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‘Batman v Superman’ Dives 68% to $52.4 Million in 2nd Weekend

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” appears to be losing steam as it ends its second weekend in theaters.

The critically loathed superhero topped the box office, picking up $52.4 million. However, that represented a steep 68% fall from its $166 million debut. It suggests that “Batman v Superman” will be a front-loaded blockbuster along the lines of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” or “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” all of which earned a disproportionate share of their revenues in their initial weekends and suffered similar drop-offs. Given that the picture features two of the highest-profile comic book characters in movie history, the results, which on paper are impressive, are nevertheless being heavily scrutinized.

“When you’re squaring off with Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, good luck,” said Jeff Bock, box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “The bottom line is it wasn’t a film up to the caliber of previous Batman or Superman films.”

Domestically, the Warner Bros. release has picked up a hefty $261.4 million. The major problem facing the studio is it doesn’t just need “Batman v Superman” to be a hit, it needs it to be so fervently embraced that fans will show up to see sequels and spin-offs for years to come. The film is intended to kick off an interconnected cinematic universe of DC Comics characters that Warner Bros. hopes will rival what Marvel has achieved with the Avengers films.

“We’re extremely proud of the film and audiences have turned out in huge numbers and we’re confident they will continue to do that in the weeks to come,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice president.

Goldstein went on to note that unlike major blockbusters, which typically unspool in the heart of summer when school is out, “Batman v Superman” was released in spring, when a much smaller percentage of students were on spring vacation. That may have made the drop-off more severe, he suggested.

There were advantages to the March release strategy. Namely, there wasn’t much in the way of competition. Most studios steered clear of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel’s on screen scuffle, preferring to hold their fire. The next big-budget studio release to hit theaters is Disney’s “The Jungle Book” on April 15. In the interim, Pure Flix tried to engage faith-based audiences with “God’s Not Dead 2,” a follow-up to the 2014 low-budget smash. The picture centers on a school teacher (Melissa Joan Hart, of “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” fame) who gets embroiled in a legal controversy after bringing up Jesus in class. The film wasn’t as warmly embraced as its predecessor, pulling in $8.1 million for a fourth place finish, and trailing the original’s $9.2 million launch, despite opening on 2,318 theaters, more than double the number of locations as the first “God’s Not Dead.”

The weekend’s other new release, Freestyle Releasing’s “Meet the Blacks,” a parody of the film “The Purge,” did $4.1 million after debuting on 1,011 screens. The indie distributor relied heavily on social media to get fans of comedian Mike Epps to theaters.

“We were thrilled with the gross,” said Mark Borde, co-president of Freestyle. “The core audience came out in force. We had a very high per-screen average and we expect this picture to continue to perform extremely well.”

In the holdover department, Disney’s “Zootopia” took second place, with $20 million, pushing the animated hit’s domestic total to $275.9 million. In its second weekend, Universal’s “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” showed some endurance, racking up $11.1 million, a slender 38% drop from its opening weekend. The romantic comedy sequel has earned $36.5 million after two weeks of release. Sony’s “Miracles From Heaven” rounded out the top five, grossing approximately $7.6 million and pushing its total to $46.8 million.

Among indie films, Sony Pictures Classics debuted the Miles Davis biopic “Miles Ahead” in four theaters, where it grossed $122,751, for a per screen average of $30,688, and Paramount bowed Richard Linklater’s college comedy “Everybody Wants Some!!” in 19 theaters, where it earned $371,000.

Bleecker Street expanded the drone thriller “Eye in the Sky” from 123 theaters to 1,029, picking up $4 million. The film, which features one of the late actor Alan Rickman’s final performances, has earned $6.1 million in four weeks of release.

Next weekend, Melissa McCarthy will try to prove she still has the box office touch, debuting the R-rated comedy “The Boss” from Universal, while STX Entertainment will counter with the point-of-view thriller “Hardcore Henry.”

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BvS has 'worse legs than Barbara Gordon'

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“We’re extremely proud of the film and audiences have turned out in huge numbers and we’re confident they will continue to do that in the weeks to come,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice president.

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GaimeGuy said:

Why is there a My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2?

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“We’re extremely proud of the film and audiences have turned out in huge numbers and we’re confident they will continue to do that in the weeks to come,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice president.

Goldstein went on to note that unlike major blockbusters, which typically unspool in the heart of summer when school is out, “Batman v Superman” was released in spring, when a much smaller percentage of students were on spring vacation. That may have made the drop-off more severe, he suggested.

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pestul said:

I wonder if some of Zootopia's dailies will start passing BvS as the week draws on.

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Dishwalla said:

When is the wide release for Everybody Wants Some? Or the wider release or whatever, really want to see that one.

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Raguel said:

I think the estimates are optimistic. Gonna be lower when actuals come.

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Chezzymann said:

So what's Zootopia gonna end up at? 350 mil?

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Permanently A said:

"For BvS to turn a profit in its theatrical release alone (before any ancillaries), the film would need to make between $925M-$930M worldwide."

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Bobby Roberts said:

Bet this still comes in at 50 when the actuals drop.

Here's a rundown of how shitty this looks:

The DCEU has been restarted/reformulated twice already now.

2009: A week before filming is set to begin, Justice League: Mortal (dir. George Miller) is canceled for tax/financing purposes.

2011: Green Lantern, designed to provide hooks to a larger universe, is ruined in production by too many cooks, and fails upon arrival. The cinematic universe plan is taken back into the shop and reworked.

2013: Man of Steel is now the foundation for the DCEU. It underperforms, but still hits the numbers it needs to move forward with a sequel, which becomes

2016: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - a pseudo-sequel to Man of Steel that is also a pseudo-prequel to Justice League Pt. I

Batman v Superman opens to a projected 170mil domestic opening weekend that becomes a 166mil opening weekend in the actuals. It is beat the fuck up by critics & vocal fans, but the narrative quickly becomes the tired "true fans vs. film snobs (critics)" call to action.

And then, over the course of a week that is Spring Break for a large number of children in America, with competition including films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, God's Not Dead 2, Miracles From Heaven, Meet the Blacks, and films like Zootopia, Deadpool, and 10 Cloverfield Lane all past their fourth weekend in release, the film drops 80% Friday-to-Friday, and just under 70% weekend-to-weekend.

Justice League, Part 1 is scheduled to begin filming within the next two weeks.

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What did he mean by this? said:

"In the dream, BvS carried Warner Bros. into the light....a beautiful lie"

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Chezzymann said:

So what's Zootopia gonna end up at? 350 mil?

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Slayven said:

Your shilling knows no bounds. Is Ike your uncle or something?

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BvS has 'worse legs than Barbara Gordon' -- Sibersk Esto

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3N16MA said:

Zootopia hasn't had a drop over 35.4%. May take the 2016 animated BO crown.

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mreddie said:

The film should recoup but 68% drop and no comp for the next week...fuck. This film is gonna get Jason Todd-ed by Jungle Book.

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Triggerhappytel said:

Is there anything else that's likely to give it serious competition? Kung Fu Panda 3 seems to have been a bit of a non-event.

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I just saw this movie last night and I felt compelled to post about it. I rarely do that about movies I see.

It's the most beautiful, intricate, detailed and creatively inspired animated feature I've ever seen. The sets, the creature designs, the personalities, the jokes, everything about the movie is pretty much perfect. I can't think of one thing about it I"d change. The pacing is perfect, the character motivations are believable, and my god, the detail in the emotion the creators have infused their characters with is unlike any animated movie I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them.

I thought the movie was stunning.

I saw it in a packed theatre last night, full of all ages. Kids, teens, young adults and old folks. Let me tell you, EVERYBODY was transfixed by this movie. During the emotional, serious beats you could hear a pin drop, and during the funny moments there was riotous laughter. Let me tell you, I was crying laughing so hard at many parts in this movie, but that fucking DMV scene with the sloths was way, WAY funnier than the trailers let off. And about the sloths, the pay-off and the end was something I was hoping for since the DMV scene.

Its probably the best animated movie I've seen since The Lion King, which up until now was my favourite animated movie. I really need to see it a few more times. You cannot appreciate how JAM PACKED this movie is will genius in our sitting. It demands repeat viewings. Even the music and Shakira's song is on-point. The whole theme about the movie dealing with never giving up on your pursuit of your dreams really resonated with me too.

I debated making a new thread just based on the visuals alone because I feel it deserves to be examined in detail.

Just an absolutely awe-inspiring level of artistry on display here. Fucking incredible.

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Slayven said:

Sibersk is now an immortal



Your shilling knows no bounds. Is Ike your uncle or something?

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Triggerhappytel said:

Is there anything else that's likely to give it serious competition? Kung Fu Panda 3 seems to have been a bit of a non-event.

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3N16MA said:

Zootopia hasn't had a drop over 35.4%. May take the 2016 animated BO crown.

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3N16MA said:

Finding Dory and Ice Age 5.

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