While fans of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice have been losing their collective batshit thanks to negative reviews for the film, Warner Bros. will likely be gauging their own response based on the all-mighty dollar. If Thursday's box office is any indication, things should be just fine this weekend for the film's opening salvo.

Box Office Mojo reports that Zack Snyder's latest superheroic outing has taken in $27.7 million on Thursday, which makes it the sixth largest preview ever. For perspective, Batman v Superman just edged out last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron which brought in $26.6 million on its own Thursday preview night. The Marvel team-up movie went on to make $84.4 million on its opening Friday and a total of $191.2 million for the weekend; the movie currently sits at number nine on the all-time domestic gross list and number seven for all-time worldwide takes.


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Image via Warner Bros.

Also occupying the domestic list are Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. The latter film brought in $30.6 million on preview night and made $160.8 million for the weekend. Using the models of The Dark Knight Rises and Avengers: Age of UltronBatman v Superman should make anywhere from $145.4 million to $191.9 million, with an average of around $170 million. That would be enough to put Batman v Superman ahead of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises on the all-time opening weekend list, possibly even knocking the final chapter of the Harry Potter series from its number six spot. And unless something disastrous happens, Batman v Superman should claim the biggest March opening, claiming the top spot over The Hunger Games' $152.5 million.

Update: Batman v Superman has hauled in $44 million worldwide, according to Variety. It set Mexico, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brazil's biggest opening day for a Warner Bros. film, and Germany's biggest opening in 2016 to date along with the country's biggest superhero film opening. The movie will open in the Philippines tomorrow and debuts in Myanmar and Poland on April 1st, but it's currently playing everywhere else.

Here's where reviews and buzz comes into play. I fully expect Batman v Superman to have a huge weekend, so the real measuring stick that should be used is how well it performs on successive weekends. Warner Bros. will certainly be keeping an eye on repeat viewings and the longevity of healthy ticket sales. Critical reviews for highly anticipated movies, especially when negative (BvS currently sits at 30% on Rotten Tomatoes), have a habit of creating conversation in the moviegoing community. For something like Gods of Egypt, people can enjoy piling onto the film without ever paying to see it. For something like Batman v Superman, something that's intended to carry on a legacy, has been relentlessly marketed for months, and will serve as the lynchpin in a cinematic universe going forward, people are going to see it in spite of, or even because of, negative reviews; they might just not see it again.


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Image via Warner Bros.

For more on Batman v Superman, take a look at our recent coverage provided at the link below:

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