While it may be one of the most poorly reviewed super hero films of the last few years, there’s no question that this week’s big new release appealed to a mass audience. Here’s what went down:
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice managed to triumph over its near unanimous poor reviews in its opening weekend, scoring an outstanding $168 million to debut at the top of the box office and score the biggest March opening in history. Even though critics found a lot to dislike about the film, clearly audiences had been anticipating this colossal battle for years and were willing to put their dollars down to experience it on the big screen. The question now is just how steep the drop will be in its second weekend. Anything more than a 55% drop would definitely be problematic for Batman v Superman and would demonstrate poor word of mouth, but for the next seven days Warner Brothers and the crew can enjoy their triumph.
As for the rest of the top five, Zootopia was in second place with $25 million, bringing its total to a stellar $242 million. On a side note, I saw it this weekend and it was absolutely hilarious – a film that’s entertaining for both adults and children. Debuting in third place with a better than expected $17.7 million was My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which also managed to avoid its poor reviews to post at least a decent opening. The Divergent Series: Allegient was in fourth place with $9 million, while Miracles From Heaven closed things out in fifth place with $8.9 million.
So, to recap, here were our predictions:
1) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – $175 million
2) Zootopia – $30 million
3) My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 – $15 million
4) The Divergent Series: Allegiant – $10 million
5) Miracles From Heaven – $9.5 million
And here’s how the weekend turned out:
1) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – $168 million
2) Zootopia – $25 million
3) My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 – $17.7 million
4) The Divergent Series: Allegiant – $9 million
5) Miracles From Heaven – $8.9 million
Next weekend sees the release of God’s Not Dead 2. Be sure to check back on Friday to see our predictions!
Good or bad reviews, all the comic fans, and Superfriends kids from the 70s like me would swarm to the cinema. So …
Purposely staying home because I don’t want anyone in Hollywood to get the wrong idea (like a murderous Batman is a good thing). That said, I get why this movie has been critic proof: people love spectacle AND these characters have such a massive built-in fanbase.