Batman v Superman plummets 81% at the box office, setting a new record for comic book inspired films
The blockbuster's second weekend in cinemas has proven that the critics have had a huge effect
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
Batman v Superman may have set an Easter Weekend box-office record for scooping well over $400 million worldwide, but it’s also set some hugely negative records as well.
Notably, it has become the ‘highest grossing, worst film’ of all time, having become the first film to make over $150 million domestically on its opening weekend while holding a ‘rotten’ rating on aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
While optimists believed those bad reviews would have no impact on the film's box-office gross, its second weekend in cinemas has proven the critics have had a huge effect, as the film set a new record for biggest Friday-to-Friday drop for a big-budget comic-inspired movie.
According to Forbes, the film made $15.35 million in the US on its second Friday, an 81% drop from the same day the week before. When you don’t include the Thursday night previews - which made up $27.7 million of the $81.5 million gross - the film still dropped 71.5%.
In comparison, the worst Friday-to-Friday drop previously (including Thursday previews) for a comic-book adaptation was Fantastic Four (-78.7%), closely followed by another Zack Snyder film, Watchmen (-78.4%), and the final part of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises (-76.6%).
As noted in the report, the film should gross around the $1 billion mark worldwide, which will be no box-office bomb but would not be the result Warner Bros. and DC were hoping for. In a separate report, it was estimated that the film would have to gross at least $925 million to break even.
The considerable drop is likely down to both the negative reviews (a round-up of which you can read here) plus bad word of mouth, as the film holds a cinemascore of B among viewers.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments