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Sunday May 01, 2016
Batman, Superman Robbed of Millions by Zack Snyder, Warner Bros.
Snyder, before the heist.
Zack Snyder's “Batman v Superman” shed 736 theaters this weekend, dropped 30% from the previous weekend, and grossed another $3.8 million (ninth place) for a total domestic gross of $325 million. It's the second-highest of the year, the third-highest-grossing DC movie ever (after “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Returns”), and the highest-grossing Superman film ever.
That, I suppose, is the good news.
The bad news:
- “BvS” is second on the year to “Deadpool,” a little-known, R-rated Marvel comics character that opened Valentine's Day weekend. It won't catch it.
- Repeat: Batman and Superman combined can't beat Deadpool.
- If you adjust for inflation, “BvS” drops to eighth all-time in the DC Universe. The movies above it include “Batman Returns,” “Batman Forever” and “Superman II.”
- “BvS” is about to set an undesirable record among the highest-grossing openers ever. For that, let's get off bullet points.
Among the top 50 openers of all time, these are the films that had the longest legs (opening weekend /domestic gross):
| Rank | Movie | Opening | Dom. Gross | % | Thtrs |
| 1 | Shrek 2 | $108,037,878 | $441,226,247 | 24.5% | 4,163 |
| 2 | Inside Out | $90,440,272 | $356,461,711 | 25.4% | 3,946 |
| 3 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | $247,966,675 | $936,121,508 | 26.5% | 4,134 |
| 4 | Toy Story 3 | $110,307,189 | $415,004,880 | 26.6% | 4,028 |
| 5 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | $108,966,307 | $402,111,870 | 27.1% | 4,234 |
| 6 | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | $97,852,865 | $352,390,543 | 27.8% | 4,088 |
| 7 | Guardians of the Galaxy | $94,320,883 | $333,176,600 | 28.3% | 4,080 |
| 8 | Spider-Man (2002) | $114,844,116 | $403,706,375 | 28.4% | 3,615 |
| 9 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | $90,294,621 | $317,575,550 | 28.4% | 3,672 |
| 10 | Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith | $108,435,841 | $380,270,577 | 28.5% | 3,661 |
Give or take a “Transformers” or “Sith,” pretty good movies for their type.
Now here's the bottom 10 in terms of legs:
| Rank | Movie | Opening | Dom. Gross | % | Thtrs |
| 1 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | $166,007,347 | $325,132,593 | 51.11% | 4,242 |
| 2 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 | $138,122,261 | $281,287,133 | 49.1% | 4,061 |
| 3 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 | $141,067,634 | $292,324,737 | 48.3% | 4,070 |
| 4 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | $142,839,137 | $296,623,634 | 48.2% | 4,024 |
| 5 | Godzilla (2014) | $93,188,384 | $200,676,069 | 46.4% | 3,952 |
| 6 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | $91,608,337 | $202,853,933 | 45.2% | 4,324 |
| 7 | Spider-Man 3 | $151,116,516 | $336,530,303 | 44.9% | 4,252 |
| 8 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 | $169,189,427 | $381,011,219 | 44.4% | 4,375 |
| 9 | X-Men: The Last Stand | $102,750,665 | $234,362,462 | 43.8% | 3,690 |
| 10 | Iron Man 3 | $174,144,585 | $409,013,994 | 42.6% | 4,253 |
They‘re either movies that have a small core audience (“Twilight”), or shitty word-of-mouth (“Spider-Man 3,” “X-Men: The Last Stand”).
And “Batman v Superman” is about to beat them all.
The movie needs another $13 mil or so to ensure that it’s not No. 1 in this category, and it looks iffy to make that. Either way, it will only double the gross of its opening. That's it.
Now look back up at the first table. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” shattered the record for biggest box-officer openers last December with $247 mil, yet it still grossed almost four times that amount. Because people liked it. They went more than once. They recommended it to friends.
If “BvS” had been such a well-received movie, it would‘ve grossed something like $664 million. Instead, it’s half that. Warner Bros. is losing hundreds of millions of dollars because they hired Zack Snyder to direct, and everything Zack Snyder touches turns to stupid. And people can only take so much stupid.
And that's not even taking into account international, and all the money lost in merchandising. Is it a $500 million loss? A billion? Whatever the final number, it's an epic disaster. I'd suggest Warner Bros. call Superman to save the day, but look what they've already done to him. Look what they did to my boy.