This weekend, Batman v Superman crossed $680 million at the worldwide box office. Of that, more than $360 million was earned domestically. That is a successful film.
It has already passed Ant-Man, the first two Iron Man movies, Thor: The Dark World and will soon pass The Amazing Spider-Man ($709m) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714).
The question of its second week of release is not that of success — at face value, these results are still very good — it’s that of momentum. Did Batman v Superman continue to draw in audiences in its second weekend, with minimal competition from other new releases and a wellspring of fans who have been devoted to the two titular characters for decades?
The answer is that, in a relative sense, it did not.
The drop off from its opening weekend to the second weekend was the fifth largest drop-off for any film that opened over $100 million. At Box Office Mojo, Brad Brevet explains:
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.
The big question about Batman v Superman‘s box office isn’t about whether it can be classified as traditionally successful, it’s more a question of whether or not this is enough for Warner Bros. Before the film released, it was rumored that WB was looking for a $1 billion box office, at the very least. If BvS ends up in the $825 million range worldwide, is that something Warner Bros. will see as a failure? Will falling short of this big number change their plans for future movies? Certainly it won’t change plans for Wonder Woman, which is already shooting, or Suicide Squad, which is mostly done. But Warner Bros. is still early enough in the process to make some adjustments to the tone or scope of the film.
Batman v Superman is a successful movie. But as was feared when it was plagued by overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and a low Cinemascore from opening weekend audiences, the film isn’t getting the kinds of repeat viewings that other major blockbusters get on their way toward the billion dollar club. Its core audience has been vocal and passionate, but its results show said audience to be smaller than expected.
What will become of Batman v Superman in future weeks? With one more free weekend before it meets another tentpole release in Disney’s The Jungle Book, it will likely remain atop the box office. But the drop-off will continue. And the momentum will continue to grind down. What this means for the future of the DC Cinematic Universe is yet to be defined. It’s likely that Warner Bros. will push forward, with minor changes to make their films more palatable to wider audiences. Perhaps they’ll revisit that “no jokes” policy.
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