Update: Friday numbers are in, and Batman Vs. Superman is off to a slow second weekend start.
Haters are going to hate, hate, hate, right?
Well, all the hate hasn’t stopped Batman Vs. Superman from taking over the box office; more than likely it has helped fuel the Zack Snyder-directed Dawn of Justice to break numerous box office records due to all the buzz created online.
To date, Batman Vs. Superman has amassed around $540 million, with almost $210 million in the U.S. Expect the numbers to be a higher following the weekend, which will be a big test for the movie.
Initially, there was a report out from Forbes that predicted Batman Vs. Superman would flop big time this weekend; however, the good news (or bad news depending how you look at it, I guess) is that most analysts have been revising their projections in favor of the movie, with it said Batman Vs. Superman may make as much as $60-70 million, which is in part due to absolutely no competition as well as the fact that Batman Vs. Superman hasn’t slowed down in its daily run.
If Batman Vs. Superman does happen to peter out, which is similar to Man of Steel, more than likely we can expect WB to revise Justice League and their approach to further DC movies. It’s already been said WB is reshooting Suicide Squad to add in more humor (which may or may not be legit as the info comes from a known Marvel sympathizer site), but there is no denying that if WB deems the box office returns of Batman Vs. Superman a failure, things will change. That’s why we didn’t get a Man of Steel sequel and why Batman was added to the movie.
It’s also probable that even if Batman Vs. Superman is a billion dollar success, WB will take note of all the negative reviews and chatter and change things accordingly. There is no denying the script for Batman Vs. Superman was rather weak. By all accounts, the visual effects and acting choices were pretty much top notch, but the story was what most complained about. Essentially, the Batman Vs. Superman screenplay was a combination of three scripts: The David Goyer Man of Steel 2 script, a Batman script, and Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder’s rewrites.
Again – good or bad news depending on how you look at it – is that Terrio and Snyder also wrote the Justice League script. Prior to Batman vs. Superman, Chris Terrio never read a comic book in his life, and he’s thought to be responsible for the Jesse Eiseberg Lex scenes and dialogue (at least). Hopefully, the Justice League script is a noticeable improvement, and as JL starts filming in ten days, if need be, they can make the script work (especially Superman).
Regarding fan sentiment about Batman vs. Superman, there seems to be a wide range of emotions, opinions and thoughts. Lots of fans absolutely hate it, while at the same time fans loved it. There is also the fact that respected comic book professionals have come out and publicly condemned the movie (Kevin Smith, Max Landis, Peter David — Mark Waid is silent this time around oddly enough), which was also similar to what happened with Man of Steel. It’s never a good thing when the fan base is split as such; certainly WB has to recognize this and possibly adjust their approach.
