Despite being torn apart critically and being as divisive as ever with fans, only managing a "B" Cinemascore, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice is a major winner at the box office with a massive $82 million opening day, $27.7 coming from Thursday night showings, and is currently on pace for a record breaking Easter weekend. Analysts have been constantly updating their projections and now expect the Zack Snyder-directed film to gross somewhere between $168-172 million domestic for the weekend, possibly more, which would easily set the record for biggest Easter opening ever, topping Universal's Furious 7, and biggest March opening ever, topping Lionsgate's The Hunger Games.
In the grand scheme of things, a $172 million opening weekend would be the sixth biggest opening weekend in history, just short of Marvel's Iron Man 3's opening of $174 million, but far behind the $200 million plus openings of juggernauts such as Disney's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Universal's Jurassic World, and Marvel's The Avengers.
Even with the gargantuan weekend, it'll be quite a while before the film can be considered a financial success as with a budget of at least $250 million, maybe $300-350 million, without marketing, which has been rumored to be upwards of $100-150 million, it'll likely need to recoup at least $700-900 million, if not a lot more, just to break-even. The international box office will help in this regard, but it's still an uphill battle.
UPDATE: The international numbers are in and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earned another $67.2 million globally on Friday, bringing its international sum to over $115.3 million. Its current worldwide total stands just short of $200 million. Also, Deadline adds that with an estimated $400 million production and P&A cost, the film will likely need to reach $385 million domestic, and roughly $900 million worldwide to break-even.
It'll be interesting to see if the movie has legs in the coming weeks, but for this weekend at least, Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice reigns supreme. So, what do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts below!
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City's own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis's most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it's ever known before.
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice will feature:
Director: Zack Snyder
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman
Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman
Amy Adams as Lois Lane
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
Diane Lane as Martha Kent
Laurence Fishburne as Perry White
Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth
Holly Hunter as Senator Finch
Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves
Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash
Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg
Harry Lennix as General Swanwick
Christina Wren as Major Carrie Farris
Michael Shannon as General Zod
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Thomas Wayne
Lauren Cohan as Martha Wayne
Robin Atkin Downes as Doomsday
Carla Gugino as the voice of the ship
Scoot McNairy as Wallace Keefe
Callan Mulvey as Anatoli Knyazev
Michael Cassidy as Jimmy Olsen
Michael Shannon as General Zod
Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent
Jena Malone in an unspecified role
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25