‘Batman v Superman’ Eyes $140 Million Debut

The superhero face-off film is set for a March 25 release date

DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is eyeing a massive $140 million debut weekend, early tracking suggests.

However, Warner Bros. insiders are being more conservative and are saying it will open to a slightly more modest $110 million on March 25. Either way, it should rank among the top 10 openings for a comic-book film adaptation of all time.

The movie stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill as the respective title characters, and sees Batman leading a crusade against Superman, driven by the belief that the Kryptonian is too powerful to be trusted.

Directed by Zack Snyder, the movie also includes Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Superman’s girlfriend Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Superman’s Earth mom Martha Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Daily Planet editor Perry White and Holly Hunter as a crusading anti-Superman U.S. senator.

The film will set up the “Justice League” movie, which will also star Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman. That movie is set to premiere Nov. 17, 2017.

It was recently announced that the film’s runtime will be two hours and 31 minutes, slightly longer than “Man of Steel.” However, “Dark Knight Rises” remains one of the longest superhero movies with its 164-minute run.

“Batman v Superman” had a massive budget of $250 million, but the question is whether the film can beat the massive opening weekend numbers of Ryan Reynolds‘ “Deadpool,” which shocked Hollywood when it debuted to $132. 4 million in February and grossed $152.2 million over the four-day Presidents Day weekend.

However, “Deadpool” was rated R — “Batman v Superman” will sport a PG-13 rating.

Comments