Reviews be damned. Just because a film doesn’t do well with critics doesn’t mean that it can’t make a fortune at the box office. We’ve seen this with numerous big budget franchises over the years, and now we’re seeing it happen again. Although critical reception for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice has been mixed – we here at Cinema Blend can’t even agree on it – the film has opened to some fairly insane numbers.
According to a new report from Variety, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is currently springing towards a $170 million opening weekend. Based upon all of the analysis, generous predications indicate that the film could close out with more that $171 million by its third day in theaters. Of that $170 million, it made a whopping $82 million of that lump sum in its first day, which is an undeniable feat in itself.
It seems that we don’t really have to worry about the future of this franchise. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice has the potential to become the fifth highest grossing domestic movie opening of all time, placing it just behind Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Avengers, Jurassic World, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
We expect these numbers to continue to rise. This Easter weekend has not positioned any other movies that could pose a major threat to Batman V Superman at the box office, and the film released simultaneously in every major market, meaning that the possibility of piracy and negative reviews to eat into its profits has been reduced considerably.
However, although the film is experiencing some insane financial success right now, that doesn’t mean it’s all sunshine and rainbows over at Warner Bros. Unlike a movie such as Deadpool, Batman V Superman was made on an enormous $250 million budget – not including marketing. The film is on track to make a fortune at the box office, but it’s proportionally not a massive success quite yet.
Also, the film is still a fairly negative response from numerous critics, and we continue to wonder if the studio will go back to the drawing board following the release of Dawn of Justice. They had numerous plans already in place, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see a Ben Affleck Batman solo movie get fast tracked to a much earlier release date than anticipated.
We will continue to watch the meteoric rise of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. As hardcore DC comic book nerds, we wholeheartedly hope that this means great things are in store for the DC Extended Universe as time goes on. As always, be sure to check Cinema Blend for the latest and greatest film and television news as it becomes available.
