“Batman v Superman” Overcomes Bad Buzz to Huge Opening Weekend

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT

March 25 - 27, 2016

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($170.1 million)
Zootopia ($23.1 million)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 ($18.1 million)
Miracles from Heaven ($9.5 million)
Allegiant ($9.5 million)

Negative reviews be damned. Nothing could stop the titans of Batman v Superman. The extremely hyped flick took the top spot, setting several records in the process. With an estimated $170.1 million, it’s now the biggest opening ever for March, the biggest opening of any Easter Weekend, and the biggest opening for a movie based on a DC comic. It’s one of the biggest openings of all time, period.

Zootopia, somehow, stuck around at No. 2. With $23.1 million, that’s huge for a fourth weekend. It beat the only other big competition: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. The original opened in limited release in April 2002, taking in a very modest $600,000. But it became a word of mouth hit, eventually becoming an Oscar nominee and raking in nearly $250 million. It eventually hit the No. 2 spot months later on Labor Day Weekend, the highest it ever got. The sequel took in $18.1 million this weekend, which already makes it the second-biggest movie Nia Vardalos has ever acted in. This one won’t make nearly that much, but should stick around as a nice alternative to the blockbusters.

Miracles from Heaven essentially tied with Allegiant. That’s great news for the former and terrible news for the latter. It’s now been 10 days and Allegiant still hasn’t made as much as Divergent and Insurgent did in their first three. Now that’s a flop.

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: Midnight Special, the sci-fi thriller from acclaimed filmmaker Jeff Nichols, remained on top. It averaged $19,400 on those same five screens.
  • In the battle of the music biopics, Hank Williams beat Chet Baker, but just barely. I Saw the Light, which stars Tom Hiddleston as the country legend took in $50,464 on five screens. Ethan Hawke’s Born to Be Blue, about the tragic life of the great jazz musician, earned nearly as much but on only three screens.
  • April and the Extraordinary World, the gorgeous animated movie, had an extraordinary debut. On its lone screen, it made $12,101.

Next week:

God may not be dead, but He won’t be able to stop Batman or Superman. Dawn of Justice will remain on top with around $75 million. God’s Not Dead 2 will take No. 3 with around $12 million.

Facebooktwitterredditmail

About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

Leave a Reply