Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice scored a record-breaking $170.1 million from 4,242 theaters at the box office, scoring the No. 6 debut of all time at the North American box office.
The superhero film, starring Ben Affleck as Batman battling Henry Cavill’s Superman, scored multiple achievements: the biggest March opening weekend ever (beating The Hunger Games’ $152.5 million in 2012), the largest Easter opening (beating Furious 7’s $147.2 million in 2015) and the largest Warner Bros. domestic release ever (beating Harry Potter’s $169.2 million in 2011).
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Moviegoers, who were 66 percent male and 63 percent between the ages of 18 and 34, gave the Zack Snyder-directed film a B CinemaScore, while critics gave it a dismal 29 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“No one cared about the reviews — they didn’t matter,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for the tracking service comScore. “People just wanted to see this movie and this classic matchup between two titans of the superhero universe.”
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In Batman v Superman, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) brings to life another deadly threat to the world, while Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) makes her debut appearance – with a stand-alone film set to debut next year.
Sliding to second place is Disney’s Zootopia with $23.1 million for a domestic total of $240.5 million, in its fourth week of release.
The weekend’s other newcomer was My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, the sequel to 2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with $18.1 million from 3,133 theaters for a third place finish – starring Nia Vardalos, John Corbett and the whole crew returning for the follow-up film.
Moviegoers, who were 73 percent female, rated the film an A-minus CinemaScore, while critics gave it a weak 24 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“This franchise is still overperforming. After 14 years, it’s amazing that this was not a big, fat Greek funeral,” said Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “They could make a trilogy out of this franchise.”
Rounding out the top five is Sony’s Miracles from Heaven and Lionsgate’s The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1, both tying with $9.5 million. The faith-based offering has accumulated $35.1 million domestically, while the YA film adaptation has garnered a domestic total of $46.6 million.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: March 25-27
- Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice — $170.1 million
- Zootopia — $23.1 million
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 — $18.1 million
- Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1 — $9.5 million
- Miracles From Heaven — $9.5 million
- 10 Cloverfield Lane — $6 million
- Deadpool — $5 million
- London Has Fallen — $2.9 million
- Hello, My Name Is Doris — $1.7 million
- Eye In The Sky — $1 million
