Zack Snyder’s superhero slugfest, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, reigned supreme at the box office in its second weekend of release, earning some $51.8 million at the box office, according to the most recent estimates reported this morning.
Nearly all big major tentpole releases drop their box office take somewhat, and with an opening weekend of $170 million, it was fairly certain that Batman V Superman would hold on to its number one position, especially in the face of no stronger contender opening this past weekend. Perhaps in the spirit of the film’s own excesses, Batman V Superman out did the average 60% or so drop in box office most other films suffer with a box office fall off of 69%.
That 69% ties with the drop that X-Men: Origins – Wolverine was hit with its second week of release back in 2009 and is the biggest drop off for a superhero genre film on record. But other highly anticipated franchise films have dropped off faster. Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 fell 72% at the start of its second week of release, only bringing in $47.4 million.
Comparatively, Furious 7, which opened Easter weekend last year, only had a 60% drop for a $59.6 million weekend. Other big tentpool films of the last few years have had second weekend drops that ranged from The Avengers: Age Of Ultron‘s 16.5% to Jurassic World‘s 48%.
As to what could have cause such a precipitous drop, there are a number of factors. It is possible that last week’s holiday weekend inflated the domestic box office somewhat, with potential ticket buyers back to school and work this weekend. The film has a rather low score at Rotten Tomatoes, with a critic aggregate rating of 29%. Still, that is four percentage points higher than My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which also opened last weekend. The movie also had a Metacritic score of 44. Theatergoers, however, were a bit warmer to the film, giving it a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Audience Score and a solid “B” through polling done by CinemaScore.
Currently, the film is still on track to make a worldwide box office take in excess of the $800 million it reportedly needs to clear in order to break even. The film has an official budget of $250 million and an additional $100 – $150 million in advertising costs against it, though some suggest that those amounts might be even higher in actuality.
However, it still reminds doubtful that Batman V Superman will hit the $1 billion mark that insiders are saying it needs to reach for Warner Brothers executives to consider the film truly successful.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN Holds #1 Position At BO Despite Dropping Nearly 70% https://t.co/JPI0sMgd6Q