odds that would otherwise suggest it was in trouble over the long run. Speculation aside, it won't be until we see how far it drops that we can get a good grasp on just how big it may go, but its success doesn't rely wholly on its domestic prospects as it also got off to a very strong start overseas.

The film brought in an estimated $254 million internationally this weekend, giving it the fifth largest international opening weekend of all-time. The global opening of $424.1 million is the fourth largest of all-time. The breakdown by territory shows China leading the pack, delivering an estimated $57.3 million in its first three days, the largest opening ever for WB in China. Results from other territories include the UK ($21.9m), Mexico ($18.6m), Brazil ($12.2m), Korea ($10.5m), Australia ($10.0m), Russia ($8.5m), France ($8.4m), Germany ($8.2m), Spain ($6.3m), Italy ($5.8m) and Japan ($4.4m).

As will be the case domestically, how well the film performs next weekend in all these territories will be of vital importance when it comes to determining just how big a hit this will end up being. At this point, it looks as if Batman v Superman will become the 25th film to cross $1+ billion worldwide as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the only film to open with over $158 million domestically and not cross the $1 billion mark worldwide.

[key2win]

'Batman v Superman' Drops Big While Crossing $680 Million Worldwide - Box Office Mojo

The steep second weekend drop suffered by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will receive the bulk of attention this week and rightfully so as it is the fifth largest second weekend drop for a film that opened over $100 million. That said, the superhero feature maintained the #1 position and has now crossed $680 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Disney's Zootopia continued its impressive run while the weekend's widest new release, God's Not Dead 2, fell well short of its predecessor.

Heading into the weekend, it appeared Batman v Superman was looking at a drop anywhere from 58-68% and it ended up settling in on the wrong side of those expectations. The film's estimated $52.3 million signifies a 68.4% drop (62.1% if you take into consideration its $27.7 million in Thursday previews last week). This is the fifth largest drop of all-time for a film opening over $100 million, topped only by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2's 72% drop and a trio of Twilight films dropping 69-70%.

In fact, the film's second weekend plummet is on par with last year's Fantastic Four, which dropped 68.2% in its second weekend, ultimately delivering a multiplier of 2.18. That said, Fantastic Four received an even worse reception than Batman v Superman, receiving only a "C-" CinemaScore compared to BvS's "B" and a 9% RottenTomatoes score compared to Batman v Superman's 29%. Should BvS also finish with a 2.18 multiplier that would still result in a domestic run of $362.8 million, enough to rank in the top 30 all-time.

Next weekend, however, will serve as a big test to see if there is any bouncing back. Deathly Hallows - Part 2 fell 53.7% in its third weekend and ended with a 2.25 multiplier. Another good comparison may be X-Men: The Last Stand, which dropped 66.9% in its second weekend followed by 52.7% in its third weekend, ultimately finishing with a 2.28 multiplier. Perhaps some of the film's second weekend drop could be attributed to the NCAA Tournament's Final Four games on Saturday night. If so, that may help Batman v Superman exhibit some third weekend stamina, helping push it toward a domestic run over $370 million.

Internationally, Batman v Superman added an estimated $85 million this weekend as its worldwide cume now climbs to $682.8 million. From a worldwide perspective, the film has already surpassed the entire global returns from films such as Man of Steel ($668m), Thor: The Dark World ($644.6m), Iron Man 2 ($623.9m) and Iron Man ($585.2m) on the all-time list where it currently ranks #84. All that said, while it looked like the film might become the 25th to ever cross $1 billion worldwide, its chances at crossing that mark aren't looking so good any longer.

[key2win]

Melissa McCarthy's 'The Boss' Narrowly Tops 'Batman v Superman' for Weekend #1 - Box Office Mojo

Currently situated just behind The Boss, Batman v Superman dropped 54.3% this weekend as the legs on this one are proving quite short. The estimated $23.43 million weekend is pretty much right in line with Mojo's forecast and it wouldn't be much of a surprise if we see a similar drop next weekend.

Batman v Superman currently sits just shy of $300 million domestically, making it the third highest grossing DC Comics release of all-time domestically as it passed Man of Steel ($291m) this weekend. Internationally it added another $34 million as its global cume now stands at $783.4 million, ranking 59th all-time, just behind Spider-Man 2.

[key2win]

'Jungle Book' Opens with Massive $103 Million, Global Cume Tops $290M - Box Office Mojo

Below The Boss in fourth position is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with an estimated $9 million as it dropped 61.4% in its fourth weekend in release. The film's domestic cume is now up to $311.3 million to go along with an international total of $516 million for a current global take of over $825 million.

[key2win]

'Jungle Book' Repeats, 'Huntsman' Falls On His Axe and 'Zootopia' Tops $900M Worldwide - Box Office Mojo

Speaking of best weekend holdovers, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice enjoyed its smallest drop yet, dipping only 38.9% in its fifth weekend, bringing in an estimated $5.5 million. Internationally the film added another $8.3 million as its global cume is now over $850 million.

[ucffans]

Wow - those are some crazy numbers for movies. People don't mind spending $12+ on movie tickets. I'm too cheap, I still wait for the $2 theater.