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Box office tallies are for the week ending 3/27/16.
Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice charged out of the gate on its first weekend of release, taking in record-breaking $170.1 million in domestic theaters and $424.1 million world wide.
The film, despite poor reviews, has blockbuster written all over it from the matching of two popular superheroes to the all-star cast that includes Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth and Holly Hunter as Senator June Finch.
Given the huge promotion and obvious star power, competition for attendance was light for the film that cost Warner Bros. $250 million to make. The critics may have panned the film, but it’s clearly not going to bother film executives too much. Media source, including Variety, have said it’s the biggest March debut of all time and the sixth largest for any film ever.
The film was really the only big release of the week and light attendance elsewhere always helps. What did Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice clobber, exactly? In the No. 2 spot for the weekend was Zootopia, with a $23.1 million take in its third weekend out, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding Two, which netted a comparatively wimpy $18.1 million – a tenth of what Batman and the man in the red cape earned.
How long is the honeymoon going to last for the Man of Steel and the Man of Gadgets? Well, it’s two weeks before Captain America: Civil War will throw cold water on the Warner Bros. victory dance.
The new Captain America film re-creates the same dilemma of having two superheroes go head to head. This time the grudge match builds up between Captain America and Ironman. That film has far less star power, but it might have better punches, given the drubbing Batman V. Superman was given by critics.
The upcoming weekend, however, includes a plethora of releases, none of which – except possibly Pandemic – are likely to earn $100 million on their first weekend out of the gate.
Besides the futuristic Pandemic, the next set of releases will include Natural Born Pranksters (Youtube pranksters on the big screen), Meet the Blacks (a sort of Beverly Hillbillies type comedy), God’s Not Dead 2 (Christian) and The Dark Horse (heartwarming film about a chess master battle mental illness).
While none of these have the individual clout to take on two superheroes at the box office, the group will still drain some of the enthusiasm away from Bat V Super: Dawn of Justice, which was given a pathetic 30 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The top 10 on the home front this weekend included Divergent Series: The Allegiant with a take of $9.5 million, Miracles from Heaven with precisely the same $9.5 million, 10 Cloverfield Lane ($6 million), Deadpool ($5 million), London Has Fallen ($2.9 million), Hello, My Name Is Doris ($1.7 million) and Eye In The Sky ($1 million).
