Is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's bad word of mouth catching up with it? Zach Snyder's epic battle of the titans trampled box office records last weekend, despite poor reviews and a mediocre CinemaScore, but the superhero smackdown is on track to plummet as much as 70 percent in its second weekend. That fall is one of the biggest drops for a marquee superhero film (edging out the 69 percent fall off posted by X-Men Origins: Wolverine).
Batman v Superman will easily remain in the No. 1 spot, earning $15.3 million from 4,256 theaters on Friday for a projected $50 Million second weekend gross. Significant second weekend drops are relatively common for fan-driven films, which are often frontloaded with an audience eager to see the film as soon as possible. The Twilight Saga: New Moon fell 70 percent, while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 dropped 72 percent in its second frame. However, Harry Potter notably had to face off against Captain America in its second week, while Batman v Superman currently has no significant competition at the box office, plus the added benefit of a Spring Break boost with a notable amount of K-12 school and colleges on break. By way of comparison to some other major superhero sequels, Avengers: Age of Ultron fell 59 percent and The Dark Knight, 53 percent.
Despite the drop off, Warner Bros. has little cause for concern as Batman v Superman has already grossed $554 million globally ($224.4 domestically), taking down a number of box office records in its path, including the biggest opening for March, Spring, and Easter weekend, as well as the top spot for a DC Comics film, a Zack Snyder Film, and edging out Deadpool for the top 2016 releases to date. It has also already surpased Ant-Man ($519.3M), Thor ($449.3M), Captain America ($370.6M) and Wolverine ($373.1M), and Batman Begins ($374.2M), and is on track to overtake Man of Steel ($668M).
The rest of this weekend's marquee is fairly lowkey. Originally, 20th Century Fox had Keeping Up With the Joneses and Weinstein Co./Dimension/Blumhouse had Amityville: The Awakening set for this date, but both films were later rescheduled, leaving the frame free from major studio releases.
The unsinkable Zootopia remains strong in a distant second with an estimated $20.7 million in its fifth weekend, after a $5.6 million Friday brings its domestic gross to $261 million. Nia Vardalos' romantic comedy sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 will take third with around $11 million in its second frame, earning Universal $2.8 million on Friday. The final two Top 5 slots are rounded out by faith-based films. Pure Fix Entertainment's sequel God's Not Dead 2 took home $2.9 million from 2,320 theaters in its first day of release, and is heading toward a slightly under-target $8.4 million weekend total. Sony's Miracles From Heaven takes the fifth spot with a projected $7.5 million in its third weekend.
Title |
Friday |
Total |
|
1. |
Batman v Superman |
$15,350,00 |
$224.4 |
---|---|---|---|
2. |
Zootopia |
$5,581,000 |
$261.5 |
3. |
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 |
$3,420,000 |
$28.8 |
4. |
God's Not Dead 2 |
$2,952,422 |
$2.9 |
5. |
Miracles from Heaven |
$2,150,000 |
$41.4 |