Unlike some unrealistic naysayers, I never had any doubt that Batman v Superman would have a huge debut. There’s just no way that a movie this long in the making, starring two of the widely recognized and most popular characters in pop cultures, would not open big. And it did, even breaking some records along the way! For me, the true test was always going to be what happened after that fanboy frenzy died down after the first week though. That’s when positive word of mouth will give the movie the legs it needs to really make a dent on the box office.
Well, the second weekend for Batman v Superman has come and gone and once again the comic book movie has entered its name into the record books. Unfortunately this time around it was the wrong kind of record, as the movie’s earnings dropped from $166 million to $52 million. That’s a 68% plummet between week 1 and 2, the fifth largest such drop in history (only three of the Twilight movies and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 lay above it). It has to be said though that once you take the film’s $27.7 million Thursday preview screening contribution out of the equation, then then figure turns into a 62.1% drop. Still not good, but a tad better.
What’s even more alarming about that drop though, is that BvS faced no real marquee competition at the box office this weekend to justify that loss of revenue. It seems that the audience is just not bothering to turn up. This second weekend’s offerings does push the film over the $680 million dollar mark globally, which is most definitely nothing to sneeze at (Man of Steel could only make $668 million in its entire theatrical run), but it doesn’t bode well for the film’s staying power.
As for that other non-competition, the only two new entries to crack the top 10 in the US this week was faith-based drama sequel God’s Not Dead 2 and Mike Epps-led parody comedy Meet the Blacks, although both failed to really make any real kind of impact. God’s Not Dead 2 needed some divine intervention as it could only scrounge together $8.1 million – well, below both estimates and the opening of its predecessor – while Meet the Blacks could not meet the profit targets at all as it only brought in $4 million.
On the opposite end of the success spectrum, Zootopia was still hanging on to second place, adding an additional $20 million to its coffers (in comparison, it only dropped 16% since last week). The animated feature has quietly become one of Disney’s most successful ventures in years, with it already sitting on $275 million domestically – and just a short hop away from becoming only the tenth animated film to cross the $300 million mark in the US – while its international total sits on a very impressive $787 million.
Let’s see what’s happening on the rest of the charts.
- 1. Batman v Superman – $52.38 million (LW: 1st)
- 2. Zootopia – $20 million (LW: 2nd)
- 3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 – $11.13 million (LW: 3rd)
- 4. God’s Not Dead 2 – $8.1 million (NE)
- 5. Miracles From Heaven – $7.5 million (LW: 4th)
- 6. The Divergent Series: Allegiant – $5.72 million (LW: 5th)
- 7. 10 Cloverfield Lane – $4.75 million (LW: 6th)
- 8. Meet the Blacks – $4.08 million (NE)
- 9. Eye In the Sky – $4.05 million (LW: 10th)
- 10. Deadpool – $3.5 million (LW: 7th)
The most high profile departure from the top 10 this week is the Gerard Butler led action movie sequel London Has Fallen. It dropped all the way from 8th to 12th, but its global box office total is already sitting on $118 million of a $60 million budget.
(LW = Last Week, NE = New Entry)
Last Updated: April 4, 2016
