“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has flown to another $7.7 million on Thursday, bringing its domestic total up to $209 million.
Analysts are predicting a 60 percent to 65 percent drop from the film’s opening weekend, during which it debuted to $166 million, meaning industry experts are expecting $63 million to $65 million for the superhero slugfest in its second round.
However, “Batman v Superman” is still set to reign at the box office this weekend, with the faith-based indie “God’s Not Dead 2” opening in 2,300 theaters, while Freestyle’s comedy “Meet the Blacks” is reaching 1,000 screens.
The weekend will also launch a number of limited releases as well, such as Don Cheadle‘s “Miles Ahead,” “The Dark Horse” and “Natural Born Pranksters.” The “Dazed and Confused” followup “Everybody Wants Some!!” debuted on Wednesday.
In the days leading up to the second weekend of “Batman v Superman,” starring Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, Fandango ticket sales were 30 percent higher than any typical blockbuster and were leading sales for the online ticketer.
Last weekend, the international and global numbers solidified as well, and the film’s $420 million opening remains the best ever for a superhero movie and the fourth-best opening opening weekend worldwide ever.
It was easily the biggest opening ever in March, and set new standards for director Zack Snyder, Affleck and Cavill as well.
The 945 screens that IMAX gave over to “Batman v Superman” globally were a record, and the $36 million they took in was the best ever outside the summer and holiday periods, ranking behind only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($47.5 million) and “Jurassic World” ($44.1 million).
And this was all despite negative reviews from both fans and critics; the film currently holds a score of 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a B on CinemaScore.
This means that it joined a list of blockbusters that have succeeded despite negative buzz. “Twilight,” for example, had a Rotten Tomatoes score of 48 percent (at the time, CinemaScore did not tally independent films), but still opened to $69.9 million, and went on to gross $193 million domestically.