NEW YORK — Faster than a speeding bullet and impervious to lousy reviews, the superhero faceoff “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” rebounded from a smackdown from critics to debut with a massive $170.1 million in North America, the sixth best opening of all-time.
The stakes were high for the Warner Bros. release, which cost $250 million to make and about $150 million to market. But the studio’s bid to launch a DC Comics universe to rival Marvel’s empire was met with numerous changes in the release date.
It fought skepticism over Ben Affleck’s casting as Batman and a barrage of bad reviews last week. Things were bad enough to spawn a ubiquitous viral video of “Sad Ben Affleck,” which took the actor’s response to the reviews and scored it with Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.”
But the allure of seeing two of the most iconic superheroes battle it out was enough to set a record for the best pre-summer debut. “Batman v Superman” also grossed $254 million overseas, bringing its global total to $424.1 million for the weekend.
The mighty debut was met with a huge sigh of relief by Warner Bros., which invested its full marketing power in “Batman v Superman.” The film, directed by Zack Snyder, is the first of 10 DC Comics adaptations planned by the studio over the next five years. Along with pitting Henry Cavill’s Superman against Batman, it introduces a number of other heroes soon to get starring roles, including Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and the Flash (Ezra Miller).
Audiences gave the film a mediocre B CinemaScore, which suggested some moviegoers agreed with critics. But many fans (a good number of whom bought tickets well in advance) were undeterred.
“There was a disconnect there between what critics wrote and the fan interest,” said Jeff Goldstein, head of distribution for Warner Bros. “What we’re seeing is a huge amount of repeat business.”
“Batman v Superman” dominated Easter weekend with the kind of blockbuster performance usually reserved for Memorial Day or July 4. In second was the Disney Animation hit “Zootopia,” with $23.1 million in its fourth week of domestic release.
– The Associated Press
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